Latest / Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews / Countdown to Christmas First Impressions - Part 3

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Countdown to Christmas First Impressions - Part 3 · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark Review podcast. I'm Megan,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan. I'm Wendy. I'm a
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: former Hallmark hater. This is part three of our Countdown
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to Christmas First Impressions series, and we are kicking it
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: off in December. Friday, December 4th, The Snowflake Effect. Heather
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Hemmon stars as Tanya, a corporate attorney who buys an
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: antique glass snowflake for a white elephant exchange. Only to
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: discover it's a magical good luck charm. And she's accidentally
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: activated its bad luck side. Goodness. Got clock on the wall.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: She teams up with Jason, played by Mark Gonname, to
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: chase the snowflake from recipient to recipient across Chicago before
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Christmas and somewhere along their way. The streak of bad
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: luck starts looking a lot like a romance. Did these two,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: were they in a movie together before? Is that what
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: you're going to ask? Yeah. I was wondering the same thing.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to think. No. No, because she was in
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: that Lights movie. Yeah. With Marco Grazzini, I think. Yeah.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: They have like a similar vibe. Yeah, exactly. I'm kind
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: of interested in the like. The object that might have
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: bad luck to it. And I really loved Heather Hemmons
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: in Texas Two-Step. Gosh, she was so good. So this
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: could be fun or it could be, I don't know.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: I don't know. We haven't seen Mark Garname on Hallmark
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: since 2024's A Dance in the Snow, since then been
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: on Virgin River, and he was in a movie for
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: another network last year in 2025. I do, I like,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of like magical twists in our movies
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: this year, and I'm kind of here for it. Yeah,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: I like, I like that element at Christmastime too. I'm curious.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: I'm curious. I'm curious. Bad luck until Christmas. Well, the
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: movie everybody has been waiting for, Saturday, December 5th, A
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Grand Biltmore Christmas, starring Holland Rodin and Niall Mader. Also
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: featuring Annie McDowell, James Trevena, Jonathan Frakes, Rachel Boston, and
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Wes Brown. On Christmas Eve, 1895, the night Biltmore House
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: first opens, 13-year-old Elizabeth rescues a boy named Michael from
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: getting in trouble with the staff. 20 years later, Elizabeth,
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: played by Rodan, is back at Biltmore with James, played
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: by Trevena. The man her aunt, Maisley, played by Andy McDowell,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: wants her to marry. At the Christmas gala, a stranger
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: asks her to dance, and it's Michael, played by Mater.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: She hugs him, and suddenly she's transported to the present day.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Turns out Michael's a modern tourist who time-traveled using a
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: magical hourglass in Biltmore's library. Now they have to get
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Elizabeth back to 1915 without tipping off Michael's family. But
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: the longer she stays, the closer they get. And Elizabeth
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: has to decide whether to go back to the life
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: that's been chosen for her or follow her heart. I
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: have so many reservations about this movie. Do you? I
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: just love the original so, so, so, so, so much.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: I think that is going to be a problem for
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: a lot of people because the Palahas are a loud
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: and vocal bunch. Am I a Palaha? Ha ha ha. Yeah,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: I would say yes and no. We're big Palaha fans,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: but we are not. Chris Palaha is the one and
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: only actor who is worthy of watching on Hallmark-style Palaha fans. Uh-huh.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: So my feeling is if this movie is good, you're
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: not going to be afraid to say so. That's the difference.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: I think the important thing for me and for viewers
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: of this movie is... To not watch it as a sequel,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: which is going to be hard. The setting is the same.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Jonathan Frakes returns. It's clearly the same franchise. But other
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: than we've got Rachel Boston and Wes Brown who are
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: in Her Merry Widow. Is that the deal? Mm-hmm. There's
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: very few ties to the actual story here. Keith Nielsen
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: does return to do the costuming on this movie. I
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: can't wait to see all that stuff. I am actually
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: looking forward to this. Me too. Like the production team
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: behind it, like, you know, it's going to be five star,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: like all that's, you know, it's produced by synthetic cinema. Yes,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: that's it. And so it's Dustin Reichert directed. Yeah. There'll
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: be continuity there. And from the first one. Yeah. I mean,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: I just love the first one so much. And I,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: that says a lot, right. But I love all the
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: players in this. So it's, Of course I'm going to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: watch it, and I will go in with, like, fresh eyes.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to be like, well, it wasn't this,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: you know. Sure. Okay, Sunday, December 6th, An Angel in
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: My Stocking. We have Fiona Gubelman stars as Amanda, who
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: has sworn off Christmas after a whirlwind marriage and a
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: disastrous first holiday with her now ex-husband Jack, played by
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Marco Grazzini. Three years later, the two unexpectedly end up
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: stranded together in a small Vermont town where a mysterious
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: woman claiming to be Amanda's guardian angel helps her reconsider Christmas,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: her past, and maybe even her feelings for Jack. You know,
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: I don't hate this idea. This sounds like Ghost of
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Christmas Past. What's that called? You know, with the Christmas carol? Yeah,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: that's it. It does have that vibe. Look, I prefer
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: a divorce to a widow. Me too. I know this
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: is the way it goes, but I may just be
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: done with like, I hate Christmas. And then like, oh,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: I need to be transformed. And you know what I mean? Like,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: I don't, I think it's perfectly fine to not love Christmas.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: But the trope is like, I hate Christmas. And now
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: we're going to make you love Christmas as if the
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: only right thing is to love Christmas. I don't know.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: You're preaching to the choir, babe. Oh, I know. But
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: you don't like Christmas. Yes, but I get the pressure
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: every year to love Christmas. Because that's what culture loves.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Society loves Christmas. Okay. Leave her alone. Let her not
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: love Christmas. Well, you know, it's funny. She had a bad, like,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: marriage and a bad Christmas together. And then maybe she
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: just was like, yeah, I'm done. You know, look, I
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: liked Fiona Gugelman in last year's Christmas movie with that
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: super hot kiss that she had with Warren Christie. Yes.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: A Montana, a Royal Montana Christmas. Yeah. And we've been
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: saying like justice for Marco Grazini because the dude is
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: getting like no play on the, on those mystery movies.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Here comes his redemption story. Hopefully. Let's, let's hope. Let's hope.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Premiering on Friday, December 11th. It's Christmas in Canterbury starring
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Jesse Schramm and Will Kemp. After losing her beloved grandma, bud, Rose,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: played by Schramm, leaves her hometown of Vienna, Ohio to
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: spend Christmas in Canterbury, England with her childhood friend Asha,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: played by Sam Kapila. The two met in a children's
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: choir and both grew up to be choir masters, but
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: when Rose arrives, Asha is put on bed rest and
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: the headmistress offers Rose the job, not realizing Rose worked
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: with a choir in Vienna herself. Ohio, not Vienna, Austria. Oh, no.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: Rose's sunny outlook gets pushed to the test when she
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: meets Harrison, played by Kemp, the very traditional boys choir master.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: The boys choir always sings at the Christmas Eve concert
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: in the Canterbury Cathedral, and Rose wants to know why
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: the girls never get the chance. So the headmistress decides
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: the two choirs will compete for the honor. And as
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: the rivalry heats up, so does a romance, and these
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: two opposites from opposite sides of the pond realize they
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: might have more in common than they thought. I don't
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: like any sort of, you know, royal adjacent movies. What
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: part of this gives you royal? Because it's set in Europe? Yep.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Set in England? Exactly. And I'm sorry, but I'm looking
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: at a picture of the super adorable Justy Schramm and
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: she's wearing a tragic blue sweater and a brown skirt
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: and it's doing nothing. Well, and I don't like the
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: idea of a buttoned up Will Kemp. No. Let him run.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: The man's got comedic chops. Let him use them. Yeah,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: I don't... And then we got like a boys choir
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: and like a... I'm a real hater when it comes
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: to children's choirs, in spite of the fact that my
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: child is a choir kid. And I just... I just
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: don't want to see, like, you know, it's fun to
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: watch your own kids. I don't really want to watch
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: these strangers' kids sing. Not going to lie. This is
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: real low on my list. Okay, this one I'm looking
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: forward to. Saturday, December 12th. Snow Globe Town. Inspired by
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: Brad Paisley's song, Snow Globe Town. Kimberly Sested stars as Emily,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: who heads to Pine Grove, the Christmas proposal capital of America.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: expecting to help capture the perfect proposal when her sister's
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: longtime boyfriend pops the question. While secretly helping, you know what,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: this is like the 14th movie that was like secretly
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: helping unexpectedly. While secretly helping make that proposal happen, Emily
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: gets paired with a skeptical journalist played by Scott Michael Foster.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: And as they are swept up in the holiday's traditions,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: an unexpected, there it is, romance of their own begins
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: to take shape. Come on, Kim and Scott Michael Foster. Kabow! Shabam!
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: Guess who wrote this movie? Russell Hainline. Nicole Dressbell. Oh!
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: that's exciting I first of all when I read the
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: synopsis when this list came out I was just like
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: scrolling scrolling scrolling trying to like take it all in
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: quickly and when I hit this I immediately sent a
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: screenshot to Wendy and I was like this is gonna
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: be so good then Nicole posted Nicole does not have
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: public facing social media accounts and when I saw that
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: she shared that she was the writer of this movie
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: I was like get out of town now I am
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: doubly excited for this movie because y'all know i loved
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: mystic christmas so much the script on that i could
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: not shut up about it this is gonna be amazing
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: yeah you know who can banter scott freaking michael foster
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: yeah and kim oh it's gonna be so good i
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: know yay can't wait Premiering Sunday, December 13th, it's Noel
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Nomad starring Benjamin Ayers and Tori DeVito. Joseph, played by Ayers,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: is an uptight sports medicine doctor who's all set for
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: a luxurious Hawaiian Christmas with his daughter Annie, played by
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Kaylin Yoon McCray. But first, they have to make one
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: reluctant stop, delivering a package from Joseph's late father to
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: a mysterious person named Birdie at a remote campground. Things
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: go sideways fast. Joseph accidentally crashes into the RV of
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: free-spirited Nora, played by DeVito, at a rest stop. They
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: can't find Bertie anywhere, and their ancient Winnebago breaks down.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: So they're stuck at the campground for a few days,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: waiting on parts. And Nora introduces them to a quirky
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: group of campers who call themselves the Nomads. As Nora
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: shows Joseph how to loosen up and enjoy camp life,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: sparks start to fly. And when Bertie mysteriously finally comes
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: into focus and the parts show up, Joseph has to
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: decide whether Hawaii is really where he wants to be
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: or whether home might be right there at the campground.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Directed by Jeff Beasley. Oh my gosh, you're kidding me.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: I am not. Gosh, okay. Now, knowing that Jeff Beasley directed,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: I imagine there's a lot of players. He does great
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: with big casts. Loves an ensemble, he has famously said. Okay, so...
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: Knowing that and saying like, okay, we're going to meet
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: all these like quirky campers and stuff. Erica definitely better
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: be in this freaking movie or I'm going to riot.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: I know. Have we been in touch with him? No. Okay.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: I'm going to send him a DM because I need
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: to know if he's in. He is in American Hostage
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: for anyone who needs a tub life fix. Yes. Yes.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: But story alone, I'm like, I don't want to like
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: chase like these nine. I don't know. I don't know
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: how to feel. Yeah, the story. Okay. The story itself
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: is doing not much for me. But your point about
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: Jeff Beasley and an ensemble made me more excited about this. Also,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: we know I'm an heirs head. Benjamin Ayers can do
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: no wrong. I trust him in this movie. So there
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: are a lot of pieces. Remember Science Seal Delivered in
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: an RV? That was a good time. Yep, I do.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: I did like that movie. So I am looking forward
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: to this. Bring it on. Bring it on. You know
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: what it is? Yeah. I think I have rose-colored Christmas
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: glasses on right now. Why? Because I'm like, the holiday
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: is looming. Like we're in the dregs right now. It's
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: hot and it's september and it's halloween here anymore it
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: was 90 degrees here yesterday get out of town we
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: had one cool week okay but fine you you're saying
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: like it's it's it's it's within your reach so you're
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: very excited for the holiday season i am i am
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: excited for the holiday season And therefore, I'm excited about
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: a lot of these movies. We are heading into the
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: final weekend of Countdown to Christmas with three more movies. Friday,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: December 18th, we have Hearts All Aglow. Michelle Morgan stars
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: as Mary, a music historian attending a Christmas gala with
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: one goal. Land, a rare interview with legendary singer and
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: museum founder Tasha, played by Holly Robinson-Pete. There she teams
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: up with Julian, played by megawatt-smile BJ Britt, who's trying
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: to recover a treasured piece of Nat King Cole's signed
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: sheet music he donated after his mother's death. Then they
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: find out they have an unexpected connection. I heard an
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: interview with Holly Robinson-Pete yesterday. She was saying she plays
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: real B-word in this movie. Oh. But of course she
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: comes around because it's Hallmark. Holly Robinson-Pete, everything's coming up
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: Holly because she is in this. She's in the Walt
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Disney World movie and she is in two episodes of
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Mistletoe Murders. Oh, exciting. Yeah. Good for her. You know,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Michelle Morgan was just in A Pumpkin Regatta Romance and
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: I love her. Really fell in love with her. It's
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: been a while since she hasn't been in a ton
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: recently for us. And of course, I did interview her
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: and Corey Sevier and they were both so fun. I'm
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: pretty excited about this. You know, I love a big
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: old BJ Britt smile. Yes, I do. Next up on Saturday,
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: December 19th, we have Barking All The Way. Oh no!
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: What are we doing? My poor Ian Harding is in
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Barking All The Way. What? What? Billy, played by Tori Anderson,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: is a workaholic realtor heading home for Christmas until a
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: lovable but totally chaotic dog named Yappy nearly makes her
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: crash her car. Yappy's owner, the mysterious and strangely familiar Mrs. C,
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: is off to see her grandkids for the holidays. So
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Billy agrees to dog sit Mrs. C. It's like Mrs.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: Claus in disguise. I know. Turns out Yappy is quite
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: the matchmaker and keeps pulling Billy right towards Hutch, played
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: by Harding, her high school ex, who's now a traveling contractor.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Billy is determined to leave Hutch in the past, but
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: her mom hires him to fix up their shed and
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: suddenly he's everywhere. As Christmas gets closer, Billy starts wondering
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: if becoming her firm's top seller is really what she wants.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: And when Mrs. C leaves her cabin for Billy and
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Hutch to bring back to life, She might get her
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: answer sooner than she expected. No. Ian Harding was so
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: good in Riffle. And why? No. This. No. No. So
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: I love Tori Anderson. Every time she comes up. I
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: remind everybody that I love Tori Anderson. Do you? What's
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Tori Anderson been in? I don't even know this name. Well,
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: she was in Campfire Christmas, but what she was really
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: in was No Tomorrow, a one-season wonder on Netflix about
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: a man who believes that the end of the world
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: is coming. It is a great comedy series. I recommend
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: it to everybody. Please watch it if it's still streaming there.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: I don't think she has been back on Hallmark. since
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: then okay or she was in 44 episodes of ncis
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: hawaii like i like ian harding i love ian harding
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: i like tori anderson uh once again this is our
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: second movie starring a dog and the dog's name is
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: yappy we also got like a see we also got
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: like a a sneaky mrs c mrs claus as matchmaker
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: i don't hate it no i told you rose colored
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: countdown to christmas glasses And of course, it's at the
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: end of the season. I'm going to be like, put
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: me down. Does Ian Harding strike you as a man
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: who can play a character named Hutch? No. And no
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: shade to Ian Harding. I love Ian Harding. My husband
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: made me a t-shirt last Christmas with Ian Harding's face
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: on it. Like, you guys. But no, I can't. Barking
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: all the way. This is... Giving end of season happy holidays.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: That's it. Yep. That's it. Yep. Well, speaking of the
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: end of the season, I do think we're going to
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: end on a high note. Tell us about it. It
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: is called Save the Date for Christmas, and it premieres
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: on Sunday, December 20th. Italia Ricci and Jonathan Bennett play
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: longtime best friends Susie and Alec who are both single,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: tired of dating, and completely over being everyone's plus one
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: at weddings. They swear off romance and weddings altogether only
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: for Susie's sister to announce a last minute Christmas wedding.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Nobody does that. The very next day. So the two
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: head into the holidays determined to survive the wedding and
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: dodge their family's matchmaking attempts. But all that time celebrating
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: love has them reconsidering what they actually want in their
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: own lives. I love Bennett and Italian Ricci playing BFFs here.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: Directed by Jeff Beasley. For real? Yeah. He opens and
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: closes the countdown. Wow, Jeff. Get that back. Everything's coming up, Jeff. Now,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Jacqueline Collier has said about this Countdown to Christmas season,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: it's not gay enough for her. And I tend to
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: agree because this is Jack's Collier. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Now,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: I tend to agree because this is our only leading
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: romance featuring a same-sex couple in the entire Countdown. Yeah.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: Will we get some diversity in some of our supporting storylines? Probably.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: But I'm going to need more than one token movie
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: to be fully pleased. But the series. 100%. But I
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: do think this is ending the series on a high note.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: I am so excited for this. Jonathan was in one
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: of my favorite movies of the countdown last year. The
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Cruise movie that I cannot think of the name of
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: to save my life. It was a McLean Nelson movie.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: Where the frick is McLean Nelson this year? I do
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: think he might be in here and we just don't
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: know it. Okay. I'm going to hold out hope because
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: we don't have all of that information. I feel like
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: we've seen him working on stuff, right? I hope so. Well,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: he made that scary movie. I don't know. But this
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: is a must watch for me. Oh, for sure. For sure.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: For sure. All right. To wrap up our discussion, we
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: have one original series and one special premiere. Mistletoe Murders
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Season 3 returns. Pow, pow. Very excited. Not happy about
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: the day it's dropping on, though. So... Mistletoe Murders new
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: episodes will air Thursday, November 5th at 8 p.m. Unclear
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: to me if they're dropping one or two episodes at
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: that time because they did used to do two. So
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: will it be three weeks of Mistletoe Murders or will
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: it be six? I hope. You know, I don't actually
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: have an answer for it. What do you hope for?
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Review-wise, it makes more sense to do
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: them together because each pair of episodes acts like a movie. Right.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: But for watching... I don't mind it being spread out
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: a little bit. Yeah, me neither. We have some fun
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: guest stars. Catherine Bell and Holly Robinson-Pete are in the
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: cast this season. We haven't seen Catherine Bell in a
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: hot minute on Hallmark. Of course, she's the star of
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: The Good Witch. This season, Emily Lane, played by Sarah Drew,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: once again teams up with Detective Sam Wilner, played by
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: Peter Mooney, to solve three new Christmas mysteries as her
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: past collides with her present, leaving her questioning everything she
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: believes to be true. Yeah, I'm looking forward to this
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: show coming back. I actually think I might do a
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: rewatch of seasons one and two. I have been wanting
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: to do the same. Because it's so good. And Sarah
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Drew is fantastic. And she and Peter Mooney, that's his name, right? Indeed.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: They're so good together. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm thrilled this
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: show's coming back. And then we have one special presentation.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: On Saturday, December 5th at 10 p.m., following the 8 p.m. movie,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: We have the Hallmark Christmas Experience, a hometown holiday, which
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: is co-hosted by Jonathan Bennett and Melissa Peterman. I'm going
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: to assume this is filmed at opening weekend of the
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Hallmark Christmas Experience, unless it was filmed last year. I
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: don't think so, though. No way. Join hosts Jonathan Bennett
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: and Melissa Peterman and other favorite stars at Hallmark's Christmas
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Experience and get an exclusive look at what's coming to
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Hallmark in 2027. I actually kind of like that idea. Okay, question.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: Last year they did like a live thing from there,
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: if you recall, the Christmas experience. When does Christmas experience
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: kick off this year? Do you know? Thanksgiving weekend. Okay,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: I'm sure that this is when that's going to be filmed.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: I think so as well. Yeah, with Melissa Peterman. I mean,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: and she and Jonathan Bennett are great together. Yeah, this
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: is a great pairing. R.I.P. Finding Mr. Christmas. Yes. That
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: is going to air... After the Biltmore movie. Smart. It's
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: a smart lead-in. Yeah, it is. And I will likely
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: watch it. Absolutely. Because I want to know what's coming
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: to Hallmark in 2027. I don't know. I'm going to
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: find out at the same time you guys do. I
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: want to know more about that Change of Heart series.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: What Change of Heart series? I don't know anything about this.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: Sure you do, because we talked about it in an
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: episode of Hallmark Headlines. It's being directed by the director
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Aaron Gibson. Oh, that's right. Charlie. Probably girl named Charlie. Yeah.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Former cardiac surgeon. Okay. I recall now. The question on
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: everybody's mind, Wendy. How many of these movies are we reviewing?
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: I don't know, Megan. You're the one with the crazy
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: travel schedule this year. Get out of town. You are
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: the one who said you couldn't do them all. Every
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: year I say I can't do them all. And then
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: I go, okay, I'll do them all. I mean, it
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: depends on how, you know, Hallmark PR, how nicely they
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: want to be to us this year. Will they give
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: us advanced screenings? And then I say, yes, let's do
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: them all. They've been real good about the screeners lately. Okay,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: here's what I say. I say we do them all,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: including mistletoe murders. We do them all. But our schedule
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: on releasing them might be a little bit wonky just
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: because of travel schedules that we have. What do you
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: think about that? I think that's totally fair. We'll do
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: them all and give us grace. You heard it here first. Yeah. Exactly.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: If it comes, the movie comes out on Saturday, but
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: our review doesn't come out until like the following Thursday.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Please just work with us a little bit. And that
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: gives you time to watch it because I know not
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: everybody can keep up with all of these releases. Yeah, exactly.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: So yes, I think that's totally fair. Okay. We make
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: no promises about the schedule, but we will cover them all. Yes. Great.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Even barking all the way. Even barking all the way. Well,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: with that, that concludes our Count Under Christmas first impression episode.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for coming along with us. We
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: can't wait to hear from you what movies you are
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: looking forward to and even which ones you might skip.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: You can email us hello at girlsgonehallmark.com and we'll be
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: back next time with more Hallmark reviews. Goodbye. Bye. All right, friends,
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: before we go, just a quick heads up. You're about
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: to hear some ads. These little gems help us keep
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: the show running and the Hallmark love flowing. So do
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: with that info what you will. Grab a snack, hit
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: the skip button, or maybe, just maybe, listen in and
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: discover your new favorite product. Bye.