Lets Talk Hallmark: 2013 Countdown to Christmas Movies

October 2020 – It’s October (when I wrote this). Normally, it’s a month for autumn season. The weather changes begin. The heat of the summer is dissipating and the cool of autumn is coming. The leaves on the trees change color. Well, this happens in the northern countries. In the southern countries they are preparing for the opposite. The cold of winter is already changing and spring is coming. And of course, here in Florida, just like in Puerto Rico and the countries of the tropics, we don’t see these drastic changes.

But we Hallmarkies fans are gearing up for the Countdown to Christmas movies. Some people enjoy the Christmas season so much that Christmas-themed TV movies become their favorites. For those folks, like me, the Hallmark Channel cable network has created a host of Christmas-themed movies over the years, and it’s become a tradition to wait for new movies to come out. We also hope to see some of our favorites from previous years again.

This year 2020 has been difficult. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live our daily lives. It has also affected film production. Since most Hallmark movies are shot in Canada, the borders were closed to travelers. At this moment (October), filming has resumed, but actors and production crew traveling from the United States to Canada have to go through a quarantine before joining the filming location.

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.

2019 marked the 10th anniversary of “Countdown to Christmas” movie presentation. This year, 2020, the Hallmark Channel network just announced they have new movies for us fans, even though production has been limited. All the TV channels in the network, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, Hallmark Drama and Hallmark Movie Now, join in the presentation and start showing Christmas-themed movies too.

I’ve been working hard, but happily, doing this research. This is my seventh post about the Hallmark Christmas movies. I love them all!

For the year 2013, Hallmark Channel added a total of 16 movies to the Countdown to Christmas premieres. They were added to the schedule, and continued showing until the end of December, with all the movies from previous years. And, as usual, they are added to the schedule every year. Many of these have become top fan favorites.

Let’s take a look:

• A Very Merry Mix Up – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Alicia Witt, Mark Wiebe and Scott Wilson. This was Alicia’s first Hallmark Christmas movie. Antique shop owner Alice (Witt) travels to meet the family of her fiance, Will Mitchum (Wilson). When her luggage is lost, and her phone damaged, she meets Matt Mitchum (Wiebe) and goes with him, thinking he is Will’s brother. While she enjoyed spending time with the Mitchums, turns out that was not Will’s family. I’ve seen this one. This is a favorite of many fans, including me. It’s on Hallmark Channel schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Channel web page).

• Angels Sing – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Harry Connick Jr and Connie Britton. Also starred in this movie Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and Kris Kristofferson. A father’s holiday spirit was crushed by an accident when he was a child. When his son faces a tragedy, a mysterious man instills in him the courage to find the joy he lost. Wait, Harry Connick Jr was in a Hallmark movie? I haven’t seen this one. It’s not on schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

• Catch a Christmas Star – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Shannon Elizabeth and Steve Byers. Famous singer Nikki (Elizabeth) comet to town, and the kids of her high school sweetheart, now widower Chris (Byers), want to bring them back together. I’ve seen this one. It’s on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

• Christmas in Conway (Hallmark Hall of Fame) – premiered on ABC, with Andy Garcia, Mary-Louise Parker and Mandy Moore. Duncan (Garcia) is a cranky guy, but very in love with his wife Suzy (Parker). Suzy is home from the hospital, and Duncan decides the best medicine Suzy could possibly have, and a Christmas present she’ll never forget, is a ride on a real Ferris wheel set up in their own back yard. He wanted to remind her that it was while riding one he asked her to marry him. This movie was filmed in North Carolina. I’ve seen parts of this one. As I do this research, I remember watching the carousel!I’d love to see the full movie. It has been added to the Hallmark Drama schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

• Christmas with Tucker – this is the first Christmas-themed movie to premiere on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel, with James Brolin, Josie Bissett, and Gage Munroe. Young George (Munroe) moves in with his grandparents, while his mom (Bissett) stays in Minnesota after his dad passed away. He help around their farm, and gets attached to Tucker, a dog whose troubled owner lands in jail. I’ve seen this one. It has been added to the Hallmark Drama schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

• Finding Christmas – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Tricia Helfer, JT Hodges, Mark Lutz, and Cristina Rosato. Single mother Ryan (Helfer) has given up on dating after her divorce. Her brother Owen (Hodges), also feeling unlucky in love after a bad breakup, swaps his home in their small North Carolina town with New York City adman Sean (Lutz). Ryan feels an instant spark with her new neighbor, but Sean, is out of his comfort zone in his new rural surroundings. On the other end, aspiring musician Owen is charmed when he meets Sean’s sassy assistant, Mia (Rosato), while in New York City. With Christmas approaching and the home swap nearing an end, the future for both of these new relationships is up in the air. I’ve seen this one. It’s on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

• Fir Crazy – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Sarah Lancaster, Erick Johnson and Colin Mochrie. Busy career woman Elise (Lancaster) has no time or desire to take part in Christmas festivities. However, a few twists of fate land her in the middle of her worst nightmare: unemployed, newly single, and running her family’s Christmas tree lot for the dreaded holiday season. She must navigate a contentious relationship with the lot’s new landlord, Gary Dixon (Mochrie), who thinks the tree lot is hurting his business and wants them gone fast. But, things are looking a little brighter as Elise has a budding relationship with Darren (Johnson), one of her customers. Her landlord discovers a way to shut down the lot right before Christmas, so she must use her newly found holiday spirit, her business savvy, and help from her new friends. I’ve seen this one. It’s on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

Hats Off to Christmas – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Hilarie Duff and Antonio Cupo. Mia (Duff), the loyal and hard-working manager of a small Christmas hat shop, is blindsided when her boss of over 10 years asks her to train his son, Nick (Cupo), for a vacant upper-management position that she had been coveting. Although Nick is a handsome, successful New York City business consultant, she finds training him frustrating until he takes an interest in her son Scotty (Sean Michael Kyer), helping him with a pumpkin carving contest. However, Mia’s faith in Nick quickly diminishes when he fails to show up at the contest. To protect her son from further disappointment, Mia tries to keep Nick out of her and Scotty’s life. Nick must decide if staying in the small town is worth giving up the big-city perks of New York. I’ve seen this one many times. (I love Antonio Cupo). It’s on Hallmark Channel schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Channel web page).

• Let it Snow – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Candace Cameron Bure, Jesse Hutch and Alan Thicke. When Falcon Resorts acquires family-owned Snow Valley Lodge from retiring owners, driven executive Stephanie (Cameron Bure) must spend the week before Christmas in Maine preparing a proposal on the property’s renovations, determined to impress Falcon’s president, her detached father Ted (Thicke). While preparing to rebuild the lodge from the ground up, Stephanie butts heads with her guide, Brady (Hutch), the owners’ son, who has decided to leave the family’s business. As the lodge’s festive traditions provide the Christmas Stephanie never had growing up, she finds herself enjoying every minute. To complicate her professional duties even further, the combative feelings she felt toward Brady turn into romantic ones. With Stephanie’s newfound Christmas spirit and unexpected romance, she begins to question Falcon’s overhaul. I’ve seen this one many times. Always happy to see it. It’s on Hallmark Channel schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Channel web page).

• Pete’s Christmas – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Zachary Gordon, Bailee Madison, Molly Parker and Bruce Dern. At 14, Pete (Gordon) is sick of being the middle child, always overlooked by his mother and father. Unlike his brothers, Pete hasn’t yet developed a distinct personality that sets him apart and he often feels left out. With the kids’ grumpy grandfather (Dern) unexpectedly in town for Christmas, the pressure is on to make the day as great as Grandpa remembers with his late wife, but the holiday is filled with disastrous moments. Just when things can’t get any worse, Pete wakes up the next day and realizes he’s reliving Christmas day all over again. Stuck repeating the day over and over, Pete panics, but slowly realizes, with the help of his new friend and next door neighbor, Katie (Madison), that he can use his unique gift for good and give this day the do-over it deserves. I haven’t seen this one. It’s not on schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Channel web page).

• Santa Switch – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Ethan Erickson, Anne Dudek, Sean Astin and Donovan Scott. As the Christmas season approaches, Dan Ryebeck (Erickson) is facing unemployment, and struggling to pay for the gifts he thinks will impress his two kids. Always chasing a new business idea, Dan hasn’t had time for family, including his wife Linda (Dudek), who is finally fed up and filing divorce papers. Dan knows he must make this Christmas the best one yet to win his family back. But after auditioning for a mall Santa job and quickly losing his cool, Dan is frustrated and broke, blaming the holidays for his troubles. Little does he know his luck is about to turn around when the real Kris Kringle (Scott) pays him a visit from the North Pole. Deciding to take a vacation and leave Dan in charge, Kris sends his hard-working elf assistant Eddie (Astin) to guide Dan as the new Santa Claus, hoping he’ll learn a lesson in Christmas spirit. With the sudden power to impress Linda and the kids by making every wild Christmas wish come true, Dan soon gets carried away. I haven’t seen this one. It’s not on schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama web page).

• Snow Bride – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Katrina Law, Jordan Belfi, Bobby Campo and Patricia Richardson. Greta (Law) is always in search of juicy gossip. As a tabloid reporter, it’s her job to expose the rich and famous for the entertainment of the magazine’s readers. So when word gets out that one of the late Senator Tannehill’s two sons might be proposing marriage at the family’s compound during Christmas, Greta is challenged by her editor to get the scoop. Greta dashes to the resort, when her car gets stuck in snow and she only has her sister’s wedding dress to cover from the cold. When she mistakenly ends up as a guest of the family, she’s in the middle of what could be her best story yet. However, she soon discovers that the family, including matriarch Maggie Tannenhill (Richardson) and caretaker Peters (Robert Curtis Brown), are more down-to-earth than she ever gave them credit for. I’ve seen this one. It’s a big favorite of Hallmarkies fans. It’s on Hallmark Channel schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Channel web page).

• The Christmas Ornament – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Kellie Martin and Cameron Mathison. Newly widowed Kathy (Martin) plans to skip out on trimming the tree this Christmas, trying to avoid anything that will bring back memories of her late husband. The only Christmas tradition she will observe is baking cookies for her friends, a passion since she was a child. When Kathy meets handsome Christmas tree shop owner Tim (Mathison), their undeniable chemistry – along with an ornament Tim gives her that symbolizes hope – helps Kathy open up to the joys of the season again. Although Kathy wants to take a chance on Tim, she struggles to find the balance between preserving the memory of her husband and moving on with her own future. I’ve seen this one. It’s another one of my favorites. It’s on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

• The Christmas Spirit – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Nicollette Sheridan, Bart Johnson and Olympia Dukakis. Charlotte (Sheridan), a distinguished journalist, is spending time with her family over the holidays when a real estate developer approaches their small town with quite an offer. Skeptical and looking for the real scoop, she drives to see the developer to question him. She gets into a terrible car accident and wakes up in the hospital only to realize that her body is in a coma, but her spirit is very much awake. She meets another spirit, who just happens to be the greedy developer. It turns out that he was on the other end of the accident and he too is in a coma. With only a few days left before the town votes on the development, Charlotte must try to change the minds of the developer and the town, but that is no easy task when no one can see or hear her. I haven’t seen this one. It’s not on schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel web page).

• The Thanksgiving House – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Emily Rose, Justin Bruening and Bruce Boxleitner. When lawyer Mary Ross (Rose) inherits a house from her late aunt, she has no idea she may have inherited a historical treasure. Mary’s initial desire to sell the house is supported by her slick boyfriend, Rick (Adam Kaufman), but she is shocked to discover local historian Everett (Bruening) has evidence that her house is located on the site of the first Thanksgiving! With the house turning into an unexpected tourist attraction, Everett tries to prove his theory and Mary tries to prove anything that will keep the house in her hands. Suddenly, Mary clings to the house as an artifact of her own history before her happy childhood memories were tarnished by her father’s abandonment. She must decide if it’s more important to preserve the house’s historical ties or make it the site of many happy Thanksgivings to come. I haven’t seen this one. It has been added to the Hallmark Drama schedule. (Information retrieved from Hallmark Drama channel web page).

• Window Wonderland – premiered on Hallmark Channel, with Chyler Leigh, Paul Campbell, Cameron Mathison and Naomi Judd. It’s no holds barred when two Manhattan department store employees vie for the same job during the busy Christmas season. Sloan (Leigh) is a driven young woman determined to become the next window dresser at McGuire’s department store. She’s the polar opposite of the happy-go-lucky Jake (Campbell), who also wants the job. They are given the challenge to create a series of seasonal storefront windows twice a week until Christmas. The creator of whichever window display gets the most attention from passersby will get the job. A mutual attraction develops between the pair, hampered by the contest and the presence of Kenneth (Mathison), Sloan’s boyfriend, who can’t understand the importance she is placing on this job. Supporting the efforts of the window dressers are McGuire’s veteran window washer Mac (Terence Kelly) and brassy bathroom attendant Rita (Naomi Judd) who like each other but haven’t done anything about it yet. I’ve seen this one. I love Paul Campbell. It has been added to the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service, but it’s not on schedule (Information retrieved from Hallmark Channel web page).

Of these 16 movies, I’ve seen 10. These are the premieres from the year 2013. The Hallmark Channel network has continued adding 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://fullofcoffeeblog.com/hablemos-hallmark-2013-peliculas-del-conteo-regresivo-de-navidad/.