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

[Ashforth]

I think Jessica Lowndes should lay off the lip injections. Her mouth looks misshapen and is distracting to me. She looked great with what I assume were her natural lips:

[Pickles]

The lead actor guy in last night's movie looked so bland and colorless to me. His hair color looked bleached out and did him no favors. 

[Happywatcher]

Fall Harvest Countdown. We did a brunch that turned into a few stops and came back and fired this up. 

Love Struck Cafe. It is actually fun. I IMDBed the lead, she did this in-between TV shows as a regular. She is good, the main love interest cranks a lot of Hallmarks and does a good job. The conflict isn't terrible.

I almost had an issue with her city boyfriend/wannabe fiance being obviously 10 years younger than the lead, but you go, girl.

More importantly, it is well well staged and shot. You want to live on the street the cafe is located on.

[Ashforth]

I'm watching Autumn in the Vineyard and it is cute, silly, entertaining. The leads are good and do a good job with the script they were given.

I had to roll my eyes, though, that running the vineyard consisted of wandering down the rows, looking at the grapes. No foreman, no workers. Just two bickering, destined-to-be-together, amazingly attractive and well dressed (for farmwork) people who have all the time in the world to cook, hang out, bicker and fall in love.

And I literally laughed out loud when they did the "harvest." Look at all them white people picking grapes! Not an immigrant in sight.

Still and all, one of the better Hallmark movies I've seen lately.

Edited October 14, 2019 by Ashforth
"is" isn't the same as "in"

[Happywatcher]

October Kiss came on. Ashley Williams, one of the tier 2 Hallmark stars, does a great job in a Halloween themed movie. She is very likable as Pooppy the babysitter for the single dad who has a lot of work stuff.

I like Ashley...but her character is a new wave flake and the other woman as played by Miranda Frigon is a professional woman who is smart and cares about the kids. Poppy commits by the month as far as helping the kids. Everything about her is 'about to deuce out to LA or NY'

The kids would be better off if the OW won this one

[twoods]

October Kiss is one of the only movies I’ve liked from her. She wasn’t doing her weird grinning inappropriately schtick like she does in her other movies. It was also one of the only Halloween themed movies that does not involve an overly botoxed Good Witch.

[scenicbyway]

What is going on with Hallmark?  Basically 1 fall themed movie?  Good Witch doesn’t count because there’s one every year for “Halloween.”

Where did the other fall movies go that were already filmed? Will they really sit on them for a year?

Ugh

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, scenicbyway said:

What is going on with Hallmark?  Basically 1 fall themed movie?  Good Witch doesn’t count because there’s one every year for “Halloween.”

Where did the other fall movies go that were already filmed? Will they really sit on them for a year?

Ugh

Over the Moon in Love was a summer movie aired in fall so maybe the fall ones will air in spring. Jessy Schram posted an update last week for County at Heart. 

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

I like Ashley...but her character is a new wave flake and the other woman as played by Miranda Frigon is a professional woman who is smart and cares about the kids. Poppy commits by the month as far as helping the kids. Everything about her is 'about to deuce out to LA or NY'

The kids would be better off if the OW won this one

Does she care about the kids or does she care about the dad so she "cares" about the kids?  I don't think the kids would be better or worse depending on who ended up with their father.

But I admit I'm a little biased.  October Kiss is one I will rewatch if I catch it because she and Sam Jaeger had good chemistry.

[Kaiju Ballet]

On 10/12/2019 at 7:15 PM, 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.

What I loathe is the mauve/pink lavender lipstick they spackle onto men's lips at times. It's the combination of the color and texture that's off-putting, especially if more than one male actor is sporting it in the same movie. (Are they using the same stick?)

Thanks for those pix--what dramatic contrasts!

5 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

She is very likable as Pooppy the babysitter

This made me LOL. I am twelve.

13 hours ago, twoods said:

It bothered me more that she was willing to try the ribs even if she muttered that she was vegetarian.

That bugged me too in OTMIL. I'd already had to go "well, ok...." to Miranda Frigon's character being a powerful woman who decides -- within seconds of spotting Wes Brown across the room--- to essentially blackmail/bribe Jessica Lowndes' character into setting them up as a match.

I get the whole needing to be coached on what to do or say, but to casually wave aside any preexisting lifestyle choice just because she's on a first date? I totally agree that could've been dealt with by a simple line about ordering something else instead--that would also have served to highlight their differences even more, especially with the contrast in what's served.

Despite that, it was a surprisingly decent movie from someone not known for their screenplays. I've not liked how Jessica Lowndes has done line readings in, well, all her other movies, but she seems to have constructed a script that fits her speech patterns, so she came off as a lot more fluid and natural. And wow, she can sing! She and Wes Brown had a really easygoing chemistry, and that duet was a lovely way to end.

Plus...."That band's like Christina Aguilera crossed with Depeche Mode!" had me cackling.

Totally petty note--her wardrobe was not flattering. It's a bad sign when people who work in a vineyard dress better than someone who has set up Hollywood A listers. :P

[Mountainair]

18 hours ago, Pickles said:

The lead actor guy in last night's movie looked so bland and colorless to me. His hair color looked bleached out and did him no favors. 

Funny you say that. My 9 year old son was in the room while I was watching and the first thing he said was, “that guy would look better with a darker hair color”. 

[TVFan17]

16 hours ago, scenicbyway said:

What is going on with Hallmark?  Basically 1 fall themed movie?  Good Witch doesn’t count because there’s one every year for “Halloween.”

Where did the other fall movies go that were already filmed? Will they really sit on them for a year?

Ugh

At first I thought that there could have been some technical issues/delays in post-production with the Fall movies, but I don't think that would have been the case for two movies.  Maybe one of them, but not both.  Hallmark could have gotten one of the movies on the air, even if the other one had technical issues.

So the more I think about it, I honestly think that one of the Fall movies -- if not both -- will end up on the Hallmark Movies Now streaming app, (or possibly even on the Hallmark Drama channel) at some point before the next Fall Harvest event begins on the Hallmark Channel in 2020.   I think they want to build up the new content for HMN and Hallmark Drama, and if they throw the movies on at some non-Fall time of year like, say, February or March, they know that the people who wanted to see the movies months prior will find ways to see them.

**************

Hallmark has pulled a couple of promoted and officially announced movies from their schedules in the past, so this wouldn't be a new thing.  They advertised and publicized the movies as part of certain themed events, and included them in preview specials, press releases or TV promos, and then they just removed them from the line-ups with no explanation:

(1) In January 2017, Hallmark announced Valentine's Again as one of 7 new Countdown to Valentine's Day movies for that year.   The movie was included in a CTVD press release, and a snippet of it was also included in a TV promo for CTVD.    The movie just vanished from the schedule as though it had never been mentioned at all.  No one knew what happened to it, until... Valentine's Again suddenly, magically, appeared on the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service one year later, in January 2018, under a new title -- Once Upon a Winter's Date!!!   So they took a Valentine movie and changed the title so it could air on the streaming app as a "winter" movie in January!;  and

(2) In the Key of Love, as we know, was first advertised as a June Weddings movie, and it was shown in a preview special for that event.  Then it was pushed to the first Monday in July.  And then it was removed from the schedule only FOUR DAYS before it was due to premiere!!!!   And, lo and behold, where did it end up?  On the Hallmark Movies Now app at the end of August!!!

So, given those examples that I have just provided, does anyone actually think that one of the 2 lost Fall Harvest movies will not end up on Hallmark Movies Now??  I think it's inevitable.  I would not be shocked if Hallmark changed the title of one of them to fit into a different season, though, even if the actual movies are full of Fall decor and references.  

If Hallmark had not already pulled this "putting the previously announced movies on the streaming service" stunt with 2 movies, then I might not expect them to do the same with one or both of the lost Fall movies.  But I don't trust them now that they are trying to put exclusive content on 3 linear channels and the streaming app.

[twoods]

I loved all the fall stuff in Love, Fall and Order. Trevor Donovan wasn’t as bland as he has been in prior movies so that was a nice surprise, and the leads had good chemistry. I also liked that her ex boyfriend was a nice guy and they were just friends (plus I enjoy that actor and wish he was the lead in more Hallmark movies because he was good in Perfect on Paper).

[MissyPoo]

16 hours ago, Kaiju Ballet said:

What I loathe is the mauve/pink lavender lipstick they spackle onto men's lips at times. It's the combination of the color and texture that's off-putting, especially if more than one male actor is sporting it in the same movie. (Are they using the same stick?)

Thanks for those pix--what dramatic contrasts!

Yes! That is infuriating and definitely distracting. They really need a new makeup and hair department.

And np! I forgot Brenden Penny and Brennan Elliot. I never thought much of BP til I saw him outside of Hallmark (much more handsome) but the differences are super dramatic.

Love your avi name btw. TCM has been having a Godzilla of the month marathon on Fridays. Not sure if you're watching but your name reminded me of it! 🙂

[Happywatcher]

Brittany Bristow, who has been the supporting actress in a bunch of Hallmarks, got promoted and got her own. Holiday Dates. Noticed her during the promo they ran during the new murder mystery. 

Just a few months ago I was thinking she needed to get promoted. She was faking a French accent for the Love and Chocolate movie and hardly broke at all.

[MerBearHou]

3 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

Brittany Bristow, who has been the supporting actress in a bunch of Hallmarks, got promoted and got her own. Holiday Dates. Noticed her during the promo they ran during the new murder mystery. 

Just a few months ago I was thinking she needed to get promoted. She was faking a French accent for the Love and Chocolate movie and hardly broke at all.

I really enjoy Brittany and hope her Holiday Dates movie is a good fit.  She’s delightful in everything and you’re so right, the French accent was spot on.  

[Suzysite]

15 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

Brittany Bristow, who has been the supporting actress in a bunch of Hallmarks, got promoted and got her own. Holiday Dates. Noticed her during the promo they ran during the new murder mystery. 

Just a few months ago I was thinking she needed to get promoted. She was faking a French accent for the Love and Chocolate movie and hardly broke at all.

She did a good French accent in the perfume movie, Love Blossoms with Victor Webster, too.  It was the first time I'd seen her and I assumed she was actually French/Belgian.

[Bronx Babe]

I don't know why I keep expecting Hallmark to evolve into something relatably human.

But they never do.  Some people complain the channel is too "saccharine" but that implies at least a certain level of feeling.  Hallmark just seems empty to me.  A poster above referenced "pod people" -- she's correct. This sci-fi term is what I have always described -- alien beings trying to replicate Earth behavior but failing miserably, lol.

It's always embarrassing scripts, bad acting, cheesy production values and zero emotional content.  

Their winning formula.

Sad.  And creepy.

[Was-MArsenault]

I don't get why any of the Hallmark channels are still not even showing Ebbie at all this year.

It's such an underrated movie and wish that it would air somewhere.

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

I don't get why any of the Hallmark channels are still not even showing Ebbie at all this year.

It's such an underrated movie and wish that it would air somewhere.

It was never a Hallmark movie.  I think I first saw it on Lifetime, but it has quite a few distributors -- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112929/companycredits?ref_=tt_dt_co

Hallmark would have to have the rights to legally air it on their channels, and I don't think they do.   Streaming rights seems to be different, however, so maybe it will eventually pop up on their streaming app someday.

Edited October 15, 2019 by TVFan17

[Was-MArsenault]

9 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

It was never a Hallmark movie.  I think I first saw it on Lifetime, but it has quite a few distributors -- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112929/companycredits?ref_=tt_dt_co

Hallmark would have to have the rights to legally air it on their channels, and I don't think they do.   Streaming rights seems to be different, however, so maybe it will eventually pop up on their streaming app someday.

Thanks.

[Guest]

Deadline article from yesterday.

Hallmark schedule is so confusing I’m not sure how much of this is actually is new.

QUOTE

Ashley Greene, Andrew Walker and Jackée Harry are set as the leads in Christmas On My Mind (fka An Unforgettable Christmas), a new Hallmark Channelholiday movie.

Written by Kristen Hansen, in Christmas On My Mind,when Lucy (Greene) wakes up with a wedding dress in hand, she believes that she is late to her wedding with her ex-boyfriend Zac (Walker). However, she has no recollection of the past 2 years, including the fact that she is engaged to another man. With Zac’s help, Lucy sets off on an adventure in Bedford Harbor to fill the gaps in her memory, and finds old romantic feelings reigniting during the Christmas season. Harry plays Dr. Caroline Albright.

Deadline says that it will air on Hallmark Channel on December 19th but Hallmark shows it on HMM. Normally I would assume Deadline made a mistake but who knows at this point. 

Where ever it airs a second Andrew Walker Christmas movie is a plus for me.  

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, Dani said:

Deadline article from yesterday.

Hallmark schedule is so confusing I’m not sure how much of this is actually is new.

Deadline says that it will air on Hallmark Channel on December 19th but Hallmark shows it on HMM. Normally I would assume Deadline made a mistake but who knows at this point. 

Where ever it airs a second Andrew Walker Christmas movie is a plus for me.  

In this case, either Deadline is wrong, or they got some early, early word of the movie switching from HMM to the main channel before it is reflected on the Hallmark website.   Christmas On My Mind was always on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Schedule as far as what was publicized, but it had the totally different title at first (which is mentioned in the article).

But, who knows?  Hallmark could always suddenly decide to move it to the main Hallmark Channel in the middle of the season.  

Edited October 18, 2019 by TVFan17

[Happywatcher]

Working from home. Appetite for Love is on in the background. It caught my eye.

IMDB says this was Taylor Cole's first Hallmark, and they had her get a blonde color that makes her look like a stepford wife. Then the supporting actress best friend is Fiona Vroom, who usually is the murderer or red herring in the Hallmark mysteries.

Then the conflict finally arises, and the head waitress at her old boyfriend's business actually tears into Taylor. Not Hallmark land scenery chewing, but pure 'I hate you'.

Keep waiting for a dead body.

[LexieLily]

I'm annoyed that HMM is abruptly starting their Christmas-palooza a week early 😠

[MissyPoo]

Wow, this scheduling thing is driving me nuts.

So I hopped on over to Hallmark to check the schedule and today I have Forever in My Heart, Love on Safari, October Kiss, and a Good Witch movie listed til Golden Girls starts. 

Apparently, that's false because I went to the website and it's showing instead: that same Good Witch movie on now, followed by Under the Autumn Moon, Snow Bride, and the Nine Lives of Christmas before Golden Girls starts. So, it looks like I may have to consult their website for the next few days until things align on the schedule.

Even tomorrow is messed up. I was gearing up to watch back to back One Winter movies and there's a jumbled up fall movie line up. There's going to be a lot of salty DVRs out there.

[BigDave2019]

11 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

Wow, this scheduling thing is driving me nuts.

So I hopped on over to Hallmark to check the schedule and today I have Forever in My Heart, Love on Safari, October Kiss, and a Good Witch movie listed til Golden Girls starts. 

Apparently, that's false because I went to the website and it's showing instead: that same Good Witch movie on now, followed by Under the Autumn Moon, Snow Bride, and the Nine Lives of Christmas before Golden Girls starts. So, it looks like I may have to consult their website for the next few days until things align on the schedule.

Even tomorrow is messed up. I was gearing up to watch back to back One Winter movies and there's a jumbled up fall movie line up. There's going to be a lot of salty DVRs out there.

Salty DVRs out there is the best thing  I have read today lol 😆

Edited October 18, 2019 by BigDave2019

[BigDave2019]

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

I'm annoyed that HMM is abruptly starting their Christmas-palooza a week early 😠

I feel like Lifetime is to blame TBH.  They must be digging DEEP in their vault to be starting so early.  Movies like Ebbie, If You Believe and some of the more obscure movies that they used to show on LMN will be dusted off for sure.  I always thought HM had many more holiday movies than Life but maybe that was just a misconception on my part.  Maybe they've made a bunch of new acquisitions  this year? I agreed elsewhere that HMM should try to counterprogram with mysteries since they now have 2 other all Xmas channels plus the movie app. 

[TVFan17]

I blame Lifetime for this too.  Lifetime was trying to get a head start to steal viewers away from Hallmark and get them hooked for the rest of the season, and now Hallmark is doing crazy things to catch up and compete with Lifetime!  lol  If Lifetime had not started early, Hallmark would have stuck with the originally planned schedule until the end of next week.

Meanwhile, I was all set to just semi-surrender to the merry mayhem and watch A Bramble House Christmas on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries tonight, and now...

MissyPoo mentioned two things that caught my attention right away -- Snow Bride and Nine Lives of Christmas!!!   Jackpot!!!   That is a double header o' goodness for me!!   Those two titles are new additions to the Hallmark Channel schedule tonight, as far as I know. I checked and they were not there last night.  But I will take them, as they are two gems.

So I had not planned on watching 2 movies on the Hallmark Channel tonight -- the one over on HMM was going to be it for me -- but they have sucked me in with their sorcery by airing two delightful favorites back to back, and now I have to figure out how to juggle those two and Bramble House over on HMM!

Edited October 18, 2019 by TVFan17

[Jenniferbug]

9 Lives of Christmas is my 4 year olds go to comfort movie LOL I bought the DVD a couple years ago, we watched it last year, and now she requests to watch "Ambrose" quite often. She actually just watched it 2 nights ago!

[TVFan17]

4 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

9 Lives of Christmas is my 4 year olds go to comfort movie LOL I bought the DVD a couple years ago, we watched it last year, and now she requests to watch "Ambrose" quite often. She actually just watched it 2 nights ago!

I love how Ambrose just decides to claim his human right away, and he cannot be removed.  He won't budge.  If he wants to claim Zachary's favorite chair, he is claiming it.  If he wants to sleep in bed with Zachary, he is doing it, one way or another.   He is not going anywhere until that horrible Blair lets him out (or whatever happens that causes him to disappear from the house).  So cute!

[MissyPoo]

I mean...Hallmark didn't haaaave to do any changes and still go on their merry way while Lifetime did their thing. I actually don't mind they started early because I have time to catch up on some Lifetime movies I missed last year. So I don't really blame them haha. Besides, they aren't even showing christmas movies on the weekends, just a few during the week. But Hallmark is breaking their necks to catch up. Hey, more movies for us! Win-win for all!

I missed a few in the lineup so I'll be stacking up for the weekend. Woo hoo. Hibernation begins!

[Ashforth]

I watched A Bramble House Christmas last night. I liked it! Of course, I have some nitpicks.

They kept calling Willa a "nurse," but it seemed that she was a CNA, probably working as a home health aide, per the want ads she was perusing. I think of a "nurse" as an RN. That being said, home health providers are a godsend (most of the time), and are in high demand. They work through agencies and see multiple clients. The idea that the man died and she was out of work as a result was unrealistic. (Look at me, criticizing unrealistic plot points in a Hallmark movie! Hahaha I'm cracking myself up)

Of course, she and Scout were impossibly saintly. Scout, in particular, was the usual Hallmark movie kid who is never bratty or whiny or loud or has a tantrum. His miraculous recovery from two years of near-fatal illness and a mysterious heart surgery, with no apparent need for ongoing medication or treatment, well, okay. The child actor was good, though, and incredibly cute.

All of that aside, the acting was good, the actors were appealing, the plot was interesting enough and not too over the top, and the location was beautiful.

[Was-MArsenault]

17 hours ago, BigDave2019 said:

I feel like Lifetime is to blame TBH.  They must be digging DEEP in their vault to be starting so early.  Movies like Ebbie, If You Believe and some of the more obscure movies that they used to show on LMN will be dusted off for sure.  I always thought HM had many more holiday movies than Life but maybe that was just a misconception on my part.  Maybe they've made a bunch of new acquisitions  this year? I agreed elsewhere that HMM should try to counterprogram with mysteries since they now have 2 other all Xmas channels plus the movie app. 

I really hope that Ebbie does get shown.

[TVFan17]

2 hours ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

I really hope that Ebbie does get shown.

I hope so too!   Lifetime was airing something like 6 Christmas movies per day, every day, this past week.   Thirty slots devoted to Christmas movies, just from Monday through Friday alone.  During that time, I think something they had shown the prior week was repeated.   So I suspect they are going to do what Hallmark does, as far as repeating movies a lot and incorporating their new ones into the mix along the way.   If they can't squeeze in some of the oldies that they used to show -- such as Ebbie -- then I have to imagine that maybe they lost the distribution rights after a while, and no one else (no other network) has picked up the movie.

There is still a big mystery about what happened to the movie with Mimi Rogers called The Christmas List.   People ask for it every year and it is not shown anywhere.  It should belong to Freeform/ABC Family, but they never show it and it is not shown on any other network either.  It just vanished years ago.  So I wonder if it might eventually resurface on the new Disney+ streaming service.

**********

**********

Anyway, forgive the side trip into Lifetime and Freeform.   Back to Hallmark chat!   What I originally came here to say is that I noticed that both of Sarah Lancaster's Hallmark Christmas movies have apparently moved to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel -- Fir Crazy and 'Tis the Season for Love.   I don't really associate either of those movies with the tone that I thought Hallmark was trying to achieve on the HMM channel.  To me, they fit more with the tone on the main Hallmark Channel, which is where they originated -- especially Fir Crazy.  

So, at this rate, I think Hallmark is just randomly putting movies on the channels, even if they don't really fit whatever the tone is supposed to be.   They might try to loosely adhere to keeping things within a certain tone, but they put a straight up rom com (A Christmas for the Books) on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel last year, and it is still being shown this year, so anything is possible at this point!

[MissyPoo]

32 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

I noticed that both of Sarah Lancaster's Hallmark Christmas movies have apparently moved to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel -- Fir Crazy and 'Tis the Season for Love.   I don't really associate either of those movies with the tone that I thought Hallmark was trying to achieve on the HMM channel.  To me, they fit more with the tone on the main Hallmark Channel, which is where they originated -- especially Fir Crazy.  

So, at this rate, I think Hallmark is just randomly putting movies on the channels, even if they don't really fit whatever the tone is supposed to be.   They might try to loosely adhere to keeping things within a certain tone, but they put a straight up rom com (A Christmas for the Books) on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel last year, and it is still being shown this year, so anything is possible at this point!

The husband and I noticed this as well and were baffled. Fir Crazy still fits with the main channel to me also. I still remember those old school promos that differentiated the tone of each channel. Since they seemed to have abandoned it, yeah, it seems like they don't give a care anymore. Perhaps Hallmark movies of yore are being pushed to the other channels this year and Crown Media is taking the main channel for their stuff and the newest/popular movies? That's the only consistency I notice.

[TVFan17]

3 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

The husband and I noticed this as well and were baffled. Fir Crazy still fits with the main channel to me also. I still remember those old school promos that differentiated the tone of each channel. Since they seemed to have abandoned it, yeah, it seems like they don't give a care anymore. Perhaps Hallmark movies of yore are being pushed to the other channels this year and Crown Media is taking the main channel for their stuff and the newest/popular movies? That's the only consistency I notice.

It is all very baffling.  Some of the non-Christmas movies they had been airing on Hallmark Drama are more fitting with the content on the main Hallmark Channel (such as The Wish List, with Jennifer Esposito and David Sutcliffe, which is a rom com through and through). 

And now they've got the new Home & Family: A Very Merry Christmas special airing on the Hallmark Drama channel on November 13th -- even though Home & Family is a daily series on the main Hallmark Channel!  lol  

Their scheduling choices are making less and less sense to me with each passing day. 

[MissyPoo]

3 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

It is all very baffling.  Some of the non-Christmas movies they had been airing on Hallmark Drama are more fitting with the content on the main Hallmark Channel (such as The Wish List, with Jennifer Esposito and David Sutcliffe, which is a rom com through and through). 

And now they've got the new Home & Family: A Very Merry Christmas special airing on the Hallmark Drama channel on November 13th -- even though Home & Family is a daily series on the main Hallmark Channel!  lol  

Their scheduling choices are making less and less sense to me with each passing day. 

Wait what?! Haha yeah that makes no sense at all. I wonder if that's the same as their specials with the Hallstars coming over for singing and baking stuff. Which would be weird to show now as they usually have it closer to Thanksgiving. At this point, I'm pretty sure they just pull their programming block from a hat and hope for the best.

Love The Wish List btw. That's a Larry Levinson one I think? I notice Hallmark Drama usually switches their movies with LL's channel Pixl. Even to the point that there are sometimes a version for each channel! I saw this with Backyard Wedding and Looking for Mr. Right/My George (which particularly seems like two cuts of the same movie). So weird.

[TVFan17]

On tonight's preview special for the Countdown to Christmas, Candace Cameron Bure was able to list off 21 of the 24 movies coming to the Hallmark Channel (her special for the Miracles of Christmas on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries airs on HMM on Monday night).

Out of the 3 movies she did not mention, 2 of them have not yet started filming (the new Eric Mabius movie and the new Aimee Teegarden movie), and the other one is an acquired movie (A Cheerful Christmas) that Hallmark picked up. 

So I wonder if the acquired movie is something that Hallmark is still debating on, as far as whether or not to air it. It was supposed to premiere on December 22nd (and it was filmed quite a while back).   So it's interesting that they did not even mention A Cheerful Christmas at all, let alone show a clip from it, because it wrapped up months ago.

The other interesting thing I noticed was that Candace specifically mentioned that Christmas was starting on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and on Hallmark Drama on October 18th (yesterday) -- which means that Hallmark HAD to know, or they had some idea, that they might be pulling Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver from the Sunday night schedule if Christmas started early. 

If they had Candace record that dialogue to mention October 18th, then they had some advance insight into a possible schedule change on the HMM channel.  Maybe they had not made the final decision to start on October 18th until they saw what Lifetime was doing this past week, but they at least had some idea of what they might do -- which makes it all the more curious and maddening that they were promoting the new Crossword Mysteries movie this past week, knowing that they might be pulling it!

Edited October 20, 2019 by TVFan17

[scenicbyway]

Is it possible that they’ve lost their show “programmer”?  Hallmark has been in chaos since Lori’s scandal broke and I think we are seeing the ramifications of that in all this disorganized programming.  Perhaps she was more involved at the network than When Calls the Heart and her mystery show. They would’ve also had her slotted for a Christmas movie and she’d done the HMM Christmas countdown for years.  They could’ve slotted many other actresses into those roles or even brought in new ones!

In other news, I thought the Good Witch movie was pretty good, though it clearly seemed like it was supposed to air next weekend with the dates they used in the movie.  I DVRrd the series this summer and still haven’t been able to get through this season.

[AnnaRose]

18 minutes ago, scenicbyway said:

In other news, I thought the Good Witch movie was pretty good, though it clearly seemed like it was supposed to air next weekend with the dates they used in the movie.  I DVRrd the series this summer and still haven’t been able to get through this season.

I recorded what was supposed to be Forever in My Heart last night (the recent movie set in Ireland) and, even though the recording says it's that movie... it's not.  It has the Good Witch actress in it and I'm assuming it's actually the movie to which you are referring.

I didn't watch it.  I was so annoyed I just deleted it.  This last minute schedule switching thing is ridiculous!

[TVFan17]

47 minutes ago, scenicbyway said:

Is it possible that they’ve lost their show “programmer”?  Hallmark has been in chaos since Lori’s scandal broke and I think we are seeing the ramifications of that in all this disorganized programming.  Perhaps she was more involved at the network than When Calls the Heart and her mystery show. They would’ve also had her slotted for a Christmas movie and she’d done the HMM Christmas countdown for years.  They could’ve slotted many other actresses into those roles or even brought in new ones!

In other news, I thought the Good Witch movie was pretty good, though it clearly seemed like it was supposed to air next weekend with the dates they used in the movie.  I DVRrd the series this summer and still haven’t been able to get through this season.

I enjoyed the Good Witch: Curse From a Rose movie too.  It was fun.  I liked the little blink-and-you'll-miss-it detail in the very last shot.

I've said before that it's possible someone new could be working on programming and scheduling since Hallmark has been making such crazy, erratic choices this year, but there is no proof of anyone new handing the scheduling.   I think it could certainly be possible that there has been some sort of personnel change behind the scenes, but we may never know for sure.

I really don't think Lori Loughlin has anything to do with the more recent schedule changes and upheaval on the Hallmark Channel and on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.   I truly do not.

Lori was one actress out of many actresses who are in the Hallmark family.  The network didn't revolve around her.   She wasn't even the most prominent member of the family.  She was involved in the Garage Sale Mysteries and in When Calls the Heart, so she was important, but as far as her own separate, individual Christmas movies in which she was the leading lady/star, she did not make as many of those as people may think, considering that the Countdown to Christmas has been going on for 10 years.  She was in Northpole 2, and she was in the movie with Colin Feguson, and in the movie with Victor Webster. 

If Lori was planning to do a Christmas movie this year, it wouldn't be the first time a planned Hallmark Christmas movie got cancelled, so that is not out of the ordinary.  And she would have nothing to do with the Fall Harvest event descending into chaos, or In the Key of Love getting bumped to the streaming app, or Crossword Mysteries being bumped for Christmas.

In other words, let's not give Lori that much credit!   lol

Edited October 20, 2019 by TVFan17

[LexieLily]

Unfortunately, I don't have Hallmark Drama, and I'm not going to buy an app just for more Hallmark Christmas movies. Hallmark Drama isn't doing new movies, are they?

[TVFan17]

14 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Unfortunately, I don't have Hallmark Drama, and I'm not going to buy an app just for more Hallmark Christmas movies. Hallmark Drama isn't doing new movies, are they?

According to what has been announced at this point, there are no new Christmas movies airing on Hallmark Drama this year.  That could always change out of the blue, but none are planned at this point,

Hallmark Drama is airing a lot of other older Christmas movies that used to air on the first 2 channels.  And they are premiering a new limited series called Christmas Cookie Matchup,  a new special called Project Christmas Joy: Alabama, and a Home & Family Christmas special.

In 2020, however, Hallmark Drama will premiere at least a couple of new movies, including a sequel to JL Ranch a.k.a. JL Family Ranch (with Jon Voight and James Caan), and the new Signed, Sealed, Delivered movie.

Edited October 20, 2019 by TVFan17

[LexieLily]

3 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

According to what has been announced at this point, there are no new Christmas movies airing on Hallmark Drama this year.  That could always change out of the blue, but none are planned at this point,

Hallmark Drama is airing a lot of other, older Christmas movies that used to air on the first 2 channels.  And they are premiering a new limited series called Christmas Cookie Matchup,  a new special called Project Christmas Joy: Alabama, and a Home & Family Christmas special.

In 2020, however, Hallmark Drama will premiere at least a couple of new movies, including a sequel to JL Ranch a.k.a. JL Family Ranch (with Jon Voight and James Caan), and the new Signed, Sealed, Delivered movie.

Nothing that I'm interested in, so that's good news for me. But I thank you for every time you give updates 🙂

[TVFan17]

10 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Nothing that I'm interested in, so that's good news for me. But I thank you for every time you give updates 🙂

You're welcome!  And I know what you mean -- it's always a relief when you can cross one channel off the list and not have to wonder about what's airing on it, or wonder if you might miss something you want to see.  lol

Since my provider refuses to carry Hallmark Drama and I know for sure that at least a couple of older movies I love are airing on Drama for the holidays, then IF I decide I want to have Drama just for Nov-Dec, I will sign up with the cheapest streaming service that carries that channel -- which is probably Frndly (for something like $6.00 or $7.00 per month), and cancel it right at the end of December.   Or I will try their free trial for 7 days or whatever it is, and watch what I want to watch during that brief time frame and then bail on it before officially starting a subscription. 

I have not yet decided if I will bother with Hallmark Drama for the holidays, but at least I know there is an inexpensive way to access Hallmark Drama IF I want to do it, and I can cancel it the second I am done with what I want to see without having to deal with contracts or anything of that sort.

Edited October 20, 2019 by TVFan17

[LexieLily]

Christmas just needs to stop airing so many movies on so many different channels! Geez! LOL

[TVFan17]

27 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Christmas just needs to stop airing so many movies on so many different channels! Geez! LOL

Agreed! lol  It's a lot to keep up with.

I was saying to someone a few weeks ago that Hallmark really does not need 3 linear channels.  All they need is one linear channel and one streaming app. 

Since they are not strictly sticking to only rom coms on the main channel, only dramas on Hallmark Drama, and only mysteries on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, it doesn't seem to matter if they pile everything on to one channel.   Throughout the year they could still save Saturday nights for rom coms and Sunday nights for mysteries -- but they would just be on one channel instead of two.   They could still do all of their other themed events like Spring Fever, June Weddings, Summer Nights, etc.  During the holiday season, they could still make 40 Christmas movies and air them on the same nights of the week as they are airing this year -- but on one channel instead of two.  They could still air new episodes of Home & Family every day, as they currently do.  They could still air When Calls the Heart, Good Witch and Chesapeake Shores when they usually do.  They could even still reserve a block of time each day (and overnight) for reruns of old sitcoms, old dramas and old mysteries.  They could set aside time to rerun other Hallmark movies too -- such as Hall of Fame installments -- each week or each month.

Essentially, if Hallmark cut out the unnecessary channels and stuck to one only, they could still create all of the same content they do right now, and continue to grow their catalog of movies.  They would not have to cut down on any of their original content, nor would they have to cut down on their Christmas event.  It's just that everything they currently split up would be in one place.  

And then they could keep the streaming service separate, and add exclusive content to it, as well as putting all of the brand new movies from the linear channel(s) on it.  Ideally, they could even make the streaming app a live service too,  so that people could sign up and get all of the same current content there that they would get with their cable or satellite subscriptions.

But, sadly, Hallmark would probably rather start a 4th linear channel than to put all of their content back onto one channel!  lol  The days of one channel are long gone.

Edited October 20, 2019 by TVFan17

[Shorty186]

Chiming in late to say that I never really noticed the blanding down of their leading men until now. Not only the comparison photos someone posted earlier, but I just realized the guy opposite Candace in her new Christmas movie is Tim Rozon, aka the uber sexy Doc Holliday on Syfy's "Wynonna Earp." He looks so milquetoast and cheesy, I don't know if I'll be able to take him seriously on WE again if I end up watching this movie.

Also, was happy to find "The Nine Lives of Christmas" on TV last night. It's definitely in my top 3 TV Christmas movies. The chemistry between Kimberley and Brandon is so easy going and her character is really funny. I thought she was going to be a lead in a new movie after last year's "A Godwink Christmas" but it looks like she's playing sidekick to Erin Krakow in "Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen" this year. I really hope she, Ali Liebert and Brittany Bristow will star in more movies (although Ali seems to be more focused on directing now).

[scenicbyway]

7 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Agreed! lol  It's a lot to keep up with.

I was saying to someone a few weeks ago that Hallmark really does not need 3 linear channels.  All they need is one linear channel and one streaming app. 

Since they are not strictly sticking to only rom coms on the main channel, only dramas on Hallmark Drama, and only mysteries on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, it doesn't seem to matter if they pile everything on to one channel.   Throughout the year they could still save Saturday nights for rom coms and Sunday nights for mysteries -- but they would just be on one channel instead of two.   They could still do all of their other themed events like Spring Fever, June Weddings, Summer Nights, etc.  During the holiday season, they could still make 40 Christmas movies and air them on the same nights of the week as they are airing this year -- but on one channel instead of two.  They could still air new episodes of Home & Family every day, as they currently do.  They could still air When Calls the Heart, Good Witch and Chesapeake Shores when they usually do.  They could even still reserve a block of time each day (and overnight) for reruns of old sitcoms, old dramas and old mysteries.  They could set aside time to rerun other Hallmark movies too -- such as Hall of Fame installments -- each week or each month.

Essentially, if Hallmark cut out the unnecessary channels and stuck to one only, they could still create all of the same content they do right now, and continue to grow their catalog of movies.  They would not have to cut down on any of their original content, nor would they have to cut down on their Christmas event.  It's just that everything they currently split up would be in one place.  

And then they could keep the streaming service separate, and add exclusive content to it, as well as putting all of the brand new movies from the linear channel(s) on it.  Ideally, they could even make the streaming app a live service too,  so that people could sign up and get all of the same current content there that they would get with their cable or satellite subscriptions.

But, sadly, Hallmark would probably rather start a 4th linear channel than to put all of their content back onto one channel!  lol  The days of one channel are long gone.

They could fit it in to one channel but this way they get 3-4 times the ads.