Lacey Chabert

Hallmark+ sets a Sept. 10 debut

On Sept. 10, viewers will face a rare dilemma: Should they watch the first Harris-Trump debate or obsess on Hallmark?
Hmmm … fate of the free world or love amongst the chaste and beautiful. Why is life always so complicated?
Actually, you could catch both. It’s just that Sept. 10 (already the date of the ABC debate) is now the starting date for Hallmark+.
Company executives had previously laid out the general idea. (See separate story.) A small streaming service (Hallmark Movies Now) will be folded into this larger one. In addition to shows from the two Hallmark cable channels, it will soon include other movies (shown here), plus a series, a mini-series and a surge of reality shows. Now the details are available; they include: Read more…

Hallmark’s deluge has 40 new Christmas films

Until now, we feared there will be few new, scripted shows on TV this year.
Not so. There will be plenty … but most of them will be Christmas movies.
Shortly after one cable channel (Great American Family) announced 20 new Christmas films for this year, the Hallmark people doubled that. They’ll have 40 new ones (one is shown here) – 31 on the Hallmark Channel, plus nine on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
That’s 60 so far – with other networks – especially Lifetime and UpTV – expected to add more.
All of this comes despite writers’ and actors’ strikes, which started May 2 and July 14. Christmas movies tend to be done far in advance. Read more…