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Listener Mailbag December #3 · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: This is a Bramble Jam podcast.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark review podcast. I'm
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Megan and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: I'm Wendy. I'm a former Hallmark hater.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Today's episode is a listener mailbag episode. Thank you for
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: your emails and your voicemails. You can keep them coming
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: to Girls Gone Hallmark at gmail dot com, or you
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: can leave us a voicemail at nine four nine three
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: two nine eight.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Zero nine zero.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: We will be reading them and listening to them. But
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: the next Listener Mailbag episode will drop in January, so
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: we want to hear everything. Just know that's when it's
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: coming out.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: I would just like to pause here for a second
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: and say thank you to everybody who has written in
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: or called in, like you guys really bring it for
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: mailbag and I love it. It's one of my favorite
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: episodes to do. I agree, keep it coming. Let's do
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: it twenty twenty six. Yay, Okay, If you guys don't know,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: this is the last episode that we're recording, it is.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: This is it, and then we're gonna take a small
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: break for us. You guys will still get content, but
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: for us behind the scenes We're gonna get a small break.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: It's been a long season. Really, this has.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Been the hardest season for me that we've ever done.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Tell me why. I don't know how to figure it out.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I truly haven't. We had screeners all season long. We
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: didn't have to wait for them to air. I don't
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: know why this has been so incredibly hard. But don't
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: you agree? Yes, yeah, I don't know what happened this year.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: I really just I cannot make heatherer tales of why
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: this year work wise, holiday, why it's just been harder.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: And it's December nineteenth as we're recording this, I do
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: not feel like I have my act together. As I
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: said the other day, my mom likes to say Christmas
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: is coming whether you're ready or not, and I am
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: not ready. Yeah, I mean this is true. I'm in
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: the same boat as you in regards to that kind
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: of stuff. But I'm trying to look back, you know.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: I know in previous years when we did count down
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: the Christmas we would like cherry pick the movies that
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: we wanted to review. Right this year, because the slate
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: was so much smaller, We're like, look, we can do
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: it all. We're gonna do every new movie. We did
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: not do the three Cherry Lane movies because they were repeats,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: but other than that, we did every new movie. We
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: did most series. We did Finding Mister Christmas. It was
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: just way more than I anticipated. Yeah, but I don't
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: think we did.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: More episodes this year than we did last year.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: I don't know why it was harder.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: I can't figure it out. But here's my advice to
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: anybody in the holiday season. One of the best things
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: I do for myself is I create a note in
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: my It's app called Holiday Debrief, and I write down
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: while I'm in the thick of it, what worked and
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: what didn't and what I would change, and then I
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: put a reminder in my calendar for whenever.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Works for you.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: I do it for October first, to check in on
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: my debrief so I can remember. I'm actually gonna bump
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: it up to September first this year, just so I
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: can remember what worked, what didn't, what I need to
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: do differently for things to run more smoothly.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Well, I have a suggestion I think you need to
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: put in there. When Wendy says, hey, let's do every movie,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: I think it should be like this. That was very
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: hard to do.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: You know, we just can't say no, that's the problem.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Well, and you know, we did get some feedback from
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: a person in our Facebook group and it was basically like, oh,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: why are you guys? What did it say, like, why
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: are you doing ripple? Ripple would have been there outside
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: of the Christmas season, and I'm like, well, we kind
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: of have to review, like what is trendy right now? Right?
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we want to hit it while people are still watching.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: It, Yeah, exactly. And I'm not trying to overwhelm our
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: listeners with the amount of content that we put out.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: I just feel like I want to touch it all
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: though I want it to be there for them. They
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: don't need to listen to it as it comes out,
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  Speaker 1: Like please, two weeks from now, when you're cleaning up
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: your Christmas tree, I hope you'll listen to our review
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  Speaker 1: of single on the twenty fifth, you know exactly. You
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: don't have to consume it as we put it out,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: is all I'm trying to go in anywhere. No, Absolutely,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: it's there.
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  Speaker 2: We hope you don't feel overwhelmed by it, just churn
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: through it as it suits you.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: But we are interested in your thoughts on it, so
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: if you want to email us. Am I maybe soliciting
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: for an email that says, hey, you guys don't need
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: to do every single movie, It's okay. Maybe I am.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be nice because when we said we
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: were doing everyone, people were like, yay, we're so excited
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: you're doing it, which was fuel.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: To the fire for me. Yeah. I want to give
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: the people what they want.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: We're very well aware how low stakes what we do
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: here is. Just in case anybody's.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: Curious, this is true.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Why don't we kick off our discussion with an email
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: from Emily in regards to Twelve Dates Till Christmas.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Hi, Megan Wendy, I really appreciate your reviews and enjoy
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: hearing your thoughts on movies and shows. I had some
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: delays in being able to get to watch Twelve Dates
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Till Christmas, so had enough time to see ratings and
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: was really concerned when I saw it was getting such
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: a low score on IMDb because I really like the actors.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Then I got a chance to watch it and loved it.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: All this to say, I am baffled by the ratings.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: I was so glad that you all loved it and
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: interviewed Zach and Aaron loved hearing the behind the scenes stories.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Why the IMDb ratings though.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Question mark, so I dug into the IMDb ratings. Overall,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: this show has a five point nine on IMDb, which
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: is incredibly low. However, the episode ratings so far that
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: only the first four episodes are rated, because as of
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: the recording of this only the first four have come out.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: The episode ratings are seven point two, six point eight,
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: seven point one. Okay, but you can rate both the
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: episode and the series as a whole on IMDb. What's
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: interesting is twelve percent of the ratings are a one star.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: That has to be someone taking issue with some piece
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: of this that has absolutely nothing to do.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Let's show itself and I know where you're headed. Yep,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: I agree.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: So whether it's the inclusion of same sex storylines, I don't.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Know what it is.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: I can't speak to it. There are no individual episode reviews.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: There are series reviews, and most of the written reviews
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: are quite positive. There is a two star review that
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: says this is so bad nothing like the book, which
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: I read every year, terribly miscast. The quality of film
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: series has generally go on down. I read there's been
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: change in management. There needs to be more. I think
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: they're talking about Hallmark. Previous folks knew how to cast
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: actors and create funny mystery series. Now both channels are
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: a sad reflection of what used to be entertaining. This
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: four part movie was a waste of money. I mean
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: they haven't even finished the series at this point. To me,
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: I'm like, you're just wrong. If you love Twelve Days
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: Until Christmas, hop them to IMDb and leave a nice
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: review please.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we encourage you on socials on IMDb. On Hallmark
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Channel's Facebook page. You know, gosh, that stuff pisses me
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: off so much because these are just people who don't
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: want to see certain things on their Hallmark channel and
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: so therefore they leave negative reviews on a project. It
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: just makes me mad because I feel like for years
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: we've been talking about like Hallmark needs to grow and
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: expand we need to go in a different direction. But
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: just pivot in a more inclusive direction. Give us different storytelling,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: like represent everybody's lives who live in this world, right,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: And there are just a ton of people out there
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: who don't want to do that, who are so reluctant
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: to that change, and I'm fearful. I have talked about
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: it to you off Mike, I don't know if we've
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: talked about it on Mike. I'm fearful we are going
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: to go backwards with homework and I don't know where
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: that's going to put me in behater status.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know what's to come. But every once
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: in a while, my eyes are opened to the level
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: to which people are so stuck in their ways, and
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: it just makes me want to light things on fire.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: I don't know what to say to that, because when people,
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: you know, when you're reading something based on it's based
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: on something that you object to as opposed to the content,
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: It's like, I can't take you seriously right right?
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: And you know what is funny is I'm always on
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Reddit and reading this on Reddit, and oftentimes I'll see
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: the thing that comes to mind is Three Wisest Man.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: People talked a lot about like, oh, was that third
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: movie necessary? And I remember commenting like, yeah, it wasn't
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: for me, and somebody replied and they're like, well, great,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: you don't need to watch it. And you know what,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: I'm going to adopt that you're right, I didn't need
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: to Well, I needed to watch it for this, but
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: people don't need to watch twelve dates either. But you
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: also don't need to leave bad reviews for it. Just
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: keep scrolling.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: I've got a hot take, and everybody needs to know
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: about it.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: I know exactly. I also saw on Reddit this last
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: week people were ranking the movies. The series were also
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: included in that, and somebody had twelve Dates rate like
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: their very bottom number twenty five, and I was like, dude,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: get out of here. I was like, you are so
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: wrong about this, which I gave them my hot take.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: I told them they were wrong.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this would be my number one for the year.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: Well, speaking of hot takes, let's talk about old people.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: We have a voicemail from Michelle old people.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: Ooh hey, it's Michelle in regard to the being fifty
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: five sixty years old and we started recording the podcast.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: I did not personally take offense to it, but I
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: do think that there is a niche there to be
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: had that you girls could continue into as someone who
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: is fifty five.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: I don't want to.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: And this is no shade, no harm meant towards any
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: of the younger podcasters. I don't want to listen to
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: a twenty five or thirty year old talk about the
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: Homework movie. I want to listen to someone who is
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: culture to my age talking about them. I think it's
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: more relatable because of our life experiences, because of knowing.
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: These actors for a longer time. There's something to be
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: said for older podcasters talking about Homework Movie to late
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: group of people who is largely.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Made up of older viewers.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: Peek, doing it as long as you can and every
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: long as you want to want it to no longer
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: friend off the podcast. But lease, don't stop because you
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: think I'm a certain age and I can't do this anymore.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: The way you cheat it up, I thought you were
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: talking about Michelle being old. No, that's my first thought. No,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: that was funny. She's not wrong. She's going back to
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: an episode I don't even remember when it was this season,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: but I was like questioning if me personally was still
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: going to continue doing this podcast reviewing these movies as
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: like a in my sixties, right mm hmm. It was like,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: honestly a throwaway comment, but like we've gotten.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: So much feedback on it, can't get rid of us now.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: I appreciate I hear what Michelle's saying, like, I appreciate
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: that she wants to hear a point of view from
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: somebody who has had a lived experience. I like that too.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: I don't want to discount any of the younger podcasters.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: I mean, are there younger? Are there?
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, they bring their own unique perspective. I'm sure they're
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: drawn to the movies that have the young single, whereas
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: we want the movies that have the second chance at love.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: Look, it's why I'm drawn to the podcast Nobody's listening
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: right more than I'm drawn to the Giggly Squad podcast
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: because I can relate to what they're going through. They've
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: been married for a number of years, they're raising children,
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: they're not single in New York navigating life. I know
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: Hannah's married. My point is they live a very different
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: life than we do. You're drawn to the people whose
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: experiences mirror your own, and so, yes, I do think
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: there's value in that. No, we were not trying to
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: silently be agist over here.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: No, but that's the beauty of it. It all can exist.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: There's room for everyone. So Christine Wrightson and the subject
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: is regarding Patreon. If you are listening to the Hallmark
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: movie review podcast and you're like, what the heck is Patreon.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Patreon is a paid subscription platform where Megan and I
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: have a what do we have?
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: It's a membership platform. We produce four podcast episodes there
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: every month. They are, as you'll hear from this email,
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: not Hallmark related. They are more lifestyle and we get
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: into it all.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: We'd love to have you over there. It's five dollars
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: a month and it just helps keep the show running.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: On the track, the kitchen lights on.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: That is right, So Christine writes, you know, I absolutely
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: love your Hallmark reviews. But I have to say you
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: changed my life yesterday with that skincare discussion on Patreon.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Why am I just learning at fifty six that I'm
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: supposed to let each layer dry down before applying the
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: next one? Mind blowing information. Thanks for bringing all the
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: news I need to know. If I could pause here
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: for a second. When I read this, I was like,
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: wo was she being sarcastic? Mean, it wasn't like we
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: were like, oh, hey, you should let your stuff dry
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: before you lay your your next thing on. I don't know.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: I think she is being true.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: I think she's being genuine. No, we were not lecturing
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: everybody on how to do their skincare. We were talking
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: about Wendy has an extensive skincare routine these days, and
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: we were just talking about it's exhausting. It's exhausting sometimes,
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: so dropping truth bombs over there on Patreon.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, you got to try to keep that
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: face looking good when you're fifty like myself. So I'm
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: doing all the things to help reverse time the.
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: More you know.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: This email is from Sarah about Champagne Problems, who says,
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: so glad you review Champagne Problems. I watched it specifically
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: so I could listen.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: To your review.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: Your review was spot on. I also loved Roberto, many
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: laugh out loud moments from him. One part I loved
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: that I don't think you mentioned was the small moment
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: of holliw magic, mostly from Marcel the concierge. Him sending
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: her to the bookstore to quote find exactly what she
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: needs was so magical that helped it lean a bit
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: more holiday for me. I also love the magic of
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: the dog being lost and her finding both him and
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: Henri's lost book. Sarah, I'm so glad you mentioned that
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: because I actually did note in my notes and not
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: in the episode. That moment of Marcel kind of being
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: her little fairy godmother. I wondered if we were going
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: to get a little bit more of that of him,
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: like orchestrating some of that magic. But I enjoyed that
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: as well. She goes on to say, if I could
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: recommend another Netflix review, it would be jingle Bell Heist.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: I was surprised how much I liked it. There are
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: some really fun heist playing and execution moments, like in
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: the second mystery from Mistletoe Murders. The hidden storyline is
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: also real fun. Were wrapped on holiday movies for the year,
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: but that doesn't mean we won't revisit some of these
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: titles in the future.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: Our next email is from Paula regarding Ripple. If you
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: guys didn't know, we are reviewing Ripple, which is a
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Netflix series formally supposed to be Hallmark. It's incredible, by
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: the way, you should be watching it. Paula writes, I
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: loved your review and I agree totally with you except
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: one thing. I would compare this show to The Chicken Sisters.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Like that show, it exists on the edge of the
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Hallmark universe. They both challenge our expectations while telling stories
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: that have a lot of Hallmark themes. I love them both.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: The difference is Rippel would have gotten more criticism. How
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: many typical viewers would have stayed past Walter discovering his
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: wife As you can imagine Frankie Faison's Walter strikes so
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: close to home. Everything he does is perfect. And I
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: write this. As I write this, I'm crying. It took
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: four years to move off my side of the bed.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: So there is this and so much more. Thank you
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: for expanding your reach. Hopefully Hallmark will start airing content
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: like this, there is room for it.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: I think Paula is absolutely right that Ripple would have
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: gotten so much more criticism than The Chicken Sisters says.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: It's just like it's for the same reasons that twelve Dates. Yes,
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: I think Walter's Wife would have sent people into a
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: tailspin because people turned to Hallmark for feel good, happy endings.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: But there's so many more layers in that show that
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: people would have just been turned off by.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, unfortunately, and it's what makes it so rich and
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: so good. Yes, you're right, You are absolutely right.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Lisa emailed with the movie suggestion I discovered your podcast
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: recently when I found your conversation with Sarah Drew and
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: Peter Mooney. You recently started to review Ripple. If you're
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: open to other non Hallmark shows, I recommend The Christmas
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: Checklist on up TV. It's stars Sarah Power from The
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Good Witch and she's Peter Mooney's wife. Why didn't I
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: realize that?
• 17:47
  Speaker 6: Wait?
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Like in real life? I think?
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: So?
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Oh interesting?
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Per the series description, grieving Emily, who has recently lost
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: her mother, feels obligated to complete her mother's list of
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: twelve activities before Christmas. Along the way, she meets freelance
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: writer Noah, who offers to help. It definitely has a
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: Hallmark vibe in my wait.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: I watched a movie similar to this on Netflix. It
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: was not Christmas related though, but it was like a
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: woman whose mother had passed and left like a checklist
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: of activities to do. Fun. Yeah, why do I think
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: I've watched that too?
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: It's called The Life List?
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: Is that the one? Yep? That's it on Netflix.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: Maybe I didn't watch it, but I've seen the previews. Yes,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Sarah Powers and Peter Mooney are married in real life.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: Wow and fun fact Sarah Drew is married to a
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: Peter and Peter is married to a Sarah.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: That's bizarre.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, anyway, keep up the great work. Fingers crossed for
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: an official announcement regarding Mistletoe Murders Season three.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: What's your take? Do you think we'll get a season three?
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: I certainly hope so, but I think we will. And
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: we just talked about Middlebridge mysteries. I kind of would
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: like to see that's been off as well. Me too,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Me too. Our next emails from Francisco. Now if Francisco
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: sounds like a familiar name. Francisco wrote in a lot
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: regarding The Way Home earlier in the year. I love
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: getting another email from him. Here are some of his
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: thoughts on this year's countdown to Christmas movies. He writes,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: I kept meaning to write this, but another good movie
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: will come out and I want to wait, so I
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: don't know when this will be read. I've enjoyed the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: movies this year overall. While there have been weaker ones,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: not all can be sugar plumbed like last year. There
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: have been a lot I've enjoyed and we'll come back
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: to Merry Christmas. Ted Cooper was a good start to
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: the season, while I won't go down all the ones
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: I've seen. Here are some highlights. I won't go into detail.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: I'm going to share Francisco's takes of his favorites, and
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: then I'm gonna ask you, Megan, what does your list compare?
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: How about that? Okay? Okay? So Francisco as mentioned Merry Christmas,
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: Hed Cooper, A Grand old Opry Christmas. We met in December.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: She's making a list. Christmas at the Catnip Cafe Single
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: on the twenty fifth. Do those movies resonate to you
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: as being like the best of the season? U? No?
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Ooh hot take? Do you want to give me your
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: top three? I've seen every single album?
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: Three Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper, A grand ole Opry Christmas.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: Oh no, I don't know if I can do three.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Let me think Single on the twenty fifth, I'm doing
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Top five A Sweet Holiday Romance and oh what about
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: a Newport Christmas? And The Killer Christmas Vacation and Christmas.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: Above the Clouds. Yeah.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: I also really like The Christmas Baby.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there were some good ones. The more the merrier.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: I really liked an Alpine Holiday, different liked it. Yeah,
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: there have been very few movies that I didn't enjoy
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: this year. There were a lot of like perfectly fine, watchable,
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: fun movie and then those the ones that I listed
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: are my real standouts.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Do you think twenty seven movies is the sweet spot
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: for Hallmark in a Christmas lineup?
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: This is plenty. The reason is I hope we continue
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: to see the presence of the series like Mistletoe Murders
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: and twelve Dates, and so for me, when you add
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: those in, it's plenty.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: It's good. Yeah. I think they did a good job
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: this season. I know, I'm sure it was probably hard
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: for them to pivot from like we have forty plus movies,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: but I do think the quality of these movies it's noticeable.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: They had twenty four movies plus four full series, so
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: I think the numbers still math out in terms of
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: the number of hours of programming they're putting out.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Francisco goes on to write, I'm disappointed we got no
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: Rachel Lee Cook or Amy Greening this year. Amy showed
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: that she has leading lady energy last year in twasda
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: Date before Christmas. I watched it again this year and
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: think she's so under used as the sister of a
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: best friend. I agree there were a lot of missing
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: this year. Yes, that is the bummer of the smaller slate. Yeah,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: because then you're gonna give other people opportunities. Up and
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: comers some opportunities. Yeah.
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: We met some new.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: Actors who we really liked this season as well. Exactly
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: all right, we have a voicemail from Shelby. She called
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: us about Single on the twenty fifth.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: I think it on one day.
• 22:27
  Speaker 7: This is Shelby. I live in Richmond, Virginia. I first
• 22:30
  Speaker 7: want to say I love the podcast, I love what
• 22:32
  Speaker 7: y'll bring to me the homework space. Second, I was
• 22:35
  Speaker 7: listening to your episode on Single on the twenty fifth,
• 22:37
  Speaker 7: and so I'd like to preface this with I'm a.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Thirty two year old woman who is Trump the foul.
• 22:42
  Speaker 7: I was born and raised in Alabama, live in Virginia
• 22:45
  Speaker 7: now in a like deeply conservative religious family. I was
• 22:50
  Speaker 7: listening to I'll talk about Single on the twenty fifth,
• 22:52
  Speaker 7: and y'all were you know, mentioning that y'all had been
• 22:54
  Speaker 7: married for a while with kids and whatnot. My guest
• 22:57
  Speaker 7: try tonight, we were both single in our thirty she's
• 22:59
  Speaker 7: ever been in a relations I haven't been in a
• 23:00
  Speaker 7: relationship in like eight years, so long time single folks.
• 23:04
  Speaker 7: And we were talking about this movie because this was
• 23:08
  Speaker 7: very much so our life abouts and she is more
• 23:11
  Speaker 7: of the main characters kind of philosophy, and I was
• 23:15
  Speaker 7: more on Daniel Wilsing's characters because I am a person
• 23:20
  Speaker 7: who I have been doing.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: It for a while.
• 23:23
  Speaker 7: Yet I do try dating and those kinds of things,
• 23:26
  Speaker 7: but it's not something I'm.
• 23:27
  Speaker 6: Like always pursuing. And I don't believe in waiting for.
• 23:32
  Speaker 7: My life to happen until inter xyz thing, because I
• 23:36
  Speaker 7: don't think that living a partner life means that your
• 23:40
  Speaker 7: life is on holding children. But havn't grown up in
• 23:43
  Speaker 7: a very religious, very conservative state.
• 23:45
  Speaker 6: She from the same background.
• 23:48
  Speaker 7: We very much show we're taught and it was kind
• 23:50
  Speaker 7: of cultural mattersta In it's still very much so it's
• 23:53
  Speaker 7: experted of like, oh, your life is on hold until
• 23:55
  Speaker 7: you're you know, kind a partner, and with that I
• 23:59
  Speaker 7: receive a lot of I have questions all of these
• 24:02
  Speaker 7: things of like oh, I could never do that alone,
• 24:05
  Speaker 7: referring to go into a restaurant alone, going and doing
• 24:08
  Speaker 7: certain things alone.
• 24:09
  Speaker 6: I traveled the world alone, like I went to England
• 24:12
  Speaker 6: and France earlier this year.
• 24:14
  Speaker 7: I also went to Puerto Rico, like I will go wherever,
• 24:17
  Speaker 7: do not guaranteed for.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Your next day.
• 24:19
  Speaker 6: But also with that, I just get a lot of.
• 24:22
  Speaker 7: People who have comments and thought on that, and so
• 24:25
  Speaker 7: I think it very much. So is a thing that
• 24:27
  Speaker 7: people are like, oh, I can.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Never do that.
• 24:30
  Speaker 7: I will say I did struggle with the character needing
• 24:32
  Speaker 7: to like do these things alone at Christmas because.
• 24:35
  Speaker 6: One of the things that I do is like, because
• 24:37
  Speaker 6: I don't.
• 24:37
  Speaker 7: Live here my family, I will travel home for Christmas
• 24:40
  Speaker 7: because I do want to spend holiday time with my family.
• 24:43
  Speaker 6: But in general, the message of being comfortable being with yourself,
• 24:49
  Speaker 6: I think is very much shows something that people need
• 24:51
  Speaker 6: to hear and experience takes, practice, takes skills, and that
• 24:54
  Speaker 6: even if you're in a relationship, I think you should
• 24:57
  Speaker 6: go have dinners on your own, go do an activity yourself.
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: That's just my perstructive. Again, as a thirty two.
• 25:02
  Speaker 7: Year old kingle Gao who definitely culturally feel like the
• 25:06
  Speaker 7: pressures and expectations that I should get married and that
• 25:10
  Speaker 7: things are a little weird for me because I don't.
• 25:12
  Speaker 6: But I really enjoy my life and doing stuff on myself.
• 25:15
  Speaker 7: So if you are a single goal but listening to
• 25:19
  Speaker 7: this don't wait until XYZ thing to do whatever.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: I really appreciate this voicemail because, as mentioned, this wasn't
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: something we could personally relate to, so it's nice to
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: hear these takes on how people viewed the idea of
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: being single and leaning in on being single. But I
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: think she makes a really good point about the difference
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: between being single and being alone.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: Yes, exactly, Yes.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Cool to be single and it's cool to prioritize your
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: own wants and needs, which I think was the bigger
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: message and the idea of well, if I have to
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: do it alone, then that's perfectly fine because I want
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: to do this thing. But I like the idea of
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: being with people.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: I thought she had some good points about encouraging other
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: single women not to wait for like x Y and
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Z like to live their lives. Yeah, I think I
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: know you really liked that movie, and there were some
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: things I liked about it as well. I just thought
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: they like portrayed and I don't remember her name, the
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: main character, Lindsay von Seka's character. I think they just
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: portrayed her as like this sad, lonely single girl and
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: it doesn't have to be that desperate people had very
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: polarizing takes on that movie. For sure, I'm glad Shelly
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: wrote in or called in.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: MACKI wrote in after we'd asked for some recommendations for
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: some future reviews, and Mackie has her finger on the
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: pulse of what's going on. She has some upcoming rom
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: coms that she suggested, including People We Meet on Vacations
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: starring Emily Bader and Tom Blythe the movie The Love Hypothesis,
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: and Ali Hazelwood book adaptation that I'm super excited about.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: Lily Reinhart and Tom Bateman the movie It Happened One Summer,
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: Nina Dobrev and Tyler hawklinn. There are some more that
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: I'm not familiar with. Voicemails for Isabelle, you deserve each other,
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: the token groomsmen, ooh, Sarah Hyland and Taylor Lautner, Dude, you.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Just skipped right. You deserve each other. With Meghan Fahey
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: and Penn Badge, Oh yeah, hello, hoo, perfectly, I'm perfect,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Malan Ackerman and Dermott mulroney.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: Look, I'm excited about these.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm gonna keep my eye out off its.
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: Romance Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein. What an interesting pairing
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: that is.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: I don't know who Brett Goldstein is. Yeah, you do
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: Ted Lasso, He's Roy Oh stop, Yeah, I have to
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: review that. I think there's space for us to review
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: these movies. I'm excited about it. You know. You know
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: I'm a big Dancing with a Sars fan, right, I do.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: And it was recently announced that Whitney Lovitt, who did
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: not win, but she was a participant of the Secret
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Life of Mormon Wives, she is doing a Lifetime Christmas movie. Yeah.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Megan shared it and I was like, well, look, our
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: holiday slate is going to be lit, because I want
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: to do that movie as well.
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: Of course, of course.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: Teresa writes in about the hairtech herd around the World
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: at least our Hallmark World High Ladies, that hairtuck took
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: me out of the scene because I started trying to
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: decide whether I liked it or not. I decided that
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: I definitely didn't like it. She's referring to Finding Mister Christmas,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: where our contestant Angel was acting opposite Sharon Lawrence, who
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: played his mother in the scene, and he does a
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: very intimate, sexy hairtuck which didn't land for me personally.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: We got a lot of.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Messages about it.
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: We were not the only ones who weren't quite sure
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: about that. Hair talk Good mail man Steve from our
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: Facebook group wrote in about Mistletoe Murders and he says,
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: piggybacking on what the writer, that being Ken Cooper has mentioned,
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: why can't Mistletoe Murders be more like a mystery movie.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: It could be two hours and have three to four
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: installments throughout the year, Like Hannah Swinson thoughts, Wendy siin
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: Seel Delivered did the same thing and originally started out
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: as episodic right, and then transitioned to movies.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: I'm down for it, are you?
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: So?
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: I'm down for Mistleto Murders continuing in whatever way works best.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: The thing for me is your point about sign Seal
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: Delivered is well taken. I hadn't considered it because I
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: think if we do that, that then centers the mysteries
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: and I'm here for the Emily of it all.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: But okay, I think there's a way to do it.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: I just think the seasons have such a nice arc
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: in terms of how we tell the story of Emily
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: along with the myst but if look, if Ken Cooper's
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: can make it happen, I'll watch it.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm trying to think. So we get what is
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: equal to maybe three movies right in a season for them?
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Would we get three movies in the year. I could
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: go either way, Like, I don't want to wait months
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: and months and months between movies. So gosh, I don't know.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: I don't If I could get like five movies a year,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: that would be great, but that's not gonna happen. So
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: maybe keep it the format as it is. I don't know.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: I don't know, all right, bring us on home.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: Paula again rights in, and this is regarding twelve dates.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: She says, Hi, again, I totally agree with you on
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: this series. It's definitely deserves five stars. I hope Hallmark
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: fans appreciate it. Also, I too have a strong interest
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: in over fifty five romance. It's personal for me and
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: the stories can be very enjoyable. So I watched the
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: episodes out of order and ended up watching watching the
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: end of episode two, and I think kylem is very
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: much in it. So early on we were asking, is
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: kylem end game here? Yeah, I won't spoil it if
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: you haven't watched the series. Watched the series and you
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: will know if kylem is endgame. The look on his
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: face when he sees Kate and Richard kissing is very telling.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: We will see when rightfully praising May Whitman, you miss
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: two biggies. She was in the Hallmark classic A Season
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: for Miracles from nineteen ninety nine and the teen classic
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: The Duf. She starred as the Duf. I love that movie.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: I didn't miss it. I've seen it. She just has
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: a long resume. You can't mention everything exactly. Great movie though,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: is it? Yeah? I mean as a teen movie, and
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: you know that's my sweet spot. I love. I love
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: a movie with some teens, high school setting.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: Look, I just pulled up this movie and the movie
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: poster is front and center, and let me just tell
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: it's like the Jessica Simpson mom jeans of it all.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: The fact that May Whitman in this poster is the
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: designated ugly fat friend. Yeah joke, It's gonna make me
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: burn the world down, that's all.
• 32:02
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: That's a wrap on the twenty twenty five recording season
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: for Megan and Wendy. Thank you for coming along for
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: the ride. It's been a year, and with that, the
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty five season comes to a close. Thanks for listening.
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: We can't wait to come back for new content in
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: the new year.
• 32:23
  Speaker 5: Happy holidays, y'all, goodbye bye, all.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: Right friends, Before we go, just a quick heads up.
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: You're about to hear some ads. Thee little gems help
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: us keep the show running and the Hallmark love flowing.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: So do with that info what you will, Grab a snack,
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: hit the skip button, or maybe just maybe listen in
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: and discover your new favorite product.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: Bye.