Let’s Talk Hallmark: 2011 Countdown to Christmas Movies

The Hallmark Channel network and the Crown Media family have been working hard to bring us fans movie after movie, season after season, for many years now. For the majority of the fans, the favorite movies of all seasons are the Christmas-themed ones.

All the executives, producers, writers, actors and all crew members involved in the making of these movies, are constantly visiting and adapting locations, to look as authentic to the season as possible. In the case of the Christmas movies, they put together plenty of snow and decorations as possible, and we fans appreciate their effort.

Well, I’ve been working hard, but happily, doing this research. This is the fifth post I write about the Hallmark Christmas movies. I’ve covered how it all started, then I’ve continued the research by year.

As always, I like to remind all readers that, even though I love the movies, I’m only a fan. I have no rights or access to any production or merchandise. None. But if you’re interested, you may visit the website https://www.hallmarkchannel.com. I check the Hallmark Channel page every day! I check the merchandise page too! See all they have in stores here https://www.hallmark.com/. The design in the picture below is from merchandise available for purchase. All images/posters used for this post are from Hallmark Channel/Crown Media Holdings.

With the success of the Hallmark Channel, in 2004 the Crown Media company launched a second cable channel, the Hallmark Movie Channel. In 2014, it was renamed as the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. In 2017, they added the Hallmark Drama, and the Hallmark Movie Now, streaming movie service for customers.

This year, 2019, the Hallmark Channel network is celebrating the 10th anniversary of “Countdown to Christmas”.

For the year 2011, Hallmark Channel added more movies to the Countdown to Christmas premieres than on previous years. A total of 16 movies were added to the programming schedule. They continued showing until the end of December, with all the movies from previous years.

Let’s take a look:

A Christmas Wedding Tail – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Jennie Garth, Brad Rowe, Tom Arnold, and voice talents Jay Mohr and Nikki Cox. Two passionate pooches, fall head-over-tails in love. The two pups conspire to get their owners to wed. The canines must channel their pooch powers to keep their family from ending up in the dog house. I haven’t seen this one. It’s not on schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Channel web page).

A Christmas Wish – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Kristy Swanson, Tess Harper and Edward Herrmann. Martha’s husband has left her, emptying her bank account and disappearing without a word. Martha (Swanson) takes the kids to a town where she moves into a motel and begs the owner of the local diner, to hire her as a waitress. There, Martha meets some of the locals, including the handsome sheriff. I haven’t seen this one. It’s not on schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

A Princess for Christmas – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Sam Heughan, Katie McGrath and Sir Roger Moore. Jules has custody of her nephew and niece, whose grandfather is the Duke of Castleburry Hall. The Duke, who was absent from the kids’ lives, but wants to reconnect out of love for his late son, invites them to spend Christmas with him and his son Ashton. I’ve seen this one many times. It’s one of my top favorites. It’s on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

Annie Claus is Coming to Town – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Maria Thayer, Sam Page and Vivica A. Fox. Annie Claus goes away from the North Pole for the first time and arrives in L.A., where she becomes friends with the owner of the inn and her daughter. She gets a job at Wonderland Toys, whose owner is struggling to stay in business. I haven’t seen this one. It has been added to the Hallmark Drama schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

Cancel Christmas – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Judd Nelson, Sante Scaletta, Connor Price and Justin Landry. The Christmas Board of Directors issues an ultimatum to Santa: In 30 days or less, make Christmas less commercial and material, or lose it forever. They think the turnaround is so hopeless that they give Santa the task of changing the hearts of privileged kids so they, in turn, will reach out to help a less fortunate boy. I have seen this one. It has been added to the Hallmark Drama schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

Christmas Comes Home to Canaan – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Billy Ray Cyrus and Gina Holden. This movie is a sequel to Christmas in Canaan (2009). Daniel’s son needs surgery after a car accident and they go to San Francisco, where they meet Briony (Holden), a physical rehabilitation specialist. Daniel invited her to go to Canaan to spend Christmas with them. I haven’t seen this one. It has been added to the Hallmark Drama schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

Christmas Magic – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Lindy Booth and Paul McGillion. A successful event planner in New York suffers a head trauma after a car accident, that puts her between life and death. She must fulfill a task to gain her access to Heaven. She must help a restaurant owner whose business is failing. I have seen this one. It’s not on schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

Have a Little Faith (Hallmark Hall of Fame) – premiered on ABC as part of Hallmark Hall of Fame, with Lawrence Fishburne, Bradley Whitford and Martin Landau. Mitch Albom (Whitford) is an award-winning sportswriter, newspaper columnist, screenwriter, and radio/television broadcaster. When two men come into his life, Rabbi Lewis (Landau) and Pastor Covington (Fishburne), he realizes they both take comfort in believing there’s a divine spark in all of us, and that one person – or two – can make a big difference in others’ lives, as long as they have a little faith. I haven’t seen this one. It has been added to the Hallmark Drama schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

Holiday Engagement – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Bonnie Somerville, Jordan Bridges and Shelley Long. Always struggling in life and love, Hillary (Somerville) constantly feels the pressure to marry from her mother. When her boyfriend breaks up with her, she decides to hire a fiance (Bridges) and bring him home to meet the family. I’ve seen this one! It’s on Hallmark Channel schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Channel web page).

Jingle All the Way (animated) – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Thomas Stroppel (Jingle’s voice), Ryan Bley (Andrew’s voice) and Chad Darrow as the Narrator. A spirited Husky puppy looking for a home at a Christmas tree farm instantly bonds with a young boy visiting with his parents. As the boy rides away, the pup escapes and embarks on a snowy journey to find his friend. Now, Hallmark showed an animated Christmas movie? I didn’t know this! I haven’t seen this one. It’s not on schedule. I have to find it! (Information retrieved from Hallmark Channel web page). This is so cute that I had to find the promo released by Hallmark Channel for this movie. Check here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMvDMKZYBTQ

Love’s Christmas Journey – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Natalie Hall, Greg Vaughan, Sean Austin, JoBeth Williams, Dylan Bruce and Bobby Campo. This movie is part of the Love Comes Softly series exclusive for Hallmark Channel, based on the novel by Jannette Oke. While still mourning the loss of her husband and daughter, recently widowed Ellie (Hall) visits her brother (Vaughan) and his children for Christmas. She makes new friends with a local shop keeper, and the handsome admirer deputy. I haven’t seen this one. It has been added to the Hallmark Drama schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

Lucky Christmas – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Elizabeth Berkley and Jason Gray-Stanford. A single mother buys a lottery ticket, and tosses it in the glove compartment of her car. The car is stolen, and Holly (Berkley) discovers her lotto numbers are the million dollar winner. Mike (Gray-Stanford) and his friend had inadvertently taken Holly’s car. When they find the winning lottery ticket they suggest Mike romance Holly in order to get a cut of the money to help save his family business. I haven’t seen this one. It’s on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

Mistletoe Over Manhattan – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Tricia Helfer, Greg Bryk, Tedde Moore and Mairtin O’Carrigan. Rebecca, Mrs Claus (Moore), goes to Manhattan to help Santa recapture his holiday spirit. She meets a caring cop who reveals he and his wife are in the middle of a divorce. Sensing that he’s still in love with his wife, Rebecca agrees to work temporarily as the family’s nanny until Christmas. I’ve seen this one. It’s on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

The Case for Christmas – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Dean Cain and Rachel Blanchard. A struggling lawyer, and single father, gets hired to defend Santa in a lawsuit from a sporting-goods mogul who never received the holiday gifts he wanted as a child. Santa believes he didn’t get any gifts because he was always on the naughty list. I haven’t seen this one. It has been added to the Hallmark Drama schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

The Christmas Pageant – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Melissa Gilbert and Robert Mailhouse. An overly intense and demanding Broadway director, after being fired, has no choice but to take a gig directing a small town Christmas pageant in upstate New York. She attempts to back out, but is convinced by some of the locals to give their town a chance. She discovers her former fiance is the person who recommended her for the job. I’ve seen this one. It has been added to the Hallmark Drama schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

Trading Christmas – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Faith Ford, Tom Cavanagh, Gil Bellows and Gabrielle Miller. This movie is based on the novel by Debbie Macomber. Emily (Ford) decides to visit her daughter Heather (Emma Lahana), while she’s in college in Boston. She arranges a house-swap with Charles (Cavanagh), a professor who goes to Washington State to finish his novel. Emily goes to Boston, but Heather has gone to Arizona without her mother knowing. While in Charles’ condo, Emily meets Charles’ brother Ray (Bellows). Meanwhile’ Emily’s friend, Faith (Miller), goes to visit her, and finds Charles in the house. I’ve seen this one. It’s on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

From this list of 16, I’ve only seen 7. These are only the premieres from the year 2011. The network has added plenty more movies in the following years. Yes, there are many more movies still to cover.

I’ll be writing some more. I have plenty more to add, more to write about, and more movies to watch and love. I love writing, I love Christmas, and I love Hallmark movies. It’s time for my tacita de café. Salud!

Para versión en español, vea https://fullofcoffee.blog/2019/11/23/hablemos-hallmark:-2011-conteo-regresivo-para-peliculas-de-navidad/