It’s that time of year again … it’s 6 months to Christmas Day, so MERRY HALFMAS! This halfway mark is also known as National Leon Day — ‘Leon’ is ‘Noel’ spelled backwards.

I can’t wait until Hallmark Movies & Mysteries kicks off their Gold Crown Christmas holiday programming this Friday, June 28th.  Will you be watching? Let’s #StayMerry all summer! 🎄☀️

Stay merry!

Photos: Instagram / Monique Lhuillier

I recently posted the news about Lea Michele‘s upcoming holiday album, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her beautiful red gown from the album cover shoot that I had to do a post to spotlight it!

Michele may be sitting on snow sprinkled steps, but they didn’t take away from the magic that is her red Monique Lhuillier Strapless Silk Organza Embroidered Tiered Ball Gown, from the designer’s Fall/Winter 2018 Ready-To-Wear Collection.

Can you believe there are only 200 days until Christmas!?!

You know what that means – Christmas in July is less than a month away! I can’t wait to check out the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament preview in stores …and enjoy the holiday programming at home!

There’s no time like the 🎁 present 🎁 to #StayMerry! 🎄

Stay merry!

Photo: Crown Media

Today’s movie news is sure to be major for all my fellow Andrew Walker & Jodie Sweetin fans!

We didn’t get a new *Hallmark* Christmas movie from Walker last year but — not only did he return this spring for “Bottled with Love”, he’ll also appear alongside Sweetin (“Finding Santa”, “Entertaining Christmas”) for the ‘most wonderful time of the year’!

Walker and Sweetin will lead “Merry and Bright”, the story of Cate (Sweetin), CEO of the Merry & Bright Candy Cane Company, who meets Gabe (Walker) during the busy Christmas season. She assumes Gabe is the suitor her well-meaning mother is trying to set her up with when in reality, he works for Empire Corporate Recovery, which has been hired to take a closer look at Merry & Bright’s operation and find ways to make the company more profitable. As Cate and Gabe begin to work together, they find ways to elevate the business and find that they have more in common than savvy business sense.

Although the network will air a new movie during it’s Christmas in July programming, I think it’s likely that we’ll see “Merry and Bright” premiere during the Countdown to Christmas lineup later this year.

This marks the ninth new Christmas movie announcement from Crown Media this year — following “The Christmas Song“, “Holiday for Heroes,” “The Christmas Company,” “Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses,” “Five Cards for Christmas,” “A Family Under The Christmas Tree,” a third installment to the ‘Graceland’ series and an untitled Blake Shelton-produced project.

Stay merry!

Photo: Crown Media

You were probably just as sad as I was to see Hallmark’s holiday programming end this month…

But, did it really?

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas, and to celebrate the milestone, the network will air an original Christmas movie every single Friday at 8pm/7c until the countdown begins again this holiday season!

Our wishes for year-long Christmas have been granted!

Here you will find a comprehensive list of all the holiday movies, specials and episodes that will be airing on US television during the Christmas season (and throughout the year!). Air dates are listed where possible, but if you see TBD (To Be Determined) then keep checking back to see when an air-date and time become available.

Please Note: This list will continue to be updated throughout the season, so please keep checking back!  Some networks (i.e. Hallmark, Lifetime & UPtv) will air their own original Christmas movies 24-hours a day with air-times that can change sporadically so, for those networks, I will include a link to their daily programming schedule to avoid making this post 3 miles long!

• If you’re a Canadian resident: W Network will air several of Hallmark’s new Christmas movies — click here for the daily schedule.  If you’re in the UK: Sony Movie Christmas Channel will air holiday movies 24/7, click here for more info.

FYI: Christmas original movies from streaming services like Netflix are available 365 days a year, so keep in mind the films that premiered last year are still streaming!

Marilu Henner, Emily Hampshire and Joey Lawrence in 2012’s “Hitched for the Holidays”.

We’re freshly into the holiday season, and we already have news for next year’s celebration!

Forbes announced yesterday that the Hallmark Channel and its sister network Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, known for their lineup of holiday-themed romantic comedies and hugely successful Christmas programming, are currently in the process of creating two films for the 2019 festive lineup that will celebrate Hanukkah as well!

“Holiday Date”, which is currently in the early stages of script development, will have “Hannukah elements … which is a lot of fun as Hanukkah and Christmas overlap in 2019,” a spokeswoman for Crown Media explained.

The last time Hallmark included a movie that included Hanukkah was 2012’s “Hitched for the Holidays”, which starred Joey Lawrence, Emily Hampshire and Marilu Henner. The comedy was about a young couple who fake their engagement after meeting on a dating website to keep their families from meddling in their love lives during the holidays.

I can’t wait to see these new movies when they premiere next year!

Stay merry!

Kat Graham stars in THE HOLIDAY CALENDAR. | Photos: Netflix

With only a week left in October, Netflix has revealed the list of movies, documentaries and television series that will be coming to the streaming service during the month of November, and among that list are several festive titles. Check them out below!

Angela’s Christmas
Cast: Lucy O’Connell, Ruth Negga & Brendan Mullins
Release Date: November 1

In this original Netflix animated family film, a trip to church with her family on Christmas Eve gives young Angela an extraordinary idea. A heartwarming tale based on a story by Frank McCourt.

Photos: UPtv

These past two months have been jam-packed with announcements from networks regarding their impending festive programming, and now UPtv has joined in with their holiday lineup!

Beginning November 1st, the family network will begin airing over 500 hours of holiday programming over the course of 55 days—including 7 original movie premieres.

“At UPtv, we celebrate families through uplifting and inspiring stories,” said Amy Winter, general manager and evp, UPtv. She continued, “Our Christmas programming slate has something for everyone–whether viewers are looking for great movies about the true meaning of Christmas, the heart and humor that comes along with family or just a little holiday romance, UPtv invites you to join us this holiday season. In addition, our annual Gilmore Girls fan treat, GilMORE the Merrier, is back and this year hosted by Scott Patterson.”

Check out the line-up of all the movies airing throughout the duration of the season by clicking here.

You can find more information about the 7 premieres, acquired films, and more, below!

Republic Records

Jessie J joins the list of artists giving us all new Christmas music this year!

The British singer is gearing up to release her very first holiday album, This Christmas Day, on October 26th. The album includes the title track original song as well as several classics produced with a legendary team: David Foster, Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Jessie included “Man with the Bag” on the record, which was previously released in 2015–and she teams up with Boyz II Men on “Winter Wonderland” and Babyface on “The Christmas Song”.

Jessie talked about making This Christmas Day in an official press release, “I had so much fun recording this holiday album! I did it in fourteen days around my Summer tour, flying back and forth to LA from Europe. The chance to work with David Foster, Babyface, Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Boyz II Men was a DREAM COME TRUE. The talent they all have blows my mind.”