Holiday T.V movie guide
Hallmark shows are here for your binge-watching.
For years, I considered madefor-TV holiday movies the guiltiest of guilty pleasures. You know the ones I’m talking about. They show up on networks like Lifetime and Hallmark, with a few extras peppered around Netflix.
Then last year, I had a coming out if you will. I wrote about this guilty pleasure for the Houston Chronicle, in which I fessed up to the fact that I am both an empowered feminist and a die-hard connoisseur of these cookiecutter girl-meets-boy love stories. And part of me expected to be embarrassed when the story ran.
But then, my phone started pinging. Turns out a bunch of people on Twitter and Facebook, and regular readers with access to my email address felt the same way. Apparently I’m not the only one who watches so many of them that her boyfriend can guess the plot while walking through the living room.
Earlier this week, when I was on the phone with Michelle Vicary, the executive vice president of programming and publicity at the Hallmark Channel, I mentioned that I’ve gone from feeling like I was the only one watching these flicks, to wondering if there’s anyone out there who doesn’t indulge.
“I think that’s absolutely true,” she says, noting that 85 million people tune into the Hallmark Channel during the holiday season, when these movies rule the lineup.
“I think the ratings speak for themselves. Saturday and Sunday nights — and even other nights of the week as we get bigger — we’re the No. 1 movie or show of the night, not only in cable, but sometimes in all of television,” she says. “We’re part of the public consciousness and part of what everyone’s doing at the holidays.”
And there seem to be a few reasons for this. First, there are more of these movies available than ever. At Hallmark, Vicary notes they upped their count of
new movies to 37 this year, from 34 last year. And Netflix has a good smattering this year, including a sequel to last year’s blockbuster “A Christmas Prince,” which included all the best tropes for holiday kitsch.
Then there’s the kitsch itself. No one is pretending these 1-hour-and-22minute romantic romps are profound and thoughtprovoking Oscar contenders. They’re simple stories about a somewhat plucky single woman between the ages of 18 and 34 (Hallmark’s demographic sweet spot) at a crossroads, which often pits her between her not-so-satisfying career and her deeply buried desire for family, romance and, often, the small town she came from. Honestly, you can splice up 12 of these movies and piece together a Frankenstein version of the plot that doesn’t veer too far from the formula.
And viewers have two options: They can turn up their noses, or they can settle in.
“When we decided to take on a channel in 2001, and call it Hallmark, I think people knew exactly what to expect the day the lights switched on. And I think that’s a huge part of what makes us so appealing,” Vicary says. “When people think of Hallmark, whether it’s for entertainment, greeting cards or ornaments, they’re looking to celebrate life and feel more positive about life.”
If these movies were clothes, they’d be the comfy socks and perfectly stretched yoga pants at the very top of your dresser drawer. You know, the ones you want to wear to … watch a Christmas romcom.
Add to that the fact that they typically have a lead character you remember from your favorite TV show back in the day (alums from “Full House,” like Candace Cameron Bure, practically own this genre).
“These people were in people’s living rooms every week for years, and they become a part of the fabric of people’s lives,” says Vicary. “We’re not all George Clooney. We are still celebrating careers like that. I don’t know how many episodes of ‘Full House’ there were. But that’s a lot of years of Jodie Sweetin and Lori Loughlin and Candace Cameron Bure in our living room.”
Aunt Becky, Steph and D.J. each have at least one Hallmark film coming out this year. So does Chad Michael Murray from “One Tree Hill,” Lacey Chabert from “Party of Five” and, obviously, Danica McKellar from “The Wonder Years” is back for another round.
“It’s funny. Our actors, who you know, run errands and walk through airports; they have these huge bodies of works, and they tell me, ‘You know what people ask me about, they ask me about my next Christmas movie,’ ” says Vicary. “And they can — in very great detail — recount the last one, and the one before that. And I think that’s yet another indication that, if you’re not watching these movies, you’re in the minority.”
And the following here in Houston is no joke. Vicary says H-town is one of Hallmark’s biggest markets this time of year.
It feels so great to know I’m not alone.