This is primarily a guide to the romances and romantic comedies that are so very thick on the ground at this time of year, plus a few that seem to be specifically aimed at adults but not aren’t romances .
There is no centralized repository of holiday offerings other than ones created by other fallible journalists and writers, and so I tip my hat to some of the people who I cross-checked with to make sure there wasn’t anything I missed: especially TV Line and the very helpful and exhaustive catalog maintained by this Tumblr user.
Also of note, former Hallmark executive Bill Abbott is now running a new cable channel called GAC Family, which says it celebrates “American culture, lifestyle and heritage.” There’s very little information on their site about most of their films, but if that sounds appealing, you can check out their lineup.
If you’re looking for more Black leads, you’ll find more at Lifetime than at Hallmark, but even at Hallmark, the tide is turning somewhat.
A woman impulsively flies out for a holiday visit with a guy she’s been talking to on a dating app on the Amazing Internet.
You might remember that The Princess Switch, in which there were two royal-ish Vanessa Hudgenses, was followed by The Princess Switch 2, in which there were three Vanessa Hudgenses.
But it suggests that the couple from the first one is getting back together in this one, which means they broke up so that they have to be brought together at Christmas, and now all my old Christmases are ruined.
But like Hallmark and Lifetime, it knows that some of the holiday-movie bread is buttered with cholesterol-free alternatives, so it’s putting a lot of weight behind this more mature romance starring Cary Elwes and Brooke Shields as a royal-ish castle owner and a writer who do not hit it off when she tries to buy his ostentatious house, a.k.a.
This story involves — let me consult my notes — “the son and daughter of rival holiday decorating families.” Oh, that old story.
Hallmark staple Lacey Chabert plays a woman who goes to Ireland to research her family and is mistaken for an elite event planner when identities are scrambled, which winds up getting her stuck planning a party for a big fancy royal-ish Irish dude.
Someone asked recently whether Hallmark made Hanukkah movies, and I said occasionally, and hey, here is one! And unlike some in the past, it doesn’t look like it’s exclusively about Hanukkah as an alternative to Christmas.
So …
So this is a continuation of this Godwink franchise in which the idea is that coincidences are God winking.
I originally thought they had listed a movie twice, but no! See, while the one sister goes back home to save the theater, her sister goes and takes her place at her restaurant to help prepare for a contest.
It’s actually about a couple who comes together with their wacky families for what’s supposed to be a proposal, but then things get crazy and the families have to cooperate to get them back together.
The woman’s name is Chance, and her small business is By Chance Gifts, and the rich guy who comes in to get her to put together a proposal to his girlfriend probably never suspects that she’s going to be his big …
The Christmas House was famous last year for being the Pigs Flying movie for people who believed Hallmark might never include a gay couple, even in a supporting position in a family ensemble.