The family of networks will air a record 41 new Yuletide movies, and some prominent Believers are leading the way on screen.
It seems awfully early, but the Hallmark Channel is about to launch its Christmas programming. "Countdown to Christmas," as the annual cavalcade of holiday movies is known, begins tomorrow, Friday, October 22nd. An its sister network - Hallmark Movies & Mysteries - gets in on the act the next day with its own lineup: "Miracles of Christmas." Hold onto your hat, because from then through the big day on December 25th both channels will be wall-to-wall Christmas flicks.
These movies are of course strictly secular fare with little direct relevance to the reason we Christians mark the day: the birth of Christ. As in previous years, though, some of the biggest actresses on this year's slate are committed Believers, including Candace Cameron-Bure in The Christmas Contest (November 28th), Lacey Chabert in Christmas at Castle Hart (November 27th) and Tamera Mowry-Howsley in The Santa Stakeout (October 24th). And it's not just the gals this time around either, because Christian actor Kristoffer Polaha plays the lead in A Dickens of a Holiday (December 10th).
All of those are new movies and will debut at 8:00 PM Eastern Time/7:00 PM Central on the Hallmark Channel; the new films on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries debut every Saturday, starting at 10:00 PM Eastern Time/9:00 PM Central. Both channels will air non-stop reruns of Yuletide fare from previous years the rest of the time and you can get the programming details here for Hallmark Channel and here for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
For those of you who would like to enjoy the warm-and-fuzzies of the traditional Christmas movie combined with the reason-for-the-season, we will shamelessly recommend our inaugural feature film, Miracle on Christmas. Written and directed by yours truly, it stars Christian actors Erin Bethea and Jason Burkey and, though it looks like a Hallmark picture, it presents a strong Gospel message of the hope that comes in Christ alone.
You can stream it for free on Tubi TV or Amazon Prime Video right now, so no need to wait until Friday night! The trailer below will give you a sense for what to expect.