Photos Courtesy of Crown Media

It’s a *Merry First Day of Fall* because Hallmark has announced their upcoming holiday lineup! 🎄

It may not be time to deck the halls quite yet, but after reading this movie announcement, I’m sure you’ll want to! In honor of the iconic holiday programming event kicking off next month, Hallmark has unveiled the first batch of all-new original Christmas movies set to premiere during Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ Miracles of Christmas slate. 

This year the holiday cheer will be overflowing as the network celebrates 12 years of Christmas with 41 original premieres, and for the first time ever, there will be a premiere for the Movies & Mistletoe event on the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service — and it all kicks off Friday, October 22nd!

Get ready to see some of your favorite returning stars, including: Holly Robinson Peete, Ryan Paevey, Luke Macfarlane, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Lacey Chabert, Bethany Joy Lenz, Kimberley Sustad, Nikki Deloach, Andrew Walker, Robert Buckley, Trevor Donovan, Jonathan Bennett, Paul Campbell, Danica McKellar, Kristoffer Polaha, Taylor Cole, Janel Parrish and Brennan Elliott — as well as some new faces to the network, including: Jordin Sparks, Ashleigh Murray, Olivia Washington, Catherine Haena Kim, Luke James, Nik Sanchez, Inbar Lavi, Loretta Devine, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Lyndsy Fonseca, Julian Morris, Brittany Ishibashi, Caroline Rhea, Stuart Townsend, and Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child!

Top-Bottom, L-R: Ryan Paevey, Candace Cameron Bure, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Jonathan Bennett, Bethany Joy Lenz and Ben Savage.
(Photos courtesy of Crown Media)

The wait is over, Hallmark has released their highly-anticipated 2020 Christmas movie lineup!

There was a time this year where I wasn’t sure if we would get any Christmas movies, but I’m thrilled to announce that Crown Media has unveiled their list of 40 new festive films that will premiere during Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ Miracles of Christmas all-day-and-all-night continuous holiday programming, which runs from October 23rd through January 2020. Are you as excited as I am?!

Get ready to see all-new heartwarming stories starring Candace Cameron Bure, Ryan Paevey, Lacey Chabert, Andrew Walker, Jonathan Bennett, Bethany Joy Lenz, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Laura Osnes, Brennan Elliott, Niall Matter, Holly Robinson Peete, Danica McKellar, Jill Wagner, Sam Page and many more fan-favorites.

Aaron Tveit, Krystal Joy Brown, Robert Buckley, Sarah Drew, Wynonna Judd, Sara Evans, Rochelle Aytes, Jeremy Jordan, Janel Parrish, Marisol Nichols and Lucia Micarelli are among the actors making their Hallmark Christmas movie debuts!  Twilight star Ashley Greene, who starred in her first film for the network last December, will return in a new feature. Hallmark premiered two Hanukkah-themed movies last year for an extra helping of cheer, and they’re doing it again with Love, Lights, Hanukkah! starring Mia Kirshner, Ben Savage and Marilu Henner.

Check out the full lineup for both networks below, and keep checking back for additional movie news, photos and more as we get closer to the kick off!

Photos (L-R): Teri Polo; Brendan Hines and Alicia Witt; Autumn Reeser | Crown Media

Leave it up to Hallmark to give the gift that keeps giving!

Both Hallmark Channel and its sister networks Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama will air a Christmas feature three-times-a-week throughout the year, aside from the annual Merry Madness marathon, Christmas in July event and iconic holiday programming at the end of the year.

Hallmark Drama will air the movie on Wednesdays nights while Hallmark Movies & Mysteries will air on Thursdays and Hallmark Channel kicks off the weekend with a movie on Friday nights.

The first week of films are set to air TONIGHT!

Photos and screengrabs: Crown Media

Hallmark Channel aired the 10th Anniversary of Countdown to Christmas Preview Special last night, and it didn’t hold back on the holiday cheer! Candace Cameron Bure took on hosting duties to give us all an epic sneak peek at nearly every single movie coming to the network for the iconic holiday programming event — and she even threw in another look at Hallmark Drama‘s two special original premieres, Christmas Cookie Matchup and Project Christmas Joy.

I really enjoyed the ambiance filled with Christmas decor from Balsam Hill, which further helped me get into the spirit–not that I needed an actual boost. Home & Family‘s animal expert Larissa Wohl, once again, made an appearance to talk about Hallmark’s Adopt-a-Pet initiative, Adoption Ever After.

Check out the details of the movies that were shared throughout the special below. You can also watch the full show — details at the bottom of the post!

A BRAMBLE HOUSE CHRISTMAS (left) / CHRISTMAS COOKIE MATCHUP (right) | Photos: Crown Media

It looks like Hallmark is decking the halls even earlier than originally planned!

The official Twitter pages for the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama networks made a surprise announcement yesterday that holiday programming would be kicking off a week early, which means—Christmas movies begin TODAY!

You’ll be able to tune in at 7pm/6c on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries to begin watching the Miracles of Christmas 2019 slate. At 9pm/8c, HM&M will air an encore presentation of the 2017 film, “A Bramble House Christmas” starring Autumn Reeser and David Haydn-Jones.

The first premiere of the season will still be next week with “A Merry Christmas Match” starring Ashley Newbrough and Kyle Dean Massey, which debuts on Friday, October 25th at 9pm/8c.

(L-R) Ryan Paevey, Holly Robinson Peete & Ashley Greene. | Photos: Crown Media/Shutterstock

Grab a hot cup of cocoa, sit back and get cozy because… IT’S HERE!!

I’ve been waiting for this announcement for weeks, and it has finally arrived — the full movie lineup coming to Hallmark this holiday season — and it’s even bigger and more festive than ever before! This year, Hallmark Channel will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Countdown to Christmas with 24 original movies — including two with Hanukkah themes; Hallmark Movies & Mysteries will air 16 for Miracles of Christmas and Hallmark Drama will premiere two festive reality shows.

Many of your favorite stars are returning like Jill Wagner, Andrew Walker, Lacey Chabert, Candace Cameron Bure, Paul Greene, Kristoffer Polaha, Wes Brown, Kellie Pickler, Chad Michael Murray, Danica McKellar, Ryan Paevey, Nikki Deloach, Niall Matter, Holly Robinson Peete, Eric Mabius, Jesse Metcalfe and Alicia Witt — just to name a few.

There are also lots of amazing new faces: Dolly Parton, Kristin Chenoweth, Carly Pope, Matt Cohen, Scott Wolf, Elizabeth Mitchell, Chaley Rose, Rome Flynn and Twilight’s Ashley Greene!

The continuous Countdown to Christmas and Miracles of Christmas all-day-and-night holiday programming officially begins October 25th and will run until January 2020. (Update: Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama began their programming early on October 18.)

Okay, enough of my festive babbling — check out the lineup below!

Photo/Screencaps: Crown Media

It was really nice to kick back and enjoy a marathon of Hallmark summertime movies only to end my evening with a taste of Christmas! Network favorites Jill Wagner and Andrew Walker took over hosting duties for this year’s “Christmas: A Second Look” Preview Special, where they gave us an inside look at some of the movies and specials coming to Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama this holiday season with movie clips and behind the scenes footage.

The two stars also briefly discussed their upcoming Christmas movies, which we got a sneak peek at over the summer during the “Christmas: A First Look” special; Wagner will star in “Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses” alongside Matthew Davis, while Walker will co-lead “Merry and Bright” with Jodie Sweetin.

Hallmark plans to premiere 40 original movies this year; 24 on the Hallmark Channel network for the 10th Anniversary of Countdown to Christmas (premieres are every Saturday and Sunday at 8pm/7c) and 16 for Miracles of Christmas on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (every Thursday and Friday at 9pm/8c). Hallmark Drama will also air two new original reality programs, “Christmas Cookie Matchup” and “Project Christmas Joy”, which were previewed during the special.

“Home & Family” pet rescue expert Larissa Wohl made a guest appearance to talk about Hallmark Channel’s pet rescue initiative, “Adoption Ever After”, which I encourage you to learn more about.

Check out the lineup of movies and specials that were spotlighted during the special below!

Photo: Crown Media

There’s been a lot of development in recent months regarding Hallmark Drama’s first original series, “Christmas Cookie Matchup”, a holiday reality competition — and earlier today, SouthernLiving.com exclusively announced the two judges that will join the show.

In “Christmas Cookie Matchup”, Jack Wagner will host as amateur baker contestants team up with cast members from Hallmark Channel’s “When Calls the Heart” to create tasty holiday treats with their eye on a $25,000 winning prize!  Hearties will be excited to know that stars Erin Krakow, Pascale Hutton, Chris McNally, Paul Greene, Kavan Smith, Kevin McGarry, and Andrea Brooks will all take part of the competition.

As for the judges, food and lifestyle expert Chadwick Boyd will be joined by self-taught baking expert, Emily Hutchinson. Boyd is known for traveling nationally with chef Carla Hall for their “Biscuit Time” class while Hutchinson has been sharing creative tips with fellow bakers through her popular blog The Hutch Oven. Hutchinson’s new book, Creative Cookie Decorating: Buttercream Frosting Designs and Tips for Every Occasion, doesn’t release until October 15th — but it’s already a best seller in Amazon pre-sales.

A premiere date for “Christmas Cookie Matchup” is not yet set, but I’ll keep you posted!

Stay merry!

Paevey (left) in 2018’s Hope at Christmas; Greene (right) in 2016’s “A Wish for Christmas”. | Photos: Crown Media

Word on the street is that two of our favorite Hallmark actors are coming back home to the network for the holiday season in all new original movies!

Ryan Paevey is set to co-lead “Christmas at the Plaza”, which will be directed by Ron Oliver with production beginning in September. The announcement came during Crown Media’s Summer 2019 TCA press event last Friday.

Pictured: Erin Krakow of “When Calls the Heart”. / Credit: Crown Media

Back in March, I posted about the two Christmas reality shows coming to the Hallmark Drama Network — and now, thanks to announcements at Hallmark’s Summer TCA 2019 press event yesterday, we have more details on one of them!

In the five-part weekly competition series “Christmas Cookie Countdown”, amateur bakers will team up with the stars of Hallmark Channel’s successful series “When Calls the Heart” to put their skills to the test. Erin Krakow, Pascale Hutton, Kavan Smith, Chris McNally, Paul Greene and Andrea Brooks are all confirmed to take part in the show alongside their co-star Jack Wagner, who will serve at the host of the competition!

– Update (07/31/19): Wagner confirmed on his Official Instagram that
the series will now be called “Christmas Cookie Matchup”! –

In each episode, a panel of two professional bakers will judge as the contestants go spatula-to-spatula in a variety of Christmas cookie and holiday dessert competitions. One team will be eliminated each week and, in the end, only one pair of cookie connoisseurs will prevail, winning the $25,000 grand prize. “This show is a different kind of seasonal programming for us and when we first announced it at our Upfront event in March,we were still developing the concept,” said Crown Media Executive Vice President, Programming & Network Publicity, Michelle Vicary.

“Since that time, we have created an incredibly fun and engaging format that is designed to become anew Hallmark holiday tradition for our audience, while also inspiring baking-inclined viewers to create cookie masterpieces of their own.”

“Christmas Cookie Countdown” will be the first-ever original content developed for Hallmark Drama since the network launched in 2017. Will you be tuning in?

Stay merry!