This week it finally begins, everyone! On Friday, October 25, Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas finally begins! It’s my favorite time of year, as my Tivo quickly fills up with festive movies leading me all the way through to New Year’s Day. Let’s face it – my Tivo is already loaded with a dozen movies that I’ve recorded over the weekend thanks to Hallmark starting up the season a week early by airing holiday movies on their Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel. My real fear this holiday season is that my Tivo won’t be able to hold all the movies I plan to record – not just the new ones, but the repeats AND the ones premiering on a few other cable channels.
The first new movie is “Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses” which is a tongue-twister, for sure! Even typing it I have issues! The movie premieres on Saturday, October 26 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. It stars Jill Wagner (a Hallstar if every there was one) and Hallmark newcomer, Matthew Davis. Now, I’m a fan of Matthew Davis from when he appeared on The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries.” His character on that show was always kind of shaggy and unkempt, and BLONDE, so it’s weird to see him clean-shaven and with dark hair. But knowing what a great actor he is, I think he’s a great addition to the Hallmark family.
The plot of the movie is standard fare. As listed on the Hallmark website:
Weeks before Christmas, Abbey is hired to decorate the estate of businessman Nick. She must break down the wall between her and Nick, all while keeping the holiday spirit alive.
It sounds like it will be trope-heavy, which is fitting for the first movie of the season (viewers may recall that last year’s “Christmas in Pemberley Manor” practically force-fed the Christmas cheer for two hours as the premiere movie of the 2018 season). And from the preview, it looks like they are starting the season off with one of their really good ones:
I love Jill Wagner in just about anything she does, so I’m sure she will shine here as a lover of all things Christmas. And I’m right there with Abbey – I play Christmas music before Halloween too! No shame in that game!
In any event, I am really looking forward to this Saturday night. Christmas season cannot come soon enough for this girl. What about you? Is this one you are looking forward to seeing? Comment below!
Thanks for giving a little review of what to expect this weekend!
I’m going to try and do the preview every week before the new movies come out so those who may not follow the schedule as closely as I do have a fighting chance to know what’s on (I say this knowing that Hallmark has changed the schedule many times over the past couple of weeks).
Hi lady! Jane do you have the hallmark app? We got rid of cable this year so I am trying to figure out how I will watch the movies!! Can I watch any hallmark show on it once aired? Meaning if I get it in November can I watch the new ones from Oct? Hoping you know the answer!
Lori, I do use the Hallmark Movies app – and I love it! As for the best way to watch the movies, I know that frndly tv offers all three Hallmark channels (as well as a few others) for only $5.99 a month. They are available on Roku, Amazon FireTV as well as Chromecast, if you use any of those. They are a no-contract service which means you can cancel anytime. Maybe you can sign up for the 7-day free trial and then watch through January (it allows you to DVR all programming through their service) and then cancel in January? Additionally, my favorite podcast, Deck the Hallmark, is running a promotion with frndly tv that if you use their link, you can be eligible to win a year of frndly tv for free! You can find out about that on their own website: https://www.deckthehallmark.com/frndly
As for watching re-airings, Hallmark does show repeats, but usually it’s the week after, on their own networks – not online. For instance, “Christmas Wishes” airs this Saturday night at 8 p.m., which means that the FOLLOWING Saturday, November 2, it’ll air at 6 p.m. ahead of the new movie, “Merry & Bright” which will air at 8 p.m. Will it air any other times? At this point I’m not sure. The app only shows the very next airing, not all of them.