Photo: Crown Media

The Good Witch star James Denton was recently a guest on Hallmark Channel’s Bubbly Sesh Podcast (Click here for information on how to listen!) and chatted about the show, of course, but also about some future plans with the network. James mentioned that he was preparing for an upcoming Hallmark Christmas movie with the working title of A Kiss Before Christmas.

“It’s a little bit like It’s A Wonderful Life.. a little bit like Heaven Can Wait,” he said, referring to the 1946 holiday classic starring James Stewart and the 1978 film starring Warren Beatty.

I can’t wait for more details! I’m sure we’ll know more as we get closer to October.

(Update: 09/23/20) — It seems as though A Kiss Before Christmas is not part of the 2020 Countdown to Christmas or Miracles of Christmas lineups. There’s still room for more movies to be added, but I’ll keep you posted.

Stay merry!

L-R: Ryan Paevey and Erin Cahill (Photos: Crown Media)

Getting casting announcements for Hallmark Christmas movies has been pretty rare this year, but today, I bring you news of an exciting pairing for an upcoming movie thanks to the sleuths at RyanPaevey.net. Apparently the movie that Ryan Paevey has been quarantining to film in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is “A Timeless Christmas”, which is based off the book “A Timeless Christmas: An Enchanting Time Travel Romance” by Alexis Stanton.

It was speculated that Erin Cahill would be co-starring, and the actress confirmed it by responding to a tweet from a fan account with “Woohoo I love being part of the @hallmarkchannel family. Here’s to more Christmas magic! #Hallmarkies” (click here to see the tweet).

Elliott and Drew in a scene from CHRISTMAS IN VIENNA. | Photo: Crown Media

I believe it’s easy to say that “Christmas in Vienna” is one of the most highly-anticipated Hallmark Channel original holiday movies of the year, which is partly due to the fact that we’ve been waiting to see it since last fall! Last November Brennan Elliott and Sarah Drew, who lead the new Yuletide romance, posted on social media about filming the movie on location in Vienna, Austria — and that early prep clearly came in handy when productions had to abruptly halt this spring/summer.

In “Christmas in Vienna”, violinist Jess (Drew) travels to Vienna for a performance and discovers a inspiration in both romance and music, thanks to a little Christmas magic. Hallmark Channel has uploaded the first trailer to give you a real sneak peek! Check it out below.

Yesterday Hallmark announced several new movies and actors joining the network family this Christmas, so if you missed that, get the scoop by clicking here!

(L-R) Sarah Drew, Aaron Tveit & Holly Robinson Peete. | Photos: Crown Media

Ho! Ho! Ho! Major holiday movie news has arrived!

In just 100 days Hallmark will kick off their iconic end of the year holiday programming event, and to celebrate, Crown Media has announced that there are 40 original Christmas movies on the way! Hallmark Channel‘s Countdown to Christmas will premiere 23 all-new original films while Hallmark Movies & Mysteries is set to air 17 all-new original movies for the Miracles of Christmas lineup.

Familiar faces like Candace Cameron Bure (“A Shoe Addict’s Christmas”), Lacey Chabert (“Christmas in Rome”), Andrew Walker (“Christmas On My Mind”), Alicia Witt (“Our Christmas Love Song”), Brennan Elliott (“Christmas at Grand Valley”), Holly Robinson Peete (“Christmas in Evergreen”), Laura Osnes (“A Homecoming for the Holidays”), Nikki DeLoach (“Two Turtle Doves”), Tamera Mowry-Housley (“A Christmas Miracle”), Luke Macfarlane (“The Mistletoe Secret”), Mark Taylor (“Memories of Christmas”), Michael Rady (“Christmas at Pemberley Manor”), Rukiya Bernard (“Christmas in Evergreen”) and Tyler Hynes (“The Mistletoe Secret”) are among the fan-favorites set to return for festive films, but there will also be many new stars you won’t want to miss either.

Sarah Drew (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Aaron Tveit (“Graceland”), Krystal Joy Brown (“She-Ra and the Princesses of Power”), Janel Parrish (“Pretty Little Liars”), Jeremy Jordan (“Supergirl”), Alvina August (“Nancy Drew”), Lucia Micarelli (“Treme”), Marisol Nichols (“Riverdale”), Mallory Jansen (“Shooter”), Rochelle Aytes (“S.W.A.T.”) and Ronnie Rowe (“Star Trek: Discovery”) will join the Hallmark family to lead Christmas movies this year! I’m happy to see that there will be more diversity.

The 24-hour festive programming officially begins on Friday, October 23rd and between now and then, there will be many announcements. Keep checking back at LollyChristmas.com for movie updates and casting news as we get closer to ‘the most wonderful time of the year’!

Check out the slideshow below for a list of the announced movies!

Photo: Crown Media

Hallmark has combined Christmas and wine for their latest venture! The holiday heavy-hitter has announced Hallmark Channel Wines, two festive bottles of crisp flavors to enhance any seasonal gathering — or for when you want to relax and enjoy a Countdown to Christmas movie!

• Jingle’s 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon glistens a warm ruby color with aromas of dark chocolate, cherry, and a hint of holiday spice. It is rich, merry, and fully textured with profound dark fruit.

• Joy’s 2019 crisp and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc has notes of tropical fruits, white peach, and ripe pineapple. Juicy, fresh and lively citrus fruit flavors come alive in a joyous finish.

To reserve your wines in time for the holidays, Hallmark invites you to pre-order now. For more information about pre-ordering and when you can expect your delivery, click here. There are also many options whether you want to give the bottles as a gift.

This announcement comes just in time for the annual Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Preview Weekend, which has officially kicked off.  This year the tradition is obviously looking a little different for my family and I.  We won’t be able to physically visit the store to select our annual ‘first batch’ of ornaments, but we look forward to browsing the website to get our festive fill.

This year can’t take our Christmas joy!

Stay merry!

Photos: Graphic made by LollyChristmas.com with Crown Media images.

Hallmark is ‘bringing the yuletide poolside this July!’

It’s the ‘second’ most wonderful time of the year, and a cheerful pick-me-up might be needed now more than ever. Hallmark is here to lift our spirits with their annual Christmas in July programming event that spans two of their networks, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries!

‘Gold Crown Christmas’ on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries begins Monday, June 29 at 5pm ET/PT where three festive favorites will air each night, and you can look forward to Double Feature Fridays with pairings of original movies from a franchise; “Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas” (2018) and “Time for You to Come Home for Christmas” (2019) on July 3rd and “Christmas in Angels Falls” (2017) and “Angel Falls: A Novel Holiday” (2019) on July 10th. Our country’s service men and women will be honored on Saturday, July 4th with a marathon of military-themed Christmas movies.

Hallmark Channel will join in on the joy when they present ‘Keepsake Christmas’, 17 days of original movies from Christmases past that begins on Friday, July 10th at Noon ET/PT. The holiday slate kicks off with “Christmas at Dollywood” (2019) starring Danica McKellar, Niall Matter and Dolly Parton.

Note: As for the annual Christmas: A First Look Preview Special that airs every July, Hallmark’s production schedule was halted due to the pandemic. I imagine the network will most likely wait until a later date, maybe September, for the first reveal. I’ll keep you posted.

Watch the promo and check out the full Christmas in July schedules below!

Photos: Crown Media

The 4th Annual Hallmark Channel Merry Madness Christmas Bracket has officially come to a close, and the winning movie has been announced… click ‘Continue Reading’ to find out who took the top spot this year!

(Top L-R:) Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa / A Christmas Duet (Bottom L-R:) A Christmas Miracle / Christmas On My Mind
Photos: Crown Media

Who’s ready for more Christmas? Hallmark is spreading holiday cheer again this weekend to put us in a jolly mood while we all isolate in our homes in the hopes of slowing the spread of COVID-19.

This time around, the Hallmark Channel‘s ‘We Need a Little Christmas’ special marathon will run from Friday, March 27th at 12pm/11c through Monday, March 30th at 3:30 a.m. ET/PT.* You can expect to see many holiday favorites, including: “Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa”, “A Christmas Duet”, “It’s Christmas, Eve” and “Jingle Around the Clock”.

Unlike last weekend, this festive marathon will extend to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries network as well with the ‘Miracles of Christmas Movie Marathon’, which will also begin on Friday, March 27th through Sunday, March 29th and will featured the films: “Holiday Hearts”, “A Christmas Miracle”, “Two Turtle Doves” and “Holiday for Heroes”, among many more.

*This marathon will not interfere with the Spring Fever premiere of “Just My Type”, starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Brett Dalton, that is still set to premiere on Saturday, March 28th at 9pm/8c.

Check out the full marathon lineups, for both networks, below!

(Top L-R:) Write Before Christmas / A Shoe Addict’s Christmas (Bottom L-R:) A Christmas Love Story / Christmas at the Plaza
Photos: Crown Media

We need a little Christmas right this very minute!

It’s no secret that we are feeling really anxious and uncertain as we’re all quarantined due to the Coronavirus pandemic that has swept the world.  While we stay home, and hopefully succeed in doing our part to #flattenthecurve, it would be really wonderful to have something to uplift our spirits — and Hallmark Channel is here to help deliver that to us! Many viewers have expressed their need for ‘a little Christmas’, so the network is giving viewers what they asked for with the We Need a Little Christmas Movie Marathon that will air throughout the weekend.

The festive favorites will run from Friday, March 20th at 12pm/11c through Sunday, March 22nd.

Photo: Crown Media

It’s March, which means that Hallmark Channel’s Merry Madness Christmas Bracket is back!

The fourth annual bracket is open and ready for you to place your picks in a head-to-head holiday movie match, which will earn you points and make you eligible to win anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000! You can create up to 10 brackets until March 26th, and the winner will be announced the first week of April.  Go create your Christmas Fantasy Game now by clicking here!

Stay merry!