Yeah, Lacey is still one great looking lady. Also, I had no idea Holly Robinson is that old, as she was in one of my fave films from the past few years The Journey Ahead (I just rewatched on Hallmark+, third time for me), and while I would not characterize her as a smokeshow, she did not look frail.

Look, I get it...Hallmark needs to look for new talent, but I thought that Hallmark had already started placing newer talent in their films the past few years. Nazneen Contractor is gorgeous and a pretty fresh face to Hallmark fans, so it really is disappointing to hear how badly they bungled their guidance to Hallmark content casting directors to bring in new talent as their existing talent is still great but yes, is getting older and will start to appeal to a less valuable demographic as far as the tv ratings folks are concerned.

I am actually older than 49, so I am outside of the demographic Hollywood likes to chase, but I sure do watch a lot of that same content that Hollywood wants to appeal to younger eyeballs, lol.

Learning about this lawsuit is kind-of like realizing the saying to never meet your heroes in real life is unfortunately quite true. Hallmark may put out some charming family friendly stuff, but behind the scenes it sounds as cutthroat and in some cases, as catty amongst employees as you might learn it is at many companies in general (Hollyood related firms, Tech firms, etc.).

It sounds like we are finally learning what led Lacey Chabert and other Hallmark mainstays to look beyond Hallmark for work. Everyone seemed to be waiting for another shoe to drop when it was announced Lacey enthusiastically starred in a Netflix Holiday original, and while it has taken longer than expected, consider the shoe dropped. Le sigh.

I am still enjoying this years Hallmark films (have pretty much seen them all going back to the beginning of the year) and will try to put this news in a compartment of my brain that does not get opened much so as to not let it distract me from just enjoying what we are getting this year. I cannot predict the future, and in 2025 not getting another Lacey Chabert Haul Out The Holly film might be the least of my concerns (staying gainfully employed, little stuff like that, is being prioritized for me, not railing against Hallmark being untactful dicks when it came time to hinting someone should resign or they would be fired).

One final thing, anyone who "replaces" Chabert needs to be more than just another pretty face, because Chabert actually has some acting chops, and a good looking woman on the air will only lead to a very fleeting bump in ratings if folks start to notice that your talent is very cute/hot as the surface as the sun, but could not act their way out of a wet paper bag.

Pretty funny to see Netflix double down on shirtless men to bring in the female viewership for Christmas with Hot Frosty and The Merry Gentlemen.

And Hallmark has always seemed to "upgrade" their actresses. From Lori Laughlin to Kimberly Williams to Lacey Chabert.. there was always a changing of the guard.

Yeah, devilshalo...I feel like we have been seeing Hallmark rotate new, and oftentimes, cute/good looking male/female talent in and out of their original films the past several years as they were aware they needed to make some changes to stay fresh. Also, I did not mention ladies like Jessica Sipos, very cute, can act, and has been on Hallmark (starring in shows/films) for many years now and she is only in her mid-thirties. She was in one of the Danube films and of course I always would not mind seeing more of her on the Hallmark network.

I am ready to move on (yeah, I know everyone in this thread just yelled out finally) from the subject, but it is so odd to learn how vicious they were towards a long term employee with disabilities.

Hopefully, by this time next week all of the new posts talking about the new batch of weekend films (which now start on a Thursday, at least for the Countdown To Christmas event) will put all these posts of mine in the rear view mirror.

ETA: Speaking of films, I have not watched it yet but there was indeed an original last night, This Time Each Year

I should be all caught up sometime tomorrow afternoon.

ETA: The Thursday film was just average at best. Hopefully, the film I am about to start watching soon is a fun watch.

No apologies necessary. The subject is interesting, and I admit I have no idea how a casting director actually does the job, but it would make sense that they would need to connect to young talent somehow.

Lacey is obviously the face of the network, further proven by the Hallmark+ adds. My wife rarely watches these but calls her "Hallmark Lady."

I had a TV equipment failure and have to replace some stuff, meaning I can't watch any of my recordings or record anything this weekend.

The Christmas Charade was a very pleasant surprise. A fun film with a twist that I honestly did not see coming.

Worth a watch. You might want to avoid reading some online articles about the film as they may contain spoilers.

I thought this would be one of many throwaway films during this Countdown event, but instead I find myself admitting that I could see myself watching this again in the future.

The 5-Year Christmas Party was also a good film. Another win for Katie Findlay.

I’ve finally dipped into the new holiday movies, and like last year I started with the easy-delete GAC ones.

Christmas Wreaths and Ribbons is C-grade even for GAC. The dialogue is clumsy and the acting is wooden. It stars Kristin Wollett, who I guess is also a writer, and the best thing I can say is that she posted a behind-the-scenes clip from the movie on Instagram. Being GAC, the movie had several references to church and faith, but they weren’t central to the plot.

A Vintage Christmas was A-list GAC with Merritt Patterson and Kristopher Russell, and it’s actually Hallmark quality. The plot was routine (corporate outsider learns to appreciate local landmark!), but the stars make it watchable.

I made it a Russell double feature with A Costa Rican Wedding from earlier this year. It also has Rhiannon Fish, who I know is going to be in a GAC this year. The movie has nice scenery.

My bad for assuming Haunted Wedding was actually related to Halloween (which would’ve automatically counted). Instead it was just Hallmark’s riff on Outlander.

Good news is that nearly everything Hallmark counts for this month’s comedy challenge.

I watched another GAC, Tails of Christmas, about a dog shelter, and it was just as bad as Wreaths. Just horrendous dialogue and acting. An ad for it said the male lead was in some movie last year, and I bet it was also terrible.

A Christmas Castle Proposal (GAC) had Rhiannon Fish, who I like, but I thought it was just OK. It used the familiar trope of commoner-royal-relationship, and one of the characters I just wanted to punch in the face.

A couple older ones: My Dreams of You was a different type of fantasy, with people's dreams being managed by a big office operation, starring Skyler Samuels, the new Aurora Teagarden. Head Over Heels starred Rebecca Dalton in a version of Devil Wears Prada. Both of these were fine.

Rebecca Dalton is one of my favorite leads in Christmas movies. She's only been around for a couple years in any meaningful way but is perfect for these roles.

I have to agree with the folks on a Podcast that feel that Holiday Mismatch is not a good film. In their preview podcast eps this was one of the films that they thought would be one of the better/top tier films this season, but nope it really is a misfire. Bummer, because I agreed with them and was looking forward to the film that had both of Sabrina's Aunts in it. It is not scream at the tv bad, but the biggest sin is that this film is not exciting to watch at all. Nothing that made me laugh out loud, and no standout performances from one of the leads that would off-set some of the weaker aspects of the film.

Oh well, with this many films thrown at us they can't all be gems or even semi-precious gems.

I keep forgetting that Hallmark+ also is throwing originals at us. The first Unwrapping Christmas film (out of 4!) is on H+ now, and I noticed that we will also get I believe 4 Cherry Lane films this year. Eeek!!!!

Lots of folks do not subscribe to H+, so they will be blissfully unaware of the the 8 other Hallmark films to watch if you are a completist like me. For folks like me, even without any real diagnosable touch of OCD, knowing that I am paying for H+ I will want to catch as much original stuff they throw on there as possible or it will bother me something fierce. I suspect these H+ films will contain more films that are just okay than unexpected gems so I should be able to get through them as background viewing while futzing around on my tablet or unboxing the nativity figures I want to put up today or tomorrow, or doing other stuff like that.

Another issue is that even if I decided to stop subscribing and tried to create an out of sight out of mind situation for the H+ films, it is too late because I know that Hallmark made these movies exclusively for H+ and it could be a year or more before they air on Hallmark's regular TV channels so in my mind I want to watch these films and will just have to adjust my weekend/evening time accordingly.

I’ve resisted H+ so far. I don’t really want to watch the reality stuff, and I’m hoping the movies will make it onto the main channel eventually, but I know that may never happen.

But considering I’m still watching spring movies, I may not need more backlog. I just watched Falling Together, in which Ashley Williams tries to get the people in her new condo (including Paul Campbell) to get along. Slight premise again carried by star charisma.

A Christmas Charade is my favorite so far this year. The premise was fresh and I like Corey Sevier. He starred in Noel Next Door (2022), which was a top pick for me in 2022. I liked the hurt/comfort thing and having a male lead who had a disability. This year I've also liked Twas the Date Before Christmas. The others I've seen are okay but not particularly memorable.

I'm missing Luke MacFarlane this year and Michael Rady. I'm excited for Hot Frosty -- it looks like a hoot. I guess it looks a bit racy for Hallmark, but I was surprised to see Lacey doing a Netflix movie. Good for her. I haven't been following the drama very closely, but she's still front and center on Hallmark's promo this year.

I wasn't wild about Noel Next Door. I appreciated the recognition of disability, but didn't like the cranky character (part of the point, I know). Sevier is usually fine for me but not a favorite.

That reminds me that the one I just watched, Falling Together had a subplot about Alzheimers, which I thought was a good thing to spotlight. In general I'm fine with these soapbox-y themes.

Last night I watched Trivia at St Nick's and Santa Tell Me. They were both decent. I enjoyed Triivia at St Nick's more. The trivia theme was unique and fun and I liked the "brain vs jock" trope. The leads were cute too. Santa Tell Me - the "3 Nicks" were fun and I'm always up for Santa magic. The home remodel stuff was meh, and I'm not a big fan of Erin Krakow, but it was worth a watch.

I'm on letterboxd and I do a holiday ranking list each year, if anyone wants to follow along: ‎My Holiday Movies 2024 Ranking List, a list of films by jensenholmes • Letterboxd

I started watching Finding Mr. Christmas (2024) on Hallmark+. It's fun. Lots of Hallmark movie stars show up and the challenges are super Christmas-y. Can recommend.

I assume that’s a reality competition?

My DVR was out for a bit a few weeks ago, and I thought about getting H+ just to keep up, but then I got it back and recorded replays of the weekend I had missed lol.

My Disney+ expires today so I’ve been bingeing that instead of Hallmark lol.

Yes, it's a reality competition show. Each episode there is a Christmas activity the guys have to do (wrapping presents etc) and then a bigger challenge like an acting scene or a photoshoot that a Hallmark actor would have to do. I haven't watched a reality competition in years, but I'm already getting into hoping for certain people to go home or win. The Hallmark theme is what makes it.

I subscribe to Hallmark+ via Amazon Prime Video. I only started that a few weeks ago for the Christmas season. So far, it's been worth the $$ but I'll likely drop it in January.

Anyone else watch Hot Frosty? I thought it was cute. A wee bit more innuendo and drama than a typical Hallmark movie, but otherwise similar in vibe. Super unrealistic, but what do you expect from a film about a snowman coming to life? I gave it 3.5/5 stars.

Not yet, but of course I’ll watch it for Lacey.

Christmas sale at Vudu includes the second Wedding Veil trilogy for $7.99. I thought the series was uneven, but I’ll get it for that price.

Ok, I skipped my Hallmark backlog to give Lacey an opening-weekend bump. I thought Hot Frosty was fine. It took me longer than ideal to suspend disbelief, and I couldn’t stop thinking about things were never going to work out, but I came around by the end. I’d say 3/5 for me.

Watched another couple from earlier in the year. With Love and Honey had Andrew Walker in Malta with a British first-timer, Margaret Clunie, as a beekeeper. Bethany Joy Lenz was exceptionally appealing in Savoring Paris, and there was a ton of talk about cheese.

Vudu’s new releases show a bunch of last year’s movies in six- and nine-packs. They’re about $5 a movie that way, but they’ll be dirt cheap whenever they appear in a sale. That pricing makes it hard for me to pay even $5 unless it’s a movie that I really like.

Hallmark released an extended preview for the Chiefs movie "Holiday touchdown". I've actually seen a few bars in town that'll be hosting watch parties. I just want to see how believable it'll be knowing they filmed it this past July.

Hot Frosty was an easy watch. I could live with Chabert inking a deal with Netflix to star in more films throughout 2025, especially the 2025 Christmas season.

Thanks for the preview Blue, I forgot this film stars Hunter King, who has quickly turned into one of my favorite actors to star in Hallmark films.

You mean whether it’s believable as winter weather? I think most of their holiday stuff is filmed in the warm season just because of schedule logistics.

Yes. I know Hallmark films most of their movies are made outside of the winter months but I think a lot of them are filmed in places like Canada. For Holiday Touchdown I'm guessing there will be a lot of indoor scenes and digital tricks. There's a scene in that trailer that has a Grey Sky overcast that had to have been added digitally.

It’s also weird to see a movie shot where you live because they play fast and loose with locations and stuff. “Hey, let’s walk across the street to this place that’s actually 25 miles away!”