Hallmark Christmas in July 🎄 comfort & joy ❤️

[elgerber]

I can't wait for Christmas movies, Wofiedoodles I also have A Tail of Love set to record this weekend. I hope those of you who have already seen it, enjoyed.

I watched it yesterday, I liked it.

 

[Imzadi]

I just watched the Mrs. Miracle with Caroline Rhea, and Gingerbread Miracle. Both were good, solid entries. I do wonder what this holiday season holds for us?

That was one of my favorites from last year.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Thanks, Elgerber! I look forward to watching it this weekend. I'll share how I liked it after

 

[Worfiedoodles]

That was one of my favorites from last year.

I hope that one turns into a series. Hallmark is clearly going to have some holes to fill, and it seems like Caroline Rhea would be available

 

[Imzadi]

NO new movie this weekend on either Hallmark channel.
(There is a new episode of When Call the Heart on Sunday.)

GAC Family: On Saturday, starting at 2pm - 12am ET, they are airing some older movies from UPtv(?).

At 8pm ET they are re-airing one of their GAC Christmas movies from this past Christmas: Jingle Bell Christmas.

Then Mon, May 2 and Tues, May 3 (so far on my TV channel guide) GAC will air two movies per night, at 8pm & 10pm ET.

This scheduling isn't happening. Back to more old TV show reruns. Maybe it was a scheduling typo after all.

 

[nycdisneygal]

I too thought that she had commented on staying with Hallmark, but guess not. I do think you're right in that she can have more faith based programming there. Although isn't that what the UP channel is for?

It has been confirmed that she is giving up Aurora Teagarden Mysteries.
Candace Cameron Bure Won’t Appear in Hallmark’s Holiday Lineup, ‘Aurora Teagarden’ Not Moving Forward (EXCLUSIVE)

I am so sad about this!! My teen and I have watched Aurora Teagarden. She generally doesnt spend much time with me/talk to me but this is one thing we did together- i recorded it and we watched every sunday. need to find a new mystery series she will like. Suggestions??? Nothing with brennan elliott... We do watch When CAlls the heart together but she does not like this season as much...

Reminder:

Saturday, April 23: A Tail of Love premieres at 8pm ET on the Hallmark Channel.
Starring: Brittany Bristow and Chris McNally
Directed & executive produced by: Brittany's dad, longtime Hallmark producer, Leif Bristow
(Re)written by: Brittany's mom, Agnes Bristow, who also produced the film.

"Then we were so lucky that Chris McNally came on board. Chris is one of those people that brings so much authenticity to his roles and to the set every single day,” Brittany said of her co-star. “He was so eager to do a good job. He's invested and knows exactly what he wants to do. He brought such life to the set every day, and it's incredible to work opposite that. He was the No. 1 pick for the role, so when he agreed to do it, everyone was so excited. We all thought he’d be so perfect. He was!”


I like Brittany. She has done a LOT of great, solid supporting roles on Hallmark (also produced by her father & mother team.) She was able to do some great foreign location film shoots. Love Blossoms shot in Brugge, Belgium (with Shantel VanSanten & Victor Webster, who met on the film & subsequently fell in love and married.) Love on Safari in Africa, starring Lacey Chabert. Love, Romance, & Chocolate, also with Lacey, but this time in Brussels, Belgium.

Finally watching this while I catch up on some work. I really like Brittany Bristow too. She does a good job and seems genuine. and I always like to see anything with Chris McNally!!

 

[RamblingMad]

Looks like GAC is going after Hallmark talent. I actually think this is good. Hallmark needs a refresh of its talent pool. Plenty of older scifi actors from Canada to pull from

 

[Imzadi]

I am so sad about this!! My teen and I have watched Aurora Teagarden. She generally doesnt spend much time with me/talk to me but this is one thing we did together- i recorded it and we watched every sunday. need to find a new mystery series she will like. Suggestions??? Nothing with brennan elliott... We do watch When CAlls the heart together but she does not like this season as much...

My favorite of the Hallmark mystery series is Mystery 101. It stars Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha. I think it's very smartly written. HMM does weekend mystery marathons of it, so you will be able to record them to watch them in order. There is supposed to be (at least) one more episode coming out sometime this year.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

My favorite of the Hallmark mystery series is Mystery 101. It stars Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha. I think it's very smartly written. HMM does weekend mystery marathons of it, so you will be able to record them to watch them in order. There is supposed to be (at least) one more episode coming out sometime this year.

I'm really glad to hear there is one more, because it deserves to be tied up with a nice bow for an ending. I agree, this one was the pick of the litter!

 

[Imzadi]

Two more actresses signed exclusive contracts with Hallmark:

Hallmark announced on Twitter that Aimee Teegarden had signed on for an exclusive multi-picture deal. She’s starring in “Heart of the Matter” on May 15 on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

Last Christmas, she starred in one of Hallmark’s most-viewed Christmas movies of 2021: “My Christmas Family Tree” with Andrew Walker, where she got DNA results telling her they found her father by DNA match and she was part of a big family. Later, after meeting and spending time with the family she had fallen in love with, she received a voicemail message telling her the DNA facility screwed up and gave her the wrong info.

Also, back in November 2020, Tamera Mowry-Housley signed a deal with Hallmark, Deadline reported. Her deal covered starring in and executive producing new films for the network. Her deal also involved joining “Home & Family” as a contributor, but the daytime series has since been canceled. It’s not clear how long Mowry-Housley’s deal lasts or if it was also exclusive.

Here is an article of the official count by Hallmark & GAC so far:
https://heavy.com/entertainment/hallmark/which-stars-signing-with-gac-family-vs-hallmark-list/

 

[Imzadi]

Reminder:

Saturday, May 7: Warming Up to You premieres at 8pm ET on the Hallmark Channel.
Starring: Cindy Busby and Christopher Russell.

Description: These two stars have worked together in several Hallmark movies. In this movie, Kate (Cindy Busby) is a fitness instructor who leaves Los Angeles to take a job at her best friend’s wellness retreat. A-list actor Rick (Russell) is assigned by the studio to come and train with her to get ready for his new feature film.

Not only does the duo make a breakthrough athletically, but they equally breakthrough some personal walls and find an unexpected friendship that is put at risk when Rick’s co-star is also sent to train with Kate.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Just posted this in the kindness thread and wanted to share here as well. I love the Tail of Love dogs, so precious. My dad and I are almost finished watching the movie. The acting isn't always the best in the film but the story is sweet and I love the grandma character. It's always touching to me to watch a movie (or read a book) with a positive grandparent in it. JR is very handsome! I do prefer clean cut men but he's very good looking all right. What's funny is that when Bella and JR are having dinner, Bella looks like she has longer hair and is a bit older than earlier in the movie. Did anyone else feel this way? ND, the military rescue dog has captured my heart big-time. I do pray one day God-willing to have a home with some outdoor space and be able to in Champ's (my beloved dog now with God) honor to give a rescue a loving home. Sweet movie

 

[Imzadi]

I agree with everyone so far, I liked A Tail of Love too.

The acting isn't always the best in the film but the story is sweet

I agree. I've seen Brittany act more romantic and have more chemistry in some of her supporting roles. Maybe having Dad as the director and Mom on set as the writer made her feel a bit awkward to go there. I hope other directors don't hold it against her and that she will be picked for more romantic lead roles.

I have a feeling this script was originally chosen for the original Hallmark CEO, then put on the back burner until now. He was the real dog/animal lover and promoter of dog adoptions, especially ex-military dogs. It's a shame the new Hallmark is getting the credit for this as though they are the animal lovers. They canceled the Kitten Bowl. Then instead of showing cute, happy dog food commercials like before, they spammed the commercial breaks with those sad ASPCA abused pet commercials to show they are pet lovers, even though those commercials show on many low budget cable channels.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Interesting information, thank you for sharing, Imzadi! I didn't realize the actress's parents were directly involved! That absolutely could explain it.

 

[Imzadi]

These are some Hallmark-ish recommendations I've watched for those of you who stream movies. All of these are free. Nothing to download or install. Click on the blue titles to watch:

You may remember a while back I recommended a Free streaming network, BYUtv:

The FREE streaming network is BYUtv (Brigham Young University's TV network based in Provo, UT.) They are in the heart of Mormon country, so they air extremely family-friendly content.

One can watch the movies free directly on their web page, (just like watching a YouTube video.) No need to sign in or sign up for anything. Click on a movie and it starts automatically. It's fuzzy for the first few seconds, but the focus clears up after that.

The link to the BYUtv romance/feel good movies page is:
https://www.byutv.org/?q=&listid=03de8b60-4dff-4e1b-ae1b-06c38393a4cc&layout=grid

I watched several of the movies there. They are really great quality stories. I think they may be some Canadian exclusive movies not shown here, or some of the better UPtv or some Amazon picked streaming movies.
I even watched some a couple times. The ones I liked on BYUtv are:
As Gouda As It Gets
The Secret Sauce
Sweet as Maple Syrup
(There were a couple others, but I see the service swaps some movies out after a while.)


On plain YouTube, (not their paid service,) I found many people uploaded full movies:

Three starring Erin Cahill that I really liked, that were originally shown exclusively on a Canadian network named "W" (and maybe later on UPtv?) but definitely not shown on Hallmark are:
Love Stories In Sunflower Valley with Marcus Rosner.
Christmas On The Range with Nicholas Gonzalez.
Making Something Great with Jesse Hutch (the weird piano music at the beginning goes away after a while.)

Cindy Busby and Kevin McGarry are in this oldie:
Autumn Stables

These three movies in the "Love Finds You in. . ." are shown on UPtv a lot. UP is not in my cable package. It was nice finding them on YouTube. (They are also free on TubiTV.com or on the Tubi app - which is part of FOX.) I watched this first one again last night on YouTube. I really like Sarah Lancaster.
Love Finds You in Sugarcreek with Tom Everett Scott.
I haven't seen the next one yet:
Love Finds You in Charm with Trevor Donovan.
And vaguely remember the third one:
Love Finds You in Valentine with Michaela McManus and Diogo Morgado

A Chance for Christmas is quite different and interesting. It's kind of like the movie Groundhog's Day, in which the same day repeats over and over until the stars can figure out how to do it differently. It stars Tori Anderson, who I really like. It's free on TubiTV.

One more, also on TubiTv .com. Lacey Chabert made this movie the same year she made her first Hallmark movies, although this wasn't for Hallmark. It really showed she was dedicated to making wholesome family films. It's called Christian Mingle.

 

[hdrolfe]

Reminder:

Saturday, May 7: Warming Up to You premieres at 8pm ET on the Hallmark Channel.
Starring: Cindy Busby and Christopher Russell.

Description: These two stars have worked together in several Hallmark movies. In this movie, Kate (Cindy Busby) is a fitness instructor who leaves Los Angeles to take a job at her best friend’s wellness retreat. A-list actor Rick (Russell) is assigned by the studio to come and train with her to get ready for his new feature film.

Not only does the duo make a breakthrough athletically, but they equally breakthrough some personal walls and find an unexpected friendship that is put at risk when Rick’s co-star is also sent to train with Kate.

I watched this one last night, it was cute though I thought it was little far fetched, the actor needing to lose 20lbs in a month. I enjoyed the other pieces of the story though.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I agree with everyone so far, I liked A Tail of Love too.



I agree. I've seen Brittany act more romantic and have more chemistry in some of her supporting roles. Maybe having Dad as the director and Mom on set as the writer made her feel a bit awkward to go there. I hope other directors don't hold it against her and that she will be picked for more romantic lead roles.

I have a feeling this script was originally chosen for the original Hallmark CEO, then put on the back burner until now. He was the real dog/animal lover and promoter of dog adoptions, especially ex-military dogs. It's a shame the new Hallmark is getting the credit for this as though they are the animal lovers. They canceled the Kitten Bowl. Then instead of showing cute, happy dog food commercials like before, they spammed the commercial breaks with those sad ASPCA abused pet commercials to show they are pet lovers, even though those commercials show on many low budget cable channels.

Well I tried to watch it and I just couldn’t get into it. This doesn’t seem like it was her best work…

 

[Imzadi]

Another actor signed with Hallmark:

Hallmark revealed in an Instagram post that Ryan Paevey had just signed an “exclusive, multi-picture deal.” He’s set to star in the upcoming “Two Tickets to Paradise” for Hallmark in June.

In an article for Deadline, Lisa Hamilton Daly, Executive VP of Crown Media Family (Hallmark) said that Hallmark has a new focus on signing actors for short-term, exclusive deals.

“It’s usually for either two movies, and some of them are for a Christmas movie,” Daly told Deadline. “It’s really to make sure that we have access to that talent during the year. We put a lot of thought into who we’re going after and who we’re locking down so that we have a range of people and a range of talent that we can say we pre-negotiated. When the time comes and we have the perfect script for them, we just pop them in there. The deals are basically done and we’re ready to roll.”

She added that some people had turned them down for exclusive deals, but “we’re all still reaching constantly” and they have some names still on their wishlist.

 

[Imzadi]

Hallmark also nabbed Will Kemp for a Christmas movie. Will had starred in the Hallmark movies: The Christmas Waltz & Love, Romance & Chocolate with Lacey Chabert and Royal Matchmaker with Bethany Joy Lenz.

He recently finished filming the Hallmark Christmas movie on location in London. Although, Will plays an American who relocates to a London architecture firm. He hires as a professional shopper, (Reshma Shetty) to help him find a gift for his girlfriend.

I really liked Reshma in Royal Pains. Her other credits include “Monarch,” “Blindspot” (Megan), “Instinct” (Maya), “Pure Genius” (Dr. Talaikha), “Happyish” (Maya), and more.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Finally watched Warming Up to You and I really enjoyed it. I’m glad to see them have a variation on their usual plot. These two seem to be paired a lot, in the woods, with one of them a fish out of water…