Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast

Hallmark’s Christmas in July 2026 kicks off with Christmas Under Construction , a movie that first debuted on Hulu two years earlier. Fan favorites Daniel Lissing and Jessica Lowndes reunite a decade after Hallmark’s beloved December Bride . But after ten years, is the chemistry still there? For a movie with only eight speaking roles, there’s a surprising amount going on. There’s a couples therapi...

Evergreen… Part Three! This time we’re heading back to Hallmark’s beloved Christmas town for Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy (2019), featuring a star-studded cast led by Maggie Lawson and Paul Greene in their second Hallmark movie together. Joining them are Ashley Williams, Jill Wagner, Holly Robinson Peete, and Barbara Niven. A 50-year-old time capsule takes center stage, Evergreen’s magic...

Rich and Rene join forces with Amy and Garry from Pour the Wine, It's Romcom Time (so grab a glass of vino) to celebrate Hallmark's landmark 2022 film, A Holiday Spectacular . Then we hit the Hallmark lottery. Writer Julie Sherman Wolfe joins us for an incredible behind-the-scenes look at one of Hallmark's most ambitious projects ever: a period piece set in 1958 and centered around...

Kimberley Sustad’s first Hallmark movie. Andrew Walker’s Hallmark debut. Arielle Kebbel’s first turn with the network too. With an average age of just 28, our three leads bring plenty of youthful energy - but don’t expect perfection. This movie is packed with wonderfully flawed characters! In A Bride for Christmas (2012) - Writer Barbara Kymlicka delivers a clever, sharp script that borrows a few...

Kimberley Sustad's first Hallmark starring role. Brandon Routh fresh off a career that includes playing Superman. Firefighters. Cats. A terrific Nancey Silvers script. And one of the most delightfully unlikeable characters Hallmark has ever given us. That's the recipe for the 2014 fan favorite The Nine Lives of Christmas . And Hallmark fans clearly agree—when Entertainment Weekly ranked...

Erin Cahill (Megan) may be one of Hallmark’s most charming leading ladies. And Rich and Rene are confident enough to admit it: Ryan Paevey (Charles) is one remarkably handsome dude. Things get delightfully complicated when Charles travels from 1903 to 2020 and must convince Megan—a historian who has spent years studying his life—that he’s actually the man she’s written about. This beloved 2020 Hal...

Bethany Joy Lenz (Emily) may be the best actress Hallmark has ever seen. Tyler Hynes (Jamie) is arguably the most popular leading man in Hallmark history. And Paul Campbell — already beloved as a Hallmark leading man — has also become one of the network’s most talented writers. Put them all together and you get the 2021 Hallmark Christmas favorite: An Unexpected Christmas. When Variety released it...

Hallmark Christmas in July gets a little hotter with Crashing Through the Snow! Starring Amy Acker as Maggie - a divorced mom invited to spend Christmas in Aspen with her ex and his soon-to-be fiancée Kate - the movie takes off when Kate’s charming brother Sam (Warren Christie) unexpectedly arrives home from Japan. The chemistry between Maggie and Sam? Off the charts… and not exactly your typical...

It’s Christmas in Evergreen… round two! In Letters to Santa , Jill Wagner and Mark Deklin lead the second installment in Hallmark’s beloved Evergreen franchise. Since the original Christmas in Evergreen earned a pretty strong grade in one of our very first podcast reviews, the big question is: does the sequel deliver the same holiday magic? Rich is thrilled to see Allie — and her iconic red truck...

The same duo that brought us A Kiss Before Christmas — the rare Hallmark movie to earn a PERFECT score from both Rene and Rich - returns as writers Mark Amato (story) and Tracy Andreen (script) deliver It's Christmas, Eve starring LeAnn Rimes and Tyler Hynes - both working with Hallmark for the first time. And the chemistry? Off the charts! Rich crowns LeAnn driving down Main Street during th...

Incredible lakeside visuals, a charming small-town Christmas, and Jewel’s “Winter Wonderland” setting the tone - Hallmark’s Christmas in the Air (2017) knows how to make an entrance. Eric Close stars as Robert, a widowed dad doing his best to hold it all together for the holidays, alongside Catherine Bell as Lydia, a professional organizer who brings a refreshing twist to the usual Hallmark career...

Winnie Cooper is all grown up! Danica McKellar trades suburbia for royalty in Hallmark’s 2015 hit Crown for Christmas - the network’s highest-rated holiday movie of the year. And yes… this royal romance actually hits different. Allie heads to Europe for the holidays as governess to the spirited Princess Theodora and Rene loves how instantly likable the King is, while Rich connects surprising dots...

There have been countless takes on A Christmas Carol , but in 2022, Hallmark writer Zac Hug delivered one of the most unique twists yet with Ghosts of Christmas Always . Widely considered one of Hallmark’s best, the film gives Rich and Rene plenty to unpack - from its layered story to the chemistry between the three ghosts and a standout musical score. Rene questions whether Peter would really fal...

It was 2014. On November 29, a massive 5.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the “Queen of Christmas,” Candace Cameron Bure, in Christmas Under Wraps - a record-setting night Hallmark still hasn’t matched since. With just 15 films in that year’s Countdown to Christmas (a number that doubled within three years), this movie helped spark the boom. Set in a small Alaskan town, Dr. Lauren Brunell finds...

2022 brings us “A Royal Corgi Christmas” - featuring the charismatic Hunter King in her first Hallmark Christmas movie alongside Jordan Renzo. But let’s be honest… the real star? An energetic corgi named Mistletoe. Can America’s favorite YouTube dog trainer tame a “Playboy Prince” with little interest in the throne? Rich isn’t buying Cecily’s college psychology classes magically turning her into a...

Hallmark’s A Kiss Before Christmas (2021) breaks just about every cozy rom-com rule. A meet-cute that takes nearly an hour to fully reveal itself. A misunderstanding resolved immediately. A real antagonist working against our leads—so refreshing! And two card-carrying AARP members with off-the-charts chemistry.  With a gentle nod to It’s a Wonderful Life, James Denton and Teri Hatcher prove that T...

Crazy. Bonkers. Ridiculous. And somehow impossible to stop watching. That pretty much sums up Hallmark’s A Very Merry Mix-Up , starring Alicia Witt. For the first time, the show introduces a new segment featuring information from a filmmaker from the movie sharing some “stories behind the story” from the making of the film. Rene and Rich both embrace the sweet story of Grandpa Joe and his wife, wh...

Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe (2018) features a stellar cast including Hallmark royalty Lacey Chabert and network favorite Brendan Penny. The classic Hallmark setup is here: a career-driven woman heads home for the holidays to save something important (this time, a struggling charity gala) while reconnecting with her high school rival. It was a hugely popular storyline back in the day—but can wr...

Hallmark’s Christmas Cookies (2016) stars Jill Wagner and Wes Brown in their Hallmark Christmas debuts — but does this fan-favorite actually hold up? Rich can’t quite make sense of the central storyline, while Rene believes young Bonnie (the adorable scene-stealer) might be the movie’s secret weapon. We break down: • The meet cute (for the first time on the show) • A loaded “What Would We Rewrite?...

Finding Santa (2017) proves that not every Hallmark Christmas movie needs to be overly deep and complex — sometimes a cozy holiday romcom is exactly what the season ordered. Rich and Rene don’t quite see eye-to-eye on Ben and Grace’s chemistry, debate the best supporting character, and — like the seasoned professionals we are — assign letter grades to two kissing scenes with four overall kisses (w...

In this episode, we’re reviewing Christmas in Evergreen, and we’re convinced writer Rick Garman must have had a checklist: How many incredible Christmas vibes can we pack into one movie? From a puppy-filled opening scene to a final kiss that Rene analyzes in impressive detail, this one keeps the holiday energy rolling. Along the way we tackle the big questions: Was Spencer too nice? Do Allie and R...

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year tries to convince us that complete opposites really can make it work. Along the way, we get a few things we’re not sure Hallmark would show in 2026 - one of our stars stepping on someone’s throat outside a bar, our female lead making a memorable post-shower entrance, and… did our male lead really bash someone with a trash can lid? And hey, we’re okay with all of...