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

[PennyPlain]

8 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

Hallmark seems to only celebrate the non-religious commercial side of the holiday. 

Even in two of the Debbie Macomber movies with Mrs Miracle who is meant to be an angel you don't really get a Jesus/God feeling.  Magical for sure but if there's a religious aspect to these movies it's extremely understated.   

Offhand I am hardpressed to think of any of these movies that even has someone going to church at Christmas,  It's all Santa and magical snowglobes and small town wonderfulness.

[IWantCandy71]

8 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

To be fair, how many of these Christmas movies include the word "Jesus" in them. Hallmark seems to only celebrate the non-religious commercial side of the holiday. 

Yup. Hallmark has never been a Christian network.

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, IWantCandy71 said:

Banning something is totally a form of passive aggressive bullying. "I'm going to withhold something from you (my money or sponsorship) to get you to do what I want". That is bullying. 

Again, agree to disagree.

Banning something that is not innately harmful to you is passive aggressive which begs the question: why did OMM ever demand the commercials be removed in the first place?  What harm was it doing to them?  Same sex relationships and marriage are an accepted part of our modern lives.  Expecting a television network to banish any mention of it because you personally don’t want to hear or see it is the height of passive aggressiveness.  Sure, there are people who believe that gay relationships are wrong, they’re welcome to think what they like, but they don’t get to dictate to the rest of us.

If nothing else, this controversy has exposed OMM and FRC for the small minded bigots that they are and has shown the folks at Hallmark that there are far more people out there who don’t have a problem with seeing same sex relationships than do.

[doodlebug]

19 minutes ago, IWantCandy71 said:

Yup. Hallmark has never been a Christian network.

Occasionally, they’ll talk about going to church, but we almost never see any part of the service.  They will also have a number of characters who claim that their favorite Christmas song is a religious one; but we don’t see nativity scenes or Advent wreaths or even prayers before meals and such.

Hallmark is Christian-lite at best.

Edited December 16, 2019 by doodlebug

[IWantCandy71]

22 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

Banning something that is not innately harmful to you is passive aggressive which begs the question: why did OMM ever demand the commercials be removed in the first place?  What harm was it doing to them?  Same sex relationships and marriage are an accepted part of our modern lives.  Expecting a television network to banish any mention of it because you personally don’t want to hear or see it is the height of passive aggressiveness.  

Yes, it is. It was passive aggressive and annoying when a group boycotted Disney over The Lion King. It is also passive aggressive and annoying about people boycotting Chick Fil A. Nonsense and moral superiority and yes, hatred, are rampant on both sides.

Yeah, both sides. Imagine that. And yet, it's true.

[izabella]

Considering they barely acknowledge that Jews exist, and never Muslims or atheists or anything else except Christmas all the time, Christian-lite still makes Hallmark Christian.

[Black Knight]

52 minutes ago, Aliconehead said:

I also think one of the reasons Hallmark reversed course is that they could have lost a lot of the actors.

And still another reason is because they would have lost advertisers beyond Zola. The LGBT community is an important source of revenue for wedding- and romance-related businesses, especially now that marriage equality has been legalized, and that's an important advertising sector for Hallmark considering all the romantic movies the channel does. Zola and other advertisers weren't going to alienate the LGBT community that they court by supporting Hallmark with advertising revenue if Hallmark didn't reverse the policy it came up with five minutes ago in response to OMM starting a petition.

Hallmark is a business first and foremost and found that the best business action for them, for several reasons, is to accept the advertising. Thanks to One Million Moms's overreactions, they've had the opposite effect than intended. Civil marriage equality is mainstream - that has nothing to do with religion. Churches, synagogues, mosques, etc. are free to conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies or not - some do, some don't, and that's up to them. Religious people are free to believe how they like, and some support it and some don't. But civil marriage equality is the law of the land. OMM is fighting a losing battle trying to insert religious beliefs into what's a matter of secular civil law.

[PennyPlain]

32 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

Thanks to One Million Moms's overreactions, they've had the opposite effect than intended.

Reminds me of what happens every time the Catholic Church would get hot and bothered about a movie.  It never seemed to give them the result they wanted, if anything more people would go see it not less. 

[IWantCandy71]

50 minutes ago, izabella said:

Considering they barely acknowledge that Jews exist, and never Muslims or atheists or anything else except Christmas all the time, Christian-lite still makes Hallmark Christian.

Well, I'm a Christian, and my Savior is a Jew, so I'm not sure what Christians you've been around who don't acknowledge Jews. Or atheists. Or Muslims.

I think the problem is simply again...people slapping the name "Christian" on something without really understanding what it means. But yeah, I'm bowing out now of the discussion, because I really don't see the point for me to continue and honestly, I don't have the time to waste today.

Everyone have a good day.

[Kohola3]

1 hour ago, izabella said:

Considering they barely acknowledge that Jews exist, and never Muslims or atheists or anything else except Christmas all the time, Christian-lite still makes Hallmark Christian.

It's the total avoidance off all non-Christian holidays that makes them at least Christian-lite. 

It's the total refusal to have movies with people of color, people with handicaps, people in same sex relationships that makes them bigoted and racist.  And bigotry is wrong no matter how you cut it.  And to point that out is not bullying, it's stating facts.

Now that it has hit them in the pocketbook, maybe they will take notice.  In the meantime they will continue to show their lukewarm recycled pap every single day, all day, for months on end.

Oh for the days of Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations....

[dubstepford wife]

I've never referred to Hallmark as a "Christian" network because they aren't.  If they were I would actually have less of an issue with them pulling the Zola ads.  I will never agree with people who object to LGBTQ rights, but if you want a safe space, I guess that's your prerogative.  But the very fact that Hallmark isn't a Christian network is what makes this so problematic.  What I said earlier in this thread is that they want it both ways: they want to keep their evangelical base but also appeal to those who might not fit that description, and you can't please everyone.  

If you truly believe in inclusivity, feature LGBTQ characters.  Feature people of color.  Feature other religions (Good Witch without Wicca?  Hannukah movies that are basically Christmas movies?  Really, Hallmark?)  Until you do, it's lip service and hypocrisy and you will rightly be called out on it.  I wouldn't call that bullying, I would call it holding them accountable.  And hey, if you decide you want to be a network primarily for white evangelicals, I guess that's fine, but don't be surprised when you lose viewers because of it, because that's not a very large chunk of the population in 2019.  Make up your mind and own it.  But don't hide behind "avoiding controversy" and blame your writers for your mistakes.  That's cowardice.  

[Guest]

5 hours ago, IWantCandy71 said:

If a true social injustice was being done, speak up. There was no social injustice. If you have a problem with Hallmark running the ad, don't watch. If you have a problem with Hallmark removing the ad, don't watch. Problem solved without either side acting morally superior.

In your mind there was no social injustice being done but you don’t get to make that decision for everyone else. The fact that Hallmark removed ads that feature same sex couples while approving nearly identical ads featuring heterosexual couples makes it a social injustice to me and to many others. Plus the language used to explain that removal was offensive and hypocritical. 

4 hours ago, IWantCandy71 said:

Yup. Hallmark has never been a Christian network.

That’s actually not true. I have clear memories of flipping through channels and seeing Christian programming similar to the 700 Club on Hallmark Channel. 
The channel that eventually evolved into Hallmark Channel started as two separate religious cable networks sharing the channel. It evolved into the Faith and Values Channel and then Odyssey adding more and more secular programming but it was still a Christian Channel. Even after Hallmark took complete control and rebranded it as Hallmark Channel they still aired 14 hours of religious programming a week including a 7 hour block on Sunday’s.  

I think Christian-lite is a fair description because they may have moved away from explicit religious content but have been trying to walk the line between Christian and more secular views for years. 

Edited December 16, 2019 by Guest

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

There was already a protest started about a week ago when someone at Hallmark mentioned potentially having a gay couple in one of their movies and it gained very little traction.  This probably would have not made a blip either had Hallmark not capitulated. And because they capitulated, they actually created the controversy they claim they wanted to avoid.

That's why Hallmark made such a big mistake when they pulled the ads.  Their audience might feel more comfortable watching movies about white people and straight people but I believe the number who were actually going to stop watching over seeing a same sex couple in an ad were pretty small if they even actually paid attention to the ads.

On the other hand, both Hallmark and Zola got a lot of attention (and thousands more ad views!), so some ad folks think it was a win-win.  What gets me when I hear about the protests and all the what-will-I-tell-the-kids comments is that Hallmark Christmas movies are filled with single moms and DEADBEAT DADS. 

I think Hallmark brought back the ads because they are uncomfortable with the fact that the discussion evolved from the ad to the LAZY, BORING MOVIES THEY ARE NOW SHOWING.  

[In2You]

4 hours ago, izabella said:

Considering they barely acknowledge that Jews exist, and never Muslims or atheists or anything else except Christmas all the time, Christian-lite still makes Hallmark Christian.

At this point Hallmark seems to be catering to conservative Christians.  Ironically UP which was founded as a Christian channel has always been more diverse.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, dubstepford wife said:

What I said earlier in this thread is that they want it both ways: they want to keep their evangelical base but also appeal to those who might not fit that description, and you can't please everyone.  

I think this is the heart of the all the problems with Hallmark Channel. They’ve been trying to expand to new audiences and appeal to the evangelicals that was the channels audience before it became Hallmark Channel. In the end they failed to satisfying anyone. 

In the last year it became clear that they needed to pick a focus and stick with it. I suspect that the parent company finally stepped in and made the choice once they realized that bad decision making at Crown Media was negatively impacting the whole brand. If they’re smart they will take this opportunity to restructure the media companies. 
 

As a side note after reading more about Hallmark Channel I finally understand why many scheduling decisions seemed to make zero sense. Hallmark Channel and HMM are run by Crown Media Inc. and Hallmark Movies Now is run by Hallmark Cards Inc. It seemed like they fighting over content because they actually were. 

Edited December 17, 2019 by Guest

[Happywatcher]

Catching up on some of the movies we missed-- A Homecoming for the Holidays. 

Still confused on the time jump at the start. Did they jump up 3 years and it was the brother's second deployment and then he was about to get out out but was thinking of reenlisting? How else was he getting out to take over the business?

Why did the unit rotate up from Kansas to "Montana" Vancouver to go overseas?

Some people bitched online about the brother wearing his uniform getting out, but it was for a party at the Legion and that is a little different.

On the plus side: The lead is a great singer and good at acting, and puppies

[Bronx Babe]

Just to lighten things up a bit, I just saw Christmas in Montana.  Old guy greets Kellie Martin and daughter:  "What you two need is some hot cocoa!"  Five seconds later he comes out of the kitchen with two cups of the stuff.  Of course it's got mounds of whipped cream on top.  I'm thinking Samantha Stevens must have popped in to give him one of her special "speeded up" spells.  

Kellie visits the family barn, where it's just as vomitously decorated as their ranch house. (every stall has 10,000 lights)  There's an explanation:  "The horses love Christmas! They pretend that they're reindeer!"

Hot cider and eggnog also make an appearance, completing the Hallmark holiday beverage trifecta.

 

Question:  Why do all the so-called real Santas in Hallmark movies look so creepy?  I swear I've seen every one (sans the red suit) interviewed as suspects on the Investigative Discovery channel.

[IWantCandy71]

17 minutes ago, Bronx Babe said:

Question:  Why do all the so-called real Santas in Hallmark movies look so creepy?  I swear I've seen every one (sans the red suit) interviewed as suspects on the Investigative Discovery channel.

Some RL Santa's have given me the creeps. The Kohl's department store here had one that just sat there staring ahead when there were no kids around. You'd think he'd at least act alive.

[Bronx Babe]

I will give Hallmark Italian restaurant alerts. 

 

25 minutes ago, IWantCandy71 said:

Some RL Santa's have given me the creeps. The Kohl's department store here had one that just sat there staring ahead when there were no kids around. You'd think he'd at least act alive.

I know what you mean, @IWantCandy71.  You have to wonder why so many kids scream at the sight of him.

(and remember Santa from A Christmas Story?  Pushed poor Ralphie down the chute, although he did admonish him not to wish for the Red Ryder BB gun.  I liked the disgruntled elves: "Come on, hurry up!" lol)

[dubstepford wife]

46 minutes ago, Bronx Babe said:

Kellie visits the family barn, where it's just as vomitously decorated as their ranch house. (every stall has 10,000 lights)  There's an explanation:  "The horses love Christmas! They pretend that they're reindeer!"

WHOA WHOA WHOA.  Okay, I ride, and...NO WAY WOULD THAT HAPPEN.  I will forgive ubiquitous hot chocolate and ice skating and what not, but that's just too far outside the envelope.  String lights are tripping hazards (for human and beast) and the horses would immediately try to eat the wreaths (and probably either poison themselves and/or choke).  Plus barns are the dirtiest places ever, even fancy rich people barns.  Expensive horses poop just as much as old as dirt trail ponies.

15 minutes ago, Bronx Babe said:

I will give Hallmark Italian restaurant alerts. 

Good Witch has a Thai restaurant that they sometimes go to.  I figure it's super exotic by Hallmark standards.  And what about Chinese?  Speaking of having no Hannukah movies, where's the movie about the workaholic-but-with-hearts-of-gold Jews who meet and fall in love at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day because it's the only place that's open?

Edited December 17, 2019 by dubstepford wife

[IWantCandy71]

13 minutes ago, Bronx Babe said:

I know what you mean, @IWantCandy71.  You have to wonder why so many kids scream at the sight of him.

(and remember Santa from A Christmas Story?  Pushed poor Ralphie down the chute, although he did admonish him not to wish for the Red Ryder BB gun.  I liked the disgruntled elves: "Come on, hurry up!" lol)

I would not have batted an eye if a kid screamed at this Kohl's Santa. And yes, poor Ralphie. I have not watched that movie in years !

[Athena]

Quick reminder that we have a whole thread dedicated to Holiday TV Movies. This thread is for Hallmark Channel and its movies only. Thank you. 

[Bronx Babe]

22 minutes ago, dubstepford wife said:

WHOA WHOA WHOA.  Okay, I ride, and...NO WAY WOULD THAT HAPPEN.  I will forgive ubiquitous hot chocolate and ice skating and what not, but that's just too far outside the envelope.  String lights are tripping hazards (for human and beast) and the horses would immediately try to eat the wreaths (and probably either poison themselves and/or choke).  Plus barns are the dirtiest places ever, even fancy rich people barns.  Expensive horses poop just as much as old as dirt trail ponies.

Good Witch has a Thai restaurant that they sometimes go to.  I figure it's super exotic by Hallmark standards.  And what about Chinese?  Speaking of having no Hannukah movies, where's the movie about the workaholic-but-with-hearts-of-gold Jews who meet and fall in love at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day because it's the only place that's open?

I guess Hallmark is so besotted/emboldened by their ridiculous holiday decor tropes that they choose to ignore the realities you talk about, and figure the audience doesn't even care.  Just ply them with more and more STUFF.

Thai food in a Hallmark movie? Wow! (one of my favorite cuisines, btw)  I'll have to check out the Good Witch movies.  I wonder what they order, lol.  Maybe the Tom Ka Gai soup, followed by Panang curry. (now I'm getting hungry)

Yes, I want to see that Chinese restaurant scenario!  I'd plotz with joy!

[IWantCandy71]

5 hours ago, Dani said:

In your mind there was no social injustice being done but you don’t get to make that decision for everyone else.

I wasn't making a decision for anyone but myself.

[Guest]

How Hallmark Took Over Cable Television

An interesting New Yorker article with a behind the scenes look at Hallmark. It was clearly written before the recent controversy but I think it shows what they do right and how this happened. I think the whole article shows that they missed the appeal of Hallmark. They are focusing on creating an idealized nostalgic version of reality and have lost a lot of the heart and warmth that worked in the older movies. The parts about the filming of the new Christmas in Evergreen is particularly interesting with them trying to get the actors to dial back their emotionally reactions. 

It does confirm that Road to Christmas includes Hallmark’s first gay couple. I’m sure smarter people than me will analyze this in the coming days so I’ll just say that I don’t think this man is capable of fixing Hallmark Channel’s problems. 

Quote

I mentioned to Abbott that I had thought I had seen a gay couple in a movie; I didn’t say which. “You did,” he said. “It was ‘Road to Christmas.’ ” Hallmark wanted to “reflect the broader population” where it could, he went on. “And we believe that if we do it authentically, without doing it just to do it—which is the wrong reason to do it, by the way—people will feel good about it, regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum.” I couldn’t tell that they were gay, I said. “But that’s what’s great about it,” Abbott said. “They’re not being called out and made to either look cool or weird.”

[Guest]

[mikeb]

Here's an article where some stars discuss possible upcoming Hallmark projects - not a lot of definitive news though.  The one I am most interested is Nicki DeLoach is pitching a mystery series to Hallmark starring her and Michael Rady.

Also interesting to read that Niall Matter thinks his 2019 Fall Harvest movie that ended up getting pulled from schedule will not air until next fall.

https://www.ibtimes.com/11-hallmark-stars-reveal-their-new-2020-movie-plans-2884055

Edited December 17, 2019 by mikeb

[kirinan]

11 hours ago, Dani said:

How Hallmark Took Over Cable Television

An interesting New Yorker article with a behind the scenes look at Hallmark. It was clearly written before the recent controversy but I think it shows what they do right and how this happened. I think the whole article shows that they missed the appeal of Hallmark. They are focusing on creating an idealized nostalgic version of reality and have lost a lot of the heart and warmth that worked in the older movies. The parts about the filming of the new Christmas in Evergreen is particularly interesting with them trying to get the actors to dial back their emotionally reactions. 

It does confirm that Road to Christmas includes Hallmark’s first gay couple. I’m sure smarter people than me will analyze this in the coming days so I’ll just say that I don’t think this man is capable of fixing Hallmark Channel’s problems. 

The quote I've added below (emphasis mine) makes me so angry at Hallmark, even though they've reversed their position on the ads. They willingly use the LGBTQ community--actors, writers, directors, and who knows how many other people--to create the work that makes them so much money. And yet, they effectively turned their back on that community with their refusal to air ads that represent them.  

Quote

Projects were being green-lighted in a spirit of abundance. Ron Oliver told me that his latest film, “Christmas at the Plaza,” had originated when he posted a picture of himself at the Plaza Hotel, where he was staying with his husband, on Facebook. “As a joke, I said, ‘This is me researching my next movie, “Christmas at the Plaza,” ’ ”Oliver said. “That Monday morning, my exec called and said, ‘If you’re serious, we’re in.’” He wrote it in July, directed it in August, and it premièred on Thanksgiving.

[Jillybean]

Reading the comments on Hallmark's Facebook post about the reversal is very disheartening (note to self: never read the comments). So many narrow minds raising more narrow minds.

[EyewatchTV211]

On 12/16/2019 at 7:25 PM, dubstepford wife said:

Good Witch has a Thai restaurant that they sometimes go to.  I figure it's super exotic by Hallmark standards.  And what about Chinese?  Speaking of having no Hannukah movies, where's the movie about the workaholic-but-with-hearts-of-gold Jews who meet and fall in love at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day because it's the only place that's open?

The Jews meet and fall in love at a Chinese restaurant but go separate ways when they leave, only to run into each other at the movie theater later that day going to see the same movie!

[Guest]

[Irlandesa]

I loved the line in the video about the title for "A Shoe Addict's Christmas."

Stephen: I had to ask in rehearsal if we made that up.  We did not.

[Chippings]

The New Yorker article had a lot of interesting bits I hadn't known before, but one was that "Hallmark screenplays have nine acts, each of which hits specific plot points -- a meet-cute in Act 1, before the first commercial, an"almost kiss" in Act VII."  I knew there were a whole lot of tropes, and the obligatory misunderstanding about 17 minutes before the end, but .. nine acts! .. that was much more calculated than I had imagined.

 

[catrice2]

Hallmark lost me on movies a long, long, time ago. I hang around for the Mysteries, and by that I mean a few of the Mystery movies and the old Mystery series.  I always hate this time of year anyway because they suspend the mysteries for two months or more...so pointless!  The original Mystery movies used to be somewhat tolerable, but in the last year or so I don't even bother to watch most of those. 

I think the formula works for die hard viewers, but I can't see it attracting a lot of new viewers. Funny...I was at a conference last week where one presenter made jokes about Hallmark movies and the lady next to me said she'd never seen one or knew about them and wanted to watch one....I said, "no, you don't." 

[In2You]

6 hours ago, catrice2 said:

Hallmark lost me on movies a long, long, time ago. I hang around for the Mysteries, and by that I mean a few of the Mystery movies and the old Mystery series.  I always hate this time of year anyway because they suspend the mysteries for two months or more...so pointless!  The original Mystery movies used to be somewhat tolerable, but in the last year or so I don't even bother to watch most of those. 

I think the formula works for die hard viewers, but I can't see it attracting a lot of new viewers. Funny...I was at a conference last week where one presenter made jokes about Hallmark movies and the lady next to me said she'd never seen one or knew about them and wanted to watch one....I said, "no, you don't." 

I don't understand why they don't at least make holiday themed Christmas movies. Most of their Christmas movies are from cozies mysteries any way and there are whole cozy mystery series themed around Christmas.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 12/17/2019 at 9:01 AM, kirinan said:

The quote I've added below (emphasis mine) makes me so angry at Hallmark, even though they've reversed their position on the ads. They willingly use the LGBTQ community--actors, writers, directors, and who knows how many other people--to create the work that makes them so much money. And yet, they effectively turned their back on that community with their refusal to air ads that represent them.  

True. You’re reminding me I know of a Lesbian film editor who works on their movies. 
but check this out:  in minute 12 of the execrable Christmas in Evergreen, someone’s tweaking the audience. The librarian tells the lead actress that she has a corner devoted to famous Vermonters, from Rudy Vallee to Alison Bechdel to . . .  Yes they snuck in Alison Bechdel. Hilarious. 

[izabella]

I've just started watching Write Before Christmas, with Torey DeVitto.  I am not a big Torey fan, but she gave me the biggest laugh I've had this Christmas movie season.  Someone cheerfully says, "Merry Christmas!" to her at one point, and she replies "Is it?"

[Bronx Babe]

Christmas On My Mind

Heroine has "retrograde amnesia"

Finds out she lives in a gorgeous house with a bedroom closet of Kardashian proportions.  Has a devoted female assistant who never seems to leave her side.

Assistant:  "I know all about you.  You love hot chocolate"

Stay away from this one.  Trust me.

[dcinmb]

Hope it's okay to post this here as it features "stars" from Hallmark's Christmas movies.

Did anyone happen to catch "Hallmark Channel's Christmas Concert"? I expected it to be bad but I'm only 10 minutes in and it may very well be the most cringe-inducing thing I've ever seen on the Hallmark Channel, which is a feat in and of itself.

Case in point: our host Lacey Chabert (this is supposedly her house), Jen Lilley and Nikki DeLoach are seated on a sofa naming famous Christmas carols:

Jen: Jingle Bells.

Nikki: Oh, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"!

Lacey: Ahh! I love that one!!

Jen: Yessss!

All three beg the Hallmark pianist sitting in the corner: Can we do that? Peter? Peter? Please?

And they launch into . . . "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

 

 

 

[Bronx Babe]

My warmest wishes to everyone on this board -- Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and blessings for a healthy, peaceful New Year.

I'm waiting for Santa Claus to make Colin Firth bump into me at my local supermarket.  He'll no doubt be shopping for eggplant and will need some help.

[TVFan17]

9 hours ago, dcinmb said:

Hope it's okay to post this here as it features "stars" from Hallmark's Christmas movies.

Did anyone happen to catch "Hallmark Channel's Christmas Concert"? I expected it to be bad but I'm only 10 minutes in and it may very well be the most cringe-inducing thing I've ever seen on the Hallmark Channel, which is a feat in and of itself.

Case in point: our host Lacey Chabert (this is supposedly her house), Jen Lilley and Nikki DeLoach are seated on a sofa naming famous Christmas carols:

Jen: Jingle Bells.

Nikki: Oh, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"!

Lacey: Ahh! I love that one!!

Jen: Yessss!

All three beg the Hallmark pianist sitting in the corner: Can we do that? Peter? Peter? Please?

And they launch into . . . "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

 

 

 

lol  I could have misheard something that was said, but I thought that someone referred to the song "Sleigh Ride" as "Sleigh Bells" at one point too.  Did that happen, or am I imagining it?

 

Anyway, I watched it!   The concept is very similar to old, old network specials with stars from the '40s-'50s-'60s-'70s sitting around and casually chatting about Christmas things, singing, etc. This one had that kind of throwback feeling and format to it.  I'm not sure if younger Hallmark viewers will get that, though.  

So I understood exactly what Hallmark was going for with this special.  But it was not polished enough.  The lip syncing was not good in some parts.  The dancing was awkward.  I know that some of these people have been singing for a very long time, but the pre-recorded tracks they were lip syncing to sounded kind of rough in some cases.  I thought they could have used slightly better vocal tracks.

All in all, I thought it was goofy, silly fun.  Once I saw how it was playing out -- when Jen Lilley and Lacey Chabert started singing as they were frosting cookies or whatever it was -- I just decided to go with it and enjoy the kooky, crazy ride!  It was entertaining.

Edited December 24, 2019 by TVFan17

[voiceover]

Found another "egg" in my beloved Crown for Christmas...

As they're walking across the courtyard (about to find out that the princess is late for the family photo shoot), Allie holds up her "worm jar" & declares that one of them "Looks like an Ellie!".

Ellie is the first name of the actress playing Theodora🤣

[Happywatcher]

We attended our friend group's annual Hallmark Christmas movie drinking game and bingo party this last weekend. Last year we hosted--being a guest is more fun.

Anyway, this year we used the Bingo cards Hallmark sold, and they got filled fast. The commercial ones were more simple and way faster than the older online informal ones.

We also used the online drinking game rules at the same time. When you got a bingo you had to drink a whole glass, but your card was entered as another chance for the drawing.

Oddly enough we got through the second movie and the third one played as the party wound down. Everyone lyfted--obviously.

[oakville]

On 12/16/2019 at 6:41 PM, Bronx Babe said:

Just to lighten things up a bit, I just saw Christmas in Montana.  Old guy greets Kellie Martin and daughter:  "What you two need is some hot cocoa!"  Five seconds later he comes out of the kitchen with two cups of the stuff.  Of course it's got mounds of whipped cream on top.  I'm thinking Samantha Stevens must have popped in to give him one of her special "speeded up" spells.  

Kellie visits the family barn, where it's just as vomitously decorated as their ranch house. (every stall has 10,000 lights)  There's an explanation:  "The horses love Christmas! They pretend that they're reindeer!"

Hot cider and eggnog also make an appearance, completing the Hallmark holiday beverage trifecta.

 

Question:  Why do all the so-called real Santas in Hallmark movies look so creepy?  I swear I've seen every one (sans the red suit) interviewed as suspects on the Investigative Discovery channel.

I loved this movie. It was nice to see Chloe accept living on a ranch with horses .

It was nice to see veteran Canadian actors Art Hindle & Victoria Snow.

[Callietwo]

3 hours ago, oakville said:

I loved this movie.

I loved Christmas in Montana as well.  Most especially that they were a bit older than the standard leads, and all that comes with that.  I never watched Kellie Martin’s TV shows but she’s fast becoming on of my favorite female leads.  I love the lack of plastic surgery.  
 

And other than the extreme & excessive decorations and instant Hot.Cocoa, most of the movie seemed far more realistic than a lot of them.   The actors can actually act, making it all the more believable.  One of my favorites this year. 
 

 

[catrice2]

Does anyone know when the mysteries are back? 

[mikeb]

5 minutes ago, catrice2 said:

Does anyone know when the mysteries are back? 

First new one is a Crossword Mystery on Sunday January 5th.  There are two from other series scheduled for the next two Sundays as well.

[TVFan17]

12 minutes ago, catrice2 said:

Does anyone know when the mysteries are back? 

January 5th, at 8 p.m. instead of 9 p.m.    I've posted updates over in the dedicated Hallmark Mystery thread here and there.

Right now, there are new mysteries scheduled for the first 3 Sundays in January but not the 4th.

Edited December 27, 2019 by TVFan17

[Kohola3]

The Washington Post weighs in....

[doodlebug]

6 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

The Washington Post weighs in....

Salon explores the politics of Hallmark movie tropes:

https://www.salon.com/2019/12/25/hallmark-christmas-movies-fascist-propaganda/?fbclid=IwAR237w4ILlPtRvhX_7V2Vl4tPTLPIKv3Cczo6uxgNhCp2RKvps5yUKPRv8w