Why are there so many Christmas TV movies? The ‘warm and fuzzy’ factor, and more – OregonLive

They’re as sweet as candy canes, as twinkly as lights strewn on a tree, and as upbeat as jingle bells. We’re talking about made-for-TV holiday movies, which are also becoming as plentiful as snowflakes during a blizzard.

As the success of the Hallmark Channel’s “Countdown to Christmas” movies — which are celebrating a 10th anniversary this year — has grown, so has the holiday programming lineup, with networks and streaming services eagerly climbing aboard the merry bandwagon.

Where the holiday TV season used to be a sleepy collection of cartoon classics, reruns and musical showcases for pop stars and random guests sporting Santa hats, it’s now a nonstop parade of romantic comedies and heart-tugging tales about good-looking people rediscovering the magic of Christmas.

Even before Halloween was over, the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime were rolling out holiday movies. Not only are the airwaves stocked with sugarplums, Netflix also has been making a big push into streaming holiday fare, this year bringing a third chapter in the hit “A Christmas Prince” franchise, among other choices.

Why are millions of viewers making holiday TV movies a trend? Consider it a classic case of counterprogramming. With so much alarming content on TV and online, screaming for our attention at all times, the thought of settling in to watch nice people make cookies, get cozy by the fire, and fall in love represents a soothing retreat to a calmer place.

“People are so hungry for content that makes them feel good and makes them feel positive,” says Michelle Vicary, executive vice president or programming and publicity for Hallmark networks.

The ratings for Hallmark Channel’s “Countdown to Christmas” programming bear that out. Last year, Hallmark Channel earned higher ratings than the broadcast networks for its Saturday night “Countdown to Christmas” movies. The 10th anniversary launch this year, which began on Friday, Oct. 25, reached millions of viewers, and the first holiday movie of the year, “Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses,” ranked as the highest rated and most-watched cable program on Oct. 26.

Sister channel Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ “Miracles of Christmas” and Hallmark Drama’s “Home for the Holidays,” added to the haul. The three networks together reached 17.5 million unduplicated viewers through the weekend, according to Hallmark.

“There’s a lot of very good, dark, edgy television out there, and it’s very well done and there’s room for all of it,” Vicary says. “We live in a different space in the human experience, and I think it’s a unique one, as well.”

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Viewers of “Countdown to Christmas” movies, Vicary says, want to relax, feel good, inspired, and slightly aspirational, as in, “I want to decorate like a Hallmark movie,” as she says.

With its tradition of celebrating holidays with cards, gifts and other merchandise, Vicary says, Hallmark is the ideal purveyor of Christmas movies that make viewers happy.

“We have one of the most iconic brands in America, with an over 100-year-old company that has represented relationships, and emotional connections and moments in peoples’ lives, big and small.”

The Hallmark channels air movies that celebrate the changing seasons all year long, Vicary says. Over the past few years, she says, the company realized that, when it came to Christmas movies, people wanted to see more of them, and see them earlier.

“It continued to, pardon my pun, snowball into what it is today,” Vicary says, as Hallmark Christmas movies “have become part of popular culture and the public consciousness.”

Regarding complaints that Hallmark Christmas movies follow a predictable formula – young woman and young man fall in love in a quaint setting, amid snowdrifts, decorations and Yuletide cheer – Vicary says the networks’ Christmas movies are simply following romantic comedy tradition.

Citing writer-director Nora Ephron’s work in such movies as “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail,” for example, Vicary says, “The first time you see Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan onscreen, you know they’re going to get together.”

And though it’s no easy task to find new storytelling techniques when you’re dealing with 40 movies – the total of new projects airing this year on Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries – “we try and have a unique journey for each of our characters,” Vicary says.

She’s proud, she adds, of movies built around “strong female leads who want to achieve things in their lives.”

Hallmark movies have also been criticized for being slow to include more diverse casts, and plots.

“We are not unique in the entertainment industry in terms of having to do more work to represent the United States as it is,” Vicary says. “We have done that work, but I think there’s more work to be done.”

When it comes to others following the Hallmark lead and bolstering holiday programming, that’s no surprise, Vicary notes. “Virtually every industry that you can think of, when you see success, you see similar businesses try and replicate the success,” she says.

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The fact that Netflix has ramped up its holiday programming is another sign of the trend’s impact. It’s a move that gathered momentum in the wake of 2017’s “A Christmas Prince,” a Hallmark-like TV movie about an American reporter and a dashing member of the royal family of the fictional country of Aldovia.

While Netflix doesn’t reveal viewing numbers or demographics, the fact that subscribers were watching “A Christmas Prince” burst into public view when the Netflix Twitter account snarkily posted: “To the 53 people who’ve watched A Christmas Prince every day for the past 18 days: Who hurt you?”

According to a spokesperson for Netflix, wholesome projects like “A Christmas Prince” – which had a sequel last year, and is back for a third go-round this year – make sense for the streamer, since the holidays are a peak viewing time for families, and Netflix subscriptions are often given as gifts.

While the Hallmark Channel has made “Countdown to Christmas” as much a part of the holidays as egg nog and fruitcake, the Lifetime Channel is no newcomer.

“Lifetime has been in the holiday movie space for over 20 years,” says Meghan Hooper, Lifetime senior vice president for original movies, co-productions and acquisitions. But the holiday programming push, now branded as “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime,” has mushroomed.

“This is the biggest year yet,” Hooper says of the “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” lineup, which launched Oct. 25 and continues through Dec. 25, offering 60-plus days of holiday movies, and a new special, “Battle of the Christmas Movie Stars.”

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“There was a period of time when Lifetime backed away from the holiday space,” Hooper says. “But there were more competitors coming up, and we learned that our viewers wanted us to be in the holiday space, so we started getting back into it, and we’ve increasingly grown over the past few years.”

As to why such programming resonates, Hooper says, “These movies have increased significantly since 2016,” and she suggests that, “it is not a coincidence that the love of these movies has grown with the chaos in the world. It’s stressful right now, no matter what you believe, or where you stand. And these movies are a wonderful escape.”

In addition, Hooper says, romantic comedies aren’t opening in movie theaters at the rate they used to, which helps send fans to TV to get their rom-com needs met.

A Lifetime holiday movie, Hooper says, includes romance, and “a little bit of magic, whether it’s Santa appearing in the movie, or a figure in town who looks a little bit like Santa.” As well as adding magic, Hooper says, “We work really hard so we continue to better reflect the world we live in, from a casting standpoint and diversity of stories.”

Though the plots may be a tad predictable, that’s part of the charm, Hooper says. “People are going to fall in love, there’s going to be a happy ending.” When viewers watch holiday movies, she says, “It’s such a wonderful break. It’s time for nostalgia. It’s time for warm and fuzzy.”

Hallmark “Countdown to Christmas” movies can be seen on the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies and Mysteries; the movies can be streamed on Hallmark Movies Now (free trial); on FuboTV (free trial); Sling TV, and more.

Lifetime’s “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” movies can be seen on the Lifetime channel; they can be streamed via the Lifetime Movie Club (free trial); FuboTV (free trial); Sling TV, and more.

Stream “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Netflix” programming on Netflix (free trial).

More of our holiday TV coverage:

• Finding love, the Hallmark Christmas movie way: Chaste kisses, ‘snow,’ scarves and more

— Kristi Turnquist

[email protected] 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

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