The Christmas season upon us, signifies the arrival of the Hallmark Christmas movie. For years, we’ve marveled how one plot, one story line, can produce dozens of movies and somehow keep us glued to the TV, the whole way. You might say the hustle-bustle of the holiday season makes it difficult to sit down and watch a whole movie. No problem! Every Hallmark Christmas movie plot can be figured out within the first 10 minutes. Shannon and I like to see who can guess the plot the quickest, as each of the films begin. After that, you’re free to go about whatever business you need to attend to. When you return to the TV, you’ll realize you haven’t missed a thing. It’s just that simple.
The sweethearts of the Hallmark Christmas movie are Lacey Chabert, Candace Cameron-Bure, and Winnie Cooper (sometimes referred to by her real-life name, Danika McKeller). No trio of actresses have combined to define a genre of cinema since Meredith Baxter, Joanna Kerns, and Valerie Bertinelli. They graced the airwaves as Lifetime Network’s darlings in the 80’s and 90’s.
That brings us to the leading men, but there really are none worth mentioning. Stubble is all that matters, and it’s worn by countless actors who are making every attempt to act their way out of the holiday-decorated paper bag. The stubble is amazing in these movies, so much so that I find myself pausing occasionally, as to admire it.
This year brings a new dimension to Hallmark, as they branch out into interfaith content with, “Love, Lights, Hanukkah.” As you may have guessed, it’s typical Hallmark fare, dressed up in a different faith. Still compelling, the intro featuring a series of up close, slow motion, spinning dreidels, had me yearning for more. My hope is that this opens the doors for much more interfaith content. “Peace, Prosperity, Praise Allah?” Hmm, maybe, but for now, I am satisfied with what they are offering up. A fella can dream, can’t he?!
Sidenote: we have discussed in previous blogs about cutting the cable cord. We have remained cable-free for a number of years. Here is a frugal, and creative way to get the Hallmark channel at a very low cost, without cable. Shannon did some research and found a network called, frndly. It offers a few channels, that her grandmother would have approved of, calling them, “good clean channels.” For that reason, and the fact that she was “Grandma Collins,” we like to fondly refer to this network as “GCTV.” You can secure a month’s worth of Hallmark, and some other channels that are not worth mentioning, for the low cost of $5.99. Just be sure to mark you calendar to cancel after 30 days. I mean, who wants Hallmark after the holiday season, anyway?
Oh my goodness! How can so many women begin these movies as children who sadly lost their mom/dad/grandmother/grandfather/husband/wife/cat/dog navigate through so many obstacles to just when you least expect it, magically find their true love and right all the wrongs in the world, while saving the town/rec center/historical home/job/family/royalty/general store/company from financial ruin while wearing the same winter coat in various colors? When you live in Hallmark heaven, that’s how. May the wreaths hung in the middle of the walls, garland on every cabinet top, door, porch rail, along the ceilings and front of your cars bring joy to you and your family these holiday season.
Ha! Wow! There is no better description of “Hallmark Heaven” than the words you penned in this comment. 😂 How do they get so many lights hung together without a fuse blowing, or it looking like a mess?!
Exactly.