Hallmark Movies: Small Town Royalty Magically Celebrating Rekindled Love! - General Discussion

[Jenniferbug]

Wasn't their whole advertising gimmick at the beginning of the year that there would be a new movie every Saturday? It's so odd that they have the movies available but chose to backtrack on that. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in their offices to know what's behind these odd decisions and scheduling. 

I will probably watch the Saturday airing of Over the Moon again because I enjoyed it and I want the ratings to reflect that. I might die of laughter if they suddenly add some leaves between now and then! 

[TVFan17]

7 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

Wasn't their whole advertising gimmick at the beginning of the year that there would be a new movie every Saturday? It's so odd that they have the movies available but chose to backtrack on that. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in their offices to know what's behind these odd decisions and scheduling. 

I will probably watch the Saturday airing of Over the Moon again because I enjoyed it and I want the ratings to reflect that. I might die of laughter if they suddenly add some leaves between now and then! 

Yes.   Starting last December, when the Countdown to Christmas was getting close to winding down, they began the promos for "a new movie every Saturday, all year long."  I guess they wanted to make sure that viewers knew that they could always see a new movie on that night, even if not a Christmas movie.   And they continued with that promo in January and for a while after that.

They had two empty Saturdays in July -- no new movies.   If they had gone through with airing In the Key of Love, which was the plan and was announced and promoted as airing on the channel, they could have put it into one of those July slots.   Instead, they moved it to the streaming app.

And they could have aired one of their already-filmed Christmas movies in the other July slot -- especially since A Merry Christmas Match was originally said to be premiering in July in an article, but was later removed from July as well!

Fast forward to September -- where they left 3 Saturdays without new movies.    They could have aired Over the Moon in Love on 9/7 or on Labor Day.  They could have aired Love in Store (w/ Alexandra Breckenridge & Robert Buckley) on one of the other empty pre-fall Saturdays, especially since it was originally said to be airing in September in an article.  Then Forever in My Heart (the Ireland movie that already aired) would have taken up the other pre-fall September Saturday.    Love Under the Olive Tree could have stayed in its 9/28 slot.  Country at Heart could have stayed in its 10/5 slot.  Then Love, Fall & Order & Good Witch: Curse from a Rose would finish off the Saturdays before the Countdown to Christmas began.

So they had enough movies in the can to fill all of those empty Saturdays, and they just chose to not air them this year (even after announcing them) -- which makes no sense.   All of those movies were filmed, so it's not even like they couldn't get them filmed.  They were all wrapped up!

If there are random fall leaves floating about in Over the Moon in Love on Saturday, or big baskets of apples and pumpkins scattered to and fro, I will laugh uncontrollably now that I know there were no leaves or pumpkins in the accidental showtime at 4:30 a.m. EST!

[MissyPoo]

HMNow offered a look at what's being sent to Appland for the season. Join me in saying goodbye to: 

Ice Sculpture Christmas (Love this one)

Hitched for the Holidays (I would think they'd want to show this with the other Hanukkah movie)

A Christmas Wish

The Christmas Spirit

Karen Kingsbury's The Bridge Part 1 & 2 (😥)

The Santa Incident

A Rose For Christmas 

A Midnight Kiss (that didn't take long, just came out last year)

A Royal New Year's Eve 

Edited October 4, 2019 by MissyPoo

[TVFan17]

17 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

HMNow offered a look at what's being sent to Appland for the season. Join me in saying goodbye to: 

Ice Sculpture Christmas (Love this one)

Hitched for the Holidays (I would think they'd want to show this with the other Hanukkah movie)

A Christmas Wish

The Christmas Spirit

Karen Kingsbury's The Bridge Part 1 & 2 (😥)

The Santa Incident

A Rose For Christmas 

A Midnight Kiss (that didn't take long, just came out last year)

A Royal New Year's Eve 

Where did you happen to see this?  In other words, was it something that was shown only on the app itself, or was there a commercial for it on regular TV, or a video posted on social media, or something else?  I was trying to find it to show someone, and I can't find it.  So I am assuming maybe it was a promo that ran on TV?

Anyway, New Year's Eve/Day is really getting the short end of the stick! lol

I am surprised by A Midnight Kiss moving over to HMN only one year after it premiered.  It wasn't that great of a movie, but it's one of the only New Year-themed movies Hallmark has. 

A Rose for Christmas is also more New Year-oriented (although we wouldn't know it from the title).

And Hitched for the Holidays starts around Thanksgiving but ends on New Year's Eve, right (from what I recall)?  

And A Royal New Year's Eve speaks for itself - it's a New Year movie through and through!

A Christmas Wish is one that has stuck around on the linear channels for a long time, and I'll be sorry to see it go, as it's one of the few "serious" or "meaningful" Christmas movies I look forward to seeing each year (since I lean towards the more lighthearted fare).  But I figured it would make the move to HMN sooner or later because it is old.

There are a couple of other Christmas movies that currently have no scheduled showtimes in November, and I suspect they are heading to the app in December.  I don't want to mention them, because I have a habit of jinxing things when I say them aloud and put them out into the universe.  But the November showtimes are already populating for many other movies, so I don't think it's an accident that some of the ones I checked have no showtimes.

Edited October 5, 2019 by TVFan17

[MissyPoo]

7 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Where did you happen to see this?  In other words, was it something that was shown only on the app itself, or was there a commercial for it on regular TV, or a video posted on social media, or something else?  I was trying to find it to show someone, and I can't find it.  So I am assuming maybe it was a promo that ran on TV?

Anyway, New Year's Eve/Day is really getting the short end of the stick! lol

I am surprised by A Midnight Kiss moving over to HMN only one year after it premiered.  It wasn't that great of a movie, but it's one of the only New Year-themed movies Hallmark has. 

A Rose for Christmas is also more New Year-oriented (although we wouldn't know it from the title).

And Hitched for the Holidays starts around Thanksgiving but ends on New Year's Eve, right (from what I recall)?  

And A Royal New Year's Eve speaks for itself - it's a New Year movie through and through!

A Christmas Wish is one that has stuck around on the linear channels for a long time, and I'll be sorry to see it go, as it's one of the few "serious" or "meaningful" Christmas movies I look forward to seeing each year (since I lean towards the more lighthearted fare).  But I figured it would make the move to HMN sooner or later because it is old.

There are a couple of other Christmas movies that currently have no scheduled showtimes in November, and I suspect they are heading to the app in December.  I don't want to mention them, because I have a habit of jinxing things when I say them aloud and put them out into the universe.  But the November showtimes are already populating for many other movies, so I don't think it's an accident that some of the ones I checked have no showtimes.

HMNow releases preview vids at the end of every month to show what's coming the next month. Sometimes they make it public on the site. (Checking) 

Not sure if this will work publicly but here is the link: https://www.hmnow.com/films/coming_this_holiday_hallmarkmo

They may post it on their youtube page as they have the Fall Collection, New to October Promo plus promos of the past there . 

I agree, NYears seems to be getting shafted here. I know a few complained about the leading guy in A Midnight Kiss but it wasn't too bad of a movie and I thought he was charming. It isn't the first time they put a new movie on there. I remember for Christmas in July, they sent A Majestic Christmas to the app for the month (and that just came out last year) and Truly, Madly, Sweetly about a month or so ago.

I bet a few of my faves are on your mental list. There are some I look forward to every year that have been shown for years but it's before the Crown Media era and they seem to be phasing those out. A shame as they had a few serious. meaty offerings on there. The Christmas Choir disappeared for years off all channels and the app. I finally ended up getting the dvd but I also see it pop up on the tubes.

Edited October 5, 2019 by MissyPoo

[TVFan17]

2 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

HMNow releases preview vids at the end of every month to show what's coming the next month. Sometimes they make it public on the site. (Checking) 

Not sure if this will work publicly but here is the link: https://www.hmnow.com/films/coming_this_holiday_hallmarkmo

They may post it on their youtube page as they have the Fall Collection, New to October Promo plus promos of the past there . 

I agree, NYears seems to be getting shafted here. I know a few complained about the leading guy in A Midnight Kiss but it wasn't too bad of a movie and I thought he was charming. It isn't the first time they put a new movie on there. I remember for Christmas in July, they sent A Majestic Christmas to the app for the month (and that just came out last year) and Truly, Madly, Sweetly about a month or so ago.

I bet a few of my faves are on your mental list. There are some I look forward to every year that have been shown for years but it's before the Crown Media era and they seem to be phasing those out. A shame as they had a few serious. meaty offerings on there. The Christmas Choir disappeared for years off all channels and the app. I finally ended up getting the dvd but I also see it pop up on the tubes.

Thank you.   I guess the promo is not viewable to non-subscribers of the app yet (through that first link you posted), but hopefully it will be soon.  Or maybe they will put it on YouTube, or on the HMN Facebook page or something like that.  

I forgot about A Majestic Christmas ending up on HMN in July.  That's very true, and it's not scheduled for any showtimes on any of the 3 linear channels right now, so it seems like it will stay on HMN. 

Truly, Madly, Sweetly first moved to HMN kind of early in the year -- like less than 5 months after it premiered -- which is why I think it's so unusual for it to come back around and air on the actual Hallmark Channel last month and now.  Of course, the next two October showtimes for TMS are at times of the morning when probably no one will see it, so it's not getting much exposure even when it airs on the channel.

I just noticed that The Christmas Train has only one scheduled showtime on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel -- and it's in late October, at 7 a.m.   Nothing in November.   When that kind of thing has happened in the past year or two -- a movie airs once or twice in October and has no further showtimes on the Hallmark site -- it usually ends up on Hallmark Movies Now, or it is just not shown again for the rest of the season.  I can't imagine Hallmark not showing it anywhere at all for the rest of the season, so my guess is that it's heading to HMN - if not in November, then in December.    I have to try to catch that one and only showtime in late October!  lol    It's a crazy movie in many ways, but I've grown rather fond of it since it debuted a couple of years ago.   It's kind of a fun, wacky Hall of Fame movie, and I like the cast and the setting.   I hope more showtimes are added at normal hours on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel, but I am not holding out hope.   One lone showtime at 7 a.m. is not a good sign.

[Happywatcher]

Sat morning, Oct 5, at 8:30am est, Good Morning America had all three Deck the Hallmark hosts on, in their Deck the Hallmark shirts. They looked and acted just as you would think.

Except the GMA hosts only asked about The Joker, The Breaking Bad movie, and Elton John. Then they started pushing tacos. 

[TVFan17]

2 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

Sat morning, Oct 5, at 8:30am est, Good Morning America had all three Deck the Hallmark hosts on, in their Deck the Hallmark shirts. They looked and acted just as you would think.

Except the GMA hosts only asked about The Joker, The Breaking Bad movie, and Elton John. Then they started pushing tacos. 

This has been their 3rd appearance on GMA within a year, if I'm not mistaken.   The second one ended up not airing because there was some sort of news story or some other event that bumped their segment out of the show. 

And they were also on Nightline at one point.    The ABC people seem to really like them, and I am guessing that the guys will eventually be offered jobs or bigger opportunities because of this continued exposure.   I think they are on a path to bigger and better things.   

That's great for the DTH guys, if that's what they want.   I know that this podcast has already become more of a job than they had originally anticipated.   It all started with a simple podcast meant to dissect Hallmark Christmas movies only, but now they've branched out to recapping other non-Christmas Hallmark movies, doing interviews with actors, doing mini-tours (where they do live shows at clubs in a few different states), appearing on a panel at this upcoming ChristmasCon event in November, getting sponsors, etc. 

I think that 2 of the 3 DTH guys said they have put their regular jobs on hold for at least one year, as they explore all of these podcast opportunities they are offered.

I know that at least one of the DTH guys loves Breaking Bad, if not all 3 of them (I made a mental note of that because BB is one of my all-time favorite series).  In fact, I told them that one of the actors from Breaking Bad is in an upcoming Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Christmas movie!  lol   

But please tell me they were not bashing or criticizing Elton John.  I had been planning to watch the GMA segment today because I knew they were going to be on.   If they are bashing Elton, I might have to forget they exist and never listen to them again.  lol

[Jenniferbug]

Unpopular opinion, but I tried to listen to one episode of Deck the Hallmark and I thought they were all annoying and thought they were way funnier than they actually are. 

[dalek]

Well, this Jewish lady is annoyed they're moving Hitched for the Holidays to the app.  OTOH, I'm happy that one of my all time favorites A Season for Miracles is back on broadcast after being banished to the app.  Hallmark giveth and Hallmark taketh away, I guess.

[TVFan17]

29 minutes ago, dalek said:

Well, this Jewish lady is annoyed they're moving Hitched for the Holidays to the app.  OTOH, I'm happy that one of my all time favorites A Season for Miracles is back on broadcast after being banished to the app.  Hallmark giveth and Hallmark taketh away, I guess.

There seems to be very little rhyme or reason (that I can determine) for why certain things are moved to the dreaded app and why some are not, as well as why other things are shuffled over to Hallmark Drama (when there are still so many households who don't even have Hallmark Drama) - even if they are not especially dramatic.   I'm sure Hallmark's programmers have figured out something that I am just not seeing, but what they do often makes no sense to me.

If I were managing the schedules, I would have kept Hitched for the Holidays on the main channel this year -- or at least on one of the other 2 linear channels -- instead of sending it off to Hallmark Movies Now.   I would have kept the New Year movies on the line-up too, most likely, but especially HFTH.

There is a movie that was filmed earlier this year -- it had a working title of Merry Hanukkah, but the title was later changed to A Merry Holiday -- and it has not yet been claimed by any network.  It's not on Hallmark's schedules.  Lifetime didn't take it.  It's not on the UPtv line-up.   It's not a Netflix movie.   It's not a Freeform movie.   I suppose it could possibly end up on the ION network (ION has not announced their line-up yet), but I actually wonder if it might be something that suddenly appears on Hallmark's app.  Maybe they could get streaming rights for it, even if it doesn't air on their network.   In any case, I am really curious to see where it ends up.

Edited October 5, 2019 by TVFan17

[ehall1052]

“Over the Moon in Love” was just okay.... and I like Jessica Lowndes. It moved a little slow. But she has a lovely voice. 

[TVFan17]

I was watching something else that conflicted with Over the Moon in Love's first hour.   I decided that I would tune in to OTMIL for the second hour.   I tried that.  I couldn't get into it, and ended up changing the channel   I suppose I'll go back and watch the whole thing at some point before the Countdown to Christmas kicks in, but I am not in a rush.

I went to the Hallmark Channel Facebook page to see what people were saying about OTMIL -- though those people tend to rant and rave about a lot of things, so I can't really use those comments as an accurate gauge of anything -- and there was a lot of negative feedback about the movie.  Some people commented about already seeing it when it aired at 4:30 a.m.  last week.  Quite a few people were annoyed that it was not a "Fall" movie at all, with no signs of the season anywhere in it.   Other people complained about Jessica Lowndes.

Although I can't give a fair assessment of a movie that I haven't really seen more than 20 minutes of, I am guessing that OTMIL was just not a good choice as the kickoff to Fall Harvest 2019 at all.   Even if Hallmark just couldn't manage to air it during the Summer Nights event or in early September (for some unknown reason), it shouldn't have been the first movie in a Fall Harvest event that was already downsized to only 3 movies and delayed by 2 weeks.   People are craving autumnal things right now, and OTMIL is not autumnal in any way.

[AnnaRose]

I watched Over the Moon in Love last night, and have mixed feelings about it - mainly because I hated what Jessica's character and the other lead female character did... which put me in a very negative mood for about the first two-thirds of the movie. 

On the plus side, Jessica's character Brooklyn eventually did finally admit what they were doing and apologized, and everything worked out in the end, in typical Hallmark fashion, which went a ways toward making up for everything that transpired before that. 

The other big positive for me was Wes Brown, who I had never seen before in anything.  He was very attractive and I liked the character he played here.  (I'm guessing he might be some sort of real life well-known singer?)  I also liked Jessica, in spite of the bad choices her character made in going along with the magazine publisher's daughter's deceit and manipulation.   She and Wes sounded great singing together!

The magazine person really annoyed me during most of OTMIL, but she turned around at the end, so that took at least some of the edge off my irritation.  I'm not sure if I'll watch it again, though.

[sistersledge]

Yea I found it hard to believe that a presumably successful magazine editor needed so much hand holding in order to date someone  she merely thought was hot. I feel like in real life, she would have had one date and then moved on when they had no chemistry.

Also, I didn't buy that this magazine cover story would be worth more to Brooklyn than having set up a successful Hollywood couple. I would think there would be more mileage in a Hollywood couple, than a print story. But it's Hallmark so... eye roll 🙄 

[Irlandesa]

7 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I watched Over the Moon in Love last night, and have mixed feelings about it - mainly because I hated what Jessica's character and the other lead female character did... which put me in a very negative mood for about the first two-thirds of the movie. 

Yes.  It was a dumb decision and there were so many times where ending it would have been a natural conclusion.  Like after the first date when he wasn't feeling it and the journalist knew he wasn't feeling it.  Or when the lead confessed to being in love with another woman for a very long time. 

I did like that the truth came out because she confessed instead of having it be discovered by accident. That was refreshing.

On another topic, I rolled my eyes when Hallmark announced the Hallmark Drama channel. I already wasn't a huge fan of the more emotional holiday movies that end up on the HMM channel (although there has been more swapping lately between HMM and Hallmark) so I didn't think I'd be interested in a whole channel focused on that kind of movie. 

But now that I have it?  I'm low key loving it because it's playing many of the older movies I enjoy.  I was finally able to put Follow The Stars Home on my DVR and it will remain there forever (joining my other two favorite Hallmark Hall of Fame movies Loving Leah and The Magic of Ordinary Days.)

I've also recorded and/or watched Love Is A Four Letter Word, Straight From the Heart (both with Teri Polo) and it looks like there are old romcom movies on every night.  Less cookie cutter movies.

I'll enjoy it while it lasts...before the old stuff is replaced with the unrewatchable stuff.

Edited October 7, 2019 by Irlandesa

[Was-MArsenault]

Heads up:

On October 14, Home & Family will not be airing that day and movies will be shown instead. It's going to return the next day though.

[Happywatcher]

Finishing up Over the Moon in Love off the the DVR.

Not happy with the trick the 2 females leads pulled. As noted above, Jessica's character confessing helped redeem her.

Miranda, who is usually the second female in Hallmarks, or the police chief in Hallmark mysteries, really needs to get promoted to lead. She plays an engaging character and is good at acting.

Jessica also wrote this, so except for the stunt, great job.

I liked the 90s flashback scene. They nailed the hair.

Adding extra: Complete agreement with the 'This is not fall' comments. I liked the park scene, but all the plants were flowering-- this was all summer all movie

Edited October 7, 2019 by Happywatcher
adding more

[Happywatcher]

Did Hallmark change the rules on decolletage? Both Jessica in the romance this week,  and Danica and her sidekick in the mystery, were showing more than the past movies on Hallmark, and I had read they used to be very strict on it.

[AAEBoiler]

On 10/7/2019 at 5:57 PM, Happywatcher said:

Miranda, who is usually the second female in Hallmarks, or the police chief in Hallmark mysteries, really needs to get promoted to lead. She plays an engaging character and is good at acting.

Agreed on that!

Did it seem to anyone else that a bunch of scenes in OTMIL were shot in front of a green screen? The scene at the wedding with Wes Brown singing looked especially fake.

[MissyPoo]

2 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

Did Hallmark change the rules on decolletage? Both Jessica in the romance this week,  and Danica and her sidekick in the mystery, were showing more than the past movies on Hallmark, and I had read they used to be very strict on it.

They were? I thought they kinda toned JL's clothing (and makeup too) down a bit because she showed a whole lot more in Merry Matrimony and A December Bride.

I still have to check out Danica's mystery movie. Love me some Victor Webster.

Btw, the movie may be run of the mill when it finally comes out, but this song is a jam.

Edited October 9, 2019 by MissyPoo
Link update

[AnnaRose]

2 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

Btw, the movie may be run of the mill when it finally comes out, but this song is a jam.

Huh.  I don't care for that song at all.  Which makes me sad because I loved Chaley Rose in Nashville, and she has a gorgeous voice.

[MissyPoo]

1 hour ago, AnnaRose said:

Huh.  I don't care for that song at all.  Which makes me sad because I loved Chaley Rose in Nashville, and she has a gorgeous voice.

Is that where she's from? Interesting. Never seen the show but I figured she was a singer since she does have a beautiful voice. Him, too (who apparently was on a soap, I just found out).

Yeah, its Hallmark, they can only go out but so far from the normal sing song type of stuff they do, but this sounds like they put some kind of effort into it. It kinda reminds me of something from the 90s (which is prob why I like it).

Edited October 9, 2019 by MissyPoo

[TVFan17]

Over the Moon in Love was filmed in May & June, when it was not an official Hallmark movie (yet).   I could be wrong, but I am guessing (by the timing of the shoot) that Jessica Lowndes and the production company were probably hoping Hallmark would pick up the movie and air it during the Summer Nights event in August.   That was likely their intention.  

So when Hallmark finally got involved in it and picked up OTMIL after it had been filmed, they decided to put it in the Fall Harvest event -- which was a very strange choice!  lol  And, as we know, it was even stranger when they moved it from a September 21st Fall Harvest slot to an October 5th Fall Harvest slot.   lol  So bizarre.

The good news is that, thankfully, the movie airing this coming Saturday, 10/12 -- Love, Fall and Order -- was intended to be a Fall Harvest movie through and through.   There is no mistaking the season in which the story is set.  lol    There are pumpkins and harvest-ish things here and there.  There is a Fall Festival of some sort, I think.  It was not filmed in the Fall -- it was filmed in late July and August -- but the production was in Utah, so the scenery is a little bit different because it's not Canada, where they film the majority of their movies.

So even if Love, Fall and Order ends up not being to everyone's liking, story-wise, at least it is an actual, legitimate Fall Harvest installment, made for Hallmark from the start -- and not an acquisition.  It is the only true Fall movie we are getting from Hallmark this season if you don't count the Good Witch: Curse From a Rose movie on 10/19 (some people don't count the Good Witch movie because they just think of it as an episode of the series). 

I really hope that this year's botched Fall Harvest line-up was just a fluke due to some unexpected circumstances, and is not going to be a regular thing. 

[Was-MArsenault]

I totally forgot that the McBride movies are on all this week.

[LexieLily]

6 hours ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

I totally forgot that the McBride movies are on all this week.

Damn it, I was supposed to remind you, wasn't I? 

[Was-MArsenault]

2 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Damn it, I was supposed to remind you, wasn't I? 

Yes.

[LexieLily]

3 hours ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

Yes.

I'm sorry! 😞

[Was-MArsenault]

10 hours ago, LexieLily said:

I'm sorry! 😞

It’s okay!

[catrice2]

Is there a law that says they cannot cast an attractive male lead on any of these mystery series?

[AnnaRose]

31 minutes ago, catrice2 said:

Is there a law that says they cannot cast an attractive male lead on any of these mystery series?

Obviously not since they cast Kristoffer Polaha as the lead in the Mystery 101 series.  😉

[seasons]

"Forever in my Heart" - please tell me that this movie was really filmed in Ireland . 🍀 

[Chippings]

17 minutes ago, seasons said:

"Forever in my Heart" - please tell me that this movie was really filmed in Ireland . 🍀 

Oh, yes,  Mostly in County Wicklow, evidently. 

[seasons]

36 minutes ago, Chippings said:

Oh, yes,  Mostly in County Wicklow, evidently. 

Oh, thank you, @Chippings! I love this movie, and  worried it was edited just to look like Ireland. Hallmark Channel website wasn't much help. 

Going to Google County Wicklow! Went to Ireland in '88, can't remember if we were there. Thanks again. 🍀

[TVFan17]

3 hours ago, seasons said:

Oh, thank you, @Chippings! I love this movie, and  worried it was edited just to look like Ireland. Hallmark Channel website wasn't much help. 

Going to Google County Wicklow! Went to Ireland in '88, can't remember if we were there. Thanks again. 🍀

They've filmed several movies in Ireland over the years, surprisingly!  In addition to Forever in My Heart, they also filmed Royally Ever After there last year.  They filmed both Honeymoon for One and Chasing Leprechauns there.  They filmed The Cabin (w/ Lea Thompson) there. 

And they are supposed to be shooting a Chesapeake Shores spin-off movie in Ireland next year.  The CS movie was originally intended to shoot in Rome this year, but it got delayed when all 3 of the main actresses involved in the movie (Emilie Ullerup, Laci J. Mailey and Meghan Ory) ended up pregnant!  lol  I guess plans changed to an Ireland setting instead of Italy, and the ladies hinted that it might either be a Christmas movie or partially set at Christmas time.

Edited October 12, 2019 by TVFan17

[MissyPoo]

21 hours ago, catrice2 said:

Is there a law that says they cannot cast an attractive male lead on any of these mystery series?

Speaking of, I'm totally befoozled over what they're doing to the dudes after they cast them. It's like they put them through a vanilla tenderizer or something. They look hot in pics and other movies and in their photos but on Hallmark it's like the makeup department is trying too hard to make them seem basic. I get they're going for the everyday joe look but let the hotness run free, Hallmark! It's the half the fun!

Spoiler

Trevor Donovan

Adrian Grenier

Victor Webster, Ryan Paevey, Andrew Walker, Jesse Hutch, and Marcus Rosner seemed to slide through okay for now.

1 hour ago, TVFan17 said:

And they are supposed to be shooting a Chesapeake Shores spin-off movie in Ireland next year.  The CS movie was originally intended to shoot in Rome this year, but it got delayed when all 3 of the main actresses involved in the movie (Emilie Ullerup, Laci J. Mailey and Meghan Ory) ended up pregnant!  lol  I guess plans changed to an Ireland setting instead of Italy, and the ladies hinted that it might either be a Christmas movie or partially set at Christmas time.

Thanks for posting this, I was curious about the movie info. It would've been cool to see the Italy setting but I guess Ireland makes sense since the Grandmother and father kept mentioning it in the show.

Edited October 12, 2019 by MissyPoo
Attempting to fix spoiler tag

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

Speaking of, I'm totally befoozled over what they're doing to the dudes after they cast them. It's like they put them through a vanilla tenderizer or something. They look hot in pics and other movies and in their photos but on Hallmark it's like the makeup department is trying too hard to make them seem basic. I get they're going for the everyday joe look but let the hotness run free, Hallmark! It's the half the fun!

  Reveal spoiler

Trevor Donovan

Adrian Grenier

Victor Webster, Ryan Paevey, Andrew Walker, Jesse Hutch, and Marcus Rosner seemed to slide through okay for now.

Thanks for pinpointing why I now find myself slightly confused when I watch Hallmark. Several times I’ve been watching a movie but couldn’t quite identify why actors I like suddenly seem like pod people. 

I’m really confused about what audience Hallmark is trying to appeal to lately. 

[LexieLily]

@TVFan17 or anyone who has the master list of all the premieres of this years' Hallmark/HMM/Lifetime Christmas movies, can you share the link?

[TVFan17]

21 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

@TVFan17 or anyone who has the master list of all the premieres of this years' Hallmark/HMM/Lifetime Christmas movies, can you share the link?

Both Hallmark and Lifetime keep changing things on their schedules, so it's hard to know what will actually stick.  In fact, Lifetime just made a change a couple of days ago, which they posted on Twitter, but the schedule they posted on Twitter conflicts with the schedule on their own site (the Twitter version was missing two titles, but had a new title added in).

And Hallmark is still filming quite a few movies.  As production gradually wraps up on the movies that are still filming, there is still a big chance of more things being moved around on the schedule.  They just removed one from the list that was supposed to air in December and replaced it with an acquired movie.    Last year, they were making changes all the way into December.

So, really, all you can do is take Lifetime and Hallmark's schedules on a week-to-week basis and keep checking them, because it seems like things are still changing.   I don't think you can count on too much beyond the first couple of weeks in November at this point.

This is the current schedule for the Countdown to Christmas premieres (they just removed "Alice in Christmasland" and replaced it with "A Cheerful Christmas") -- https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas/new-movies-countdown-to-christmas-2019 

This is the current schedule for the Miracles of Christmas on HMM -- https://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/miracles-of-christmas/new-movies-2019

This is one version of Lifetime's schedule (which is newer, and missing two titles) -- https://twitter.com/lifetimetv/status/1182355410302451712

This is another version of Lifetime's schedule (which does not include the new title added in the other day) -- https://www.mylifetime.com/christmas-movies/full-schedule

[LexieLily]

Thank you! I just would like to know when to start recording.

It looks like Hallmark has both weekend days covered and HMM is doing Thursdays and Fridays. That's different. I wonder if that is so they won't overlap with each other while Lifetime has Fridays, Saturdays AND Sundays covered.

Edited October 13, 2019 by LexieLily

[TVFan17]

14 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Thank you! I just would like to know when to start recording.

It looks like Hallmark has both weekend days covered and HMM is doing Thursdays and Fridays. That's different. I wonder if that is so they won't overlap with each other while Lifetime has Fridays, Saturdays AND Sundays covered.

I can't recall if this was already mentioned in the thread (I might have missed it if it was), but I will say that one strange thing Hallmark has done this year is to release at least a couple of the upcoming new Christmas movies on DVD before they premiere.  From what I was told, the two that are available on DVD right now are Merry & Bright (with Jodie Sweetin and Andrew Walker) and Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses (with Jill Wagner and Matthew Davis).  These are not pre-orders.  The DVDs for at least 2 movies are already available in Walmart stores.

I am not sure what the logic behind that choice might be.  I mean, sure, some people will buy the movies before ever seeing them, but when those movies premiere on the actual channel, the people who already bought the DVDs will not tune in -- which leaves room for them to head over to Lifetime or another channel.  Hallmark is just handing people a reason to turn to another channel by making the DVDs available to watch right now.

I am not going to buy DVDs for movies I have not seen, and I will happily wait for them to air on the Hallmark Chanel -- but the early word on Merry & Bright is that it's quite good (that's the verdict from someone who watched it).

[LexieLily]

13 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

I can't recall if this was already mentioned in the thread (I might have missed it if it was), but I will say that one strange thing Hallmark has done this year is to release at least a couple of the upcoming new Christmas movies on DVD before they premiere.  From what I was told, the two that are available on DVD right now are Merry & Bright (with Jodie Sweetin and Andrew Walker) and Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses (with Jill Wagner and Matthew Davis).  These are not pre-orders.  The DVDs for at least 2 movies are already available in Walmart stores.

I am not sure what the logic behind that choice might be.  I mean, sure, some people will buy the movies before ever seeing them, but when those movies premiere on the actual channel, the people who already bought the DVDs will not tune in -- which leaves room for them to head over to Lifetime or another channel.  Hallmark is just handing people a reason to turn to another channel by making the DVDs available to watch right now.

I am not going to buy DVDs for movies I have not seen, and I will happily wait for them to air on the Hallmark Chanel -- but the early word on Merry & Bright is that it's quite good (that's the verdict from someone who watched it).

Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses is the first movie of the season to present on Hallmark. (A Merry Christmas Match is the first one overall, on HMM, and both of those days also show Lifetime ones.) You're right, it is odd that they would sell DVD versions of as-yet-unaired movies, and even more strange that out of the multitude of offerings they had to choose from even from this years' movies they would choose their first-of-the-lineup movie.

[TVFan17]

14 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses is the first movie of the season to present on Hallmark. (A Merry Christmas Match is the first one overall, on HMM, and both of those days also show Lifetime ones.) You're right, it is odd that they would sell DVD versions of as-yet-unaired movies, and even more strange that out of the multitude of offerings they had to choose from even from this years' movies they would choose their first-of-the-lineup movie.

Exactly!  That's what I was thinking.     It doesn't make sense to me.   Wouldn't the goal be to get people to tune in on the night Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses premieres, instead of giving them a reason to watch another channel?  lol   A lot of people still don't even have the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel, so all they will see from Hallmark will be what is on that main channel.   So it seems like it should be a big deal to try to get everyone to watch that first Countdown to Christmas movie premiere on the Hallmark Channel and try to hook them in for the rest of the season with that movie.

The only sense I can make of Merry & Bright being released on DVD now is that maybe Hallmark is thinking "Why not?  We have another Andrew Walker Christmas premiere coming up on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries later in the season, so it's no big deal to release this other one now."   lol  That might not be their logic, but that's the only thing I can think of at the moment.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

Thank you! I just would like to know when to start recording.

You might want to bookmark this page.  This is a calendar of the upcoming holiday movies.  It gets updated as things get added or changed. New movies will have a new next to them with a link to the description if they have one.  The blog's main focus is Hallmark and gets updated all year round but will also include any Hallmark-esque type movies (so light hearted family or romcom but not stalker films) that appear on Netflix, UP TV, UPN, the Hallmarks, Lifetime and others.

I liked Love, Fall & Order which is funny for me to say since I also think it felt a little long but I genuinely think it was done just a little better than most of these are.  The leads were good.  Yes, they tried to bland-up Trevor Donovan but I think he rose above that.  Fighting over a property line doesn't sound like a very interesting story but I will take it over unrealistic fights like "save the year-round Christmas tree store" a thousand times and more. Especially when they take care to craft the main lead's legal expertise to be property law to serve the story.  And the ex she briefly dated that needed to show up for a misunderstanding had an expertise in property as well but was a cute and decent guy but one who didn't want her back.

Now, it's probably unrealistic this went to court.  Or that they final agreement didn't come up earlier.  And it's definitely unrealistic that a self-respecting doughnut shop would "bake up" a batch of doughnuts.

[twoods]

I enjoyed the Over the Moon movie. Jessica Lowndes has really come on her own and have enjoyed the past few movies she has been in (I still remember how much I disliked her acting in Merry Matrimony). Her and Wes Brown had amazing chemistry and the storyline kept me interested. 

[Was-MArsenault]

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

You might want to bookmark this page.  This is a calendar of the upcoming holiday movies.  It gets updated as things get added or changed. New movies will have a new next to them with a link to the description if they have one.  The blog's main focus is Hallmark and gets updated all year round but will also include any Hallmark-esque type movies (so light hearted family or romcom but not stalker films) that appear on Netflix, UP TV, UPN, the Hallmarks, Lifetime and others.

I liked Love, Fall & Order which is funny for me to say since I also think it felt a little long but I genuinely think it was done just a little better than most of these are.  The leads were good.  Yes, they tried to bland-up Trevor Donovan but I think he rose above that.  Fighting over a property line doesn't sound like a very interesting story but I will take it over unrealistic fights like "save the year-round Christmas tree store" a thousand times and more. Especially when they take care to craft the main lead's legal expertise to be property law to serve the story.  And the ex she briefly dated that needed to show up for a misunderstanding had an expertise in property as well but was a cute and decent guy but one who didn't want her back.

Now, it's probably unrealistic this went to court.  Or that they final agreement didn't come up earlier.  And it's definitely unrealistic that a self-respecting doughnut shop would "bake up" a batch of doughnuts.

UPN isn’t even around anymore.

[Happywatcher]

6 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Now, it's probably unrealistic this went to court.  Or that they final agreement didn't come up earlier.  And it's definitely unrealistic that a self-respecting doughnut shop would "bake up" a batch of doughnuts.

When I was at a law firm it was common for trial dates to be at least 2-3 years after the case was filed.

In real life, if they did stick it out for trial, the leads would be dropping off their child at day care on the way to court.

[AnnaRose]

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I liked Love, Fall & Order which is funny for me to say since I also think it felt a little long but I genuinely think it was done just a little better than most of these are.  The leads were good.  Yes, they tried to bland-up Trevor Donovan but I think he rose above that.  Fighting over a property line doesn't sound like a very interesting story but I will take it over unrealistic fights like "save the year-round Christmas tree store" a thousand times and more. Especially when they take care to craft the main lead's legal expertise to be property law to serve the story.  And the ex she briefly dated that needed to show up for a misunderstanding had an expertise in property as well but was a cute and decent guy but one who didn't want her back.

Now, it's probably unrealistic this went to court.  Or that they final agreement didn't come up earlier.  And it's definitely unrealistic that a self-respecting doughnut shop would "bake up" a batch of doughnuts.

I totally agree with everything you wrote (especially the bolded,) and enjoyed this movie much more than I anticipated. (Even with all of the unrealistic aspects.)

Edited October 13, 2019 by AnnaRose

[TVFan17]

I enjoyed Love, Fall and Order -- there was certainly no mistaking the season in which it was set, as there was an explosion of Fall all over the place, throughout the movie!   I think I liked this Erin Cahill Hallmark movie better than her last 2 Hallmark movies.   She's very charming.   I can't say that I would necessarily go out of my way to catch it every time it's on, but I would watch it again at some point down the road.  It was a pleasant and welcome installment in an otherwise lackluster Fall Harvest event this year.   I mean, this movie had enough "Fall" in it to cover 2 or 3 movies, so it was not lacking in colored leaves, pumpkins and other seasonal details.

Speaking of movies lacking in Fall details... I finally watched Over the Moon in Love (since I had only caught an underwhelming snippet of it last weekend, and wanted to give it a fair chance).  For the most part, I thought it was pretty good.  It was certainly better than I expected it to be.  There were parts of it I really liked. 

I think OTMIL might be my favorite of the Jessica Lowndes Hallmark movies.  To me, she did a better job in this one -- perhaps because this was her passion project and she probably spent  a lot of time working on it and getting familiar with her character as she fine-tuned the script.  She was likely much more invested in this movie and more connected to it than others she has done, which might have yielded better results.

But what was that gloppy, drippy yellow stuff Jessica kept trying to eat, and kept getting interrupted?  Was that supposed to be ice cream?  if so, it looked disgusting.   Was it yogurt?  Sorbet?  Pudding?

Did Wes Brown's character ever ask Miranda Frigon if she ate meat??  I didn't know if I somehow missed it but, if he didn't, he should have asked before just blindly ordering ribs for her when they went out to eat.  In this day and age, you can't just assume someone eats meat anymore.  Lots of people don't.
 

Edited October 13, 2019 by TVFan17

[twoods]

It bothered me more that she was willing to try the ribs even if she muttered that she was vegetarian. Usually in that situation, someone says that they are vegetarian and then orders something else. That gloopy yellow orange stuff looked like mango sorbet sitting out for too long and looked gross. I would have preferred some hamburger shots to that stuff.