Monday, December 14, 2015

Christmas Movies: Hallmark versus Lifetime


I just had to share this very fun article, "Comparing Mayim Bialik and Candace Cameron Bure's Cancelled-Flight Christmas Movies" by Mandi Bierly -Deputy Editor, Yahoo TV.

It's a fun read as she compares the two movies... Hallmark Channel’s A Christmas Detour and Lifetime’s The Flight Before Christmas!

image via: Lifetime/Hallmark/YahooTV

Click Here to check out the comparison- but then please come back here and share in the comments below which movie you loved! Which movie failed. Which one made you laugh. Which one you would watch again. Etc...

19 comments:

  1. For me, hands down, "A Christmas Detour" was my favorite pick. It's all about the chemistry between the two leading stars and I just didn't see it in "The Flight Before Christmas" Candace and Paul had that spark....

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  2. I did watch both, and have been thankfully surprised the lifetime movies so far have been "cleaner" than I think they used to seem. But, Candace will always win for me. Yes, I watched her in the Full House days, but I think the Lord has so blessed her acting and she has become really talented. But I most appreciate her faith and will always support her for that! Thankful for her witness!

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    1. Sherry In CaliforniaMonday, December 14, 2015

      Lifetime actually has a pretty decent selection of Christmas movies (both dramatic movies and more lighthearted movies) going back quite a few years up to now. The thing is, the 'tone' of their Christmas movies does not fit with the tone of their regular movies that air for the rest of the year. It's as if Lifetime turns into a totally different channel during the holidays, whereas Hallmark's Christmas movies are consistent with the tone of Hallmark's non-Christmas movies during the rest of the year.

      So I think that a lot of folks may be reluctant to watch Lifetime's Christmas movies because they think they might be like the 'other' Lifetime movies, when they are really nothing alike.

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    2. Hallmark has become a little too oversanitized in my opinion. Its nice to have movies families can watch together but they don't all have to have the same plot and be overly sugary sweet. Other channels create family friendly movies where the character's feel like real people.

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  3. I loved both of these movies! I thought the chemistry was wonderful in The Christmas Detour. Both movies kept my interest and were fun to watch. I enjoyed seeing Mayim Bialik play something different, and seeing Ryan McPartlin again because I liked him on Chuck.

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  4. I actually liked both movies. My only complaint is that Mayim is no longer like Blossom. It seems they are typecasting her as an automaton. Even on Big Bang, she plays a dull character. And it's the same in this movie. I loved both character, but I miss her being bubbly as she was in both Blossom and Beaches. I truly miss her being warm and cuddly. Candace on the other hand is always warm and inviting. Mayim used to be that way, but they are now typecasting her as her character in Big Bang. It's sad, because she used to be warm and inviting.

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  5. I am a HUGE fan of Candace Cameron Bure. But, I have to say her new movie this year was a big disappointment to me. Her character was so annoying I had to turn it off half way through the movie. Just couldn't take her anymore. Her Christmas movies from past years, I love so much I continue to watch over and over. Not this one though!

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  6. We actually (my husband & I) liked the Lifetime movie better. That is a first! We usually love Hallmark, but didn't like this one at all. We thought that it was boring.

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  7. The Christmas Detour was outstanding. The Flight Before Christmas I haven't seen yet. But Candace Cameron Bure is so talented and beautiful also her voice should melt any body's heart. <3

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  8. Loved the Lifetime lineup this year. Is too bad they don't use the same time sync as the rest of the networks. I always lose the last 3 minutes of the movie when I record - which is 90% of the time.

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  9. I have to say that I really enjoy reading other people's comments on these movies! There's so much diversity. I wasn't overwhelmed by either movie. I guess it's because I think they try too hard in the beginning to make the characters dislike each other in order for them to come together at the end. But in the process, they may the characters (usually the females) come off as tremendously unlikable. I thought Mayim's character in A Flight Before Christmas was extremely pushy and mean and made me not want to root for her. I had a similar problem with Candace's character in her movie but at least the other character's called her out and it and she even poked fun of herself throughout the movie. Both actresses did well, they just didn't have the best scripts to work with. I wasn't really buying the chemistry in either movie. Didn't seem natural, just forced. When the characters for together in the end, I wondered why since they didn't have that usual chemistry that would make it seem plausible. So anyway, I won't be watching either of these two movies ever again.

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  10. I REALLY liked The Flight Before Christmas! It's one of the best 2015 Christmas movies shown, in my opinion. I just can not get into Candace's Christmas movies! I try watching the first 15 min. or so, and they all just fall flat---EVERY year! I don't know what it is, but her holiday movies just never hold my interest.

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  11. I've been struggling with most of the Christmas films this year, I have to admit, but actually both of those have made it into my favorite list (I'm actually trying to put together a top 10, just waiting for next week's final round of films!).

    I really like the point they made that in this particular movie it didn't end up being big city career OR small town family life, but a healthy combination of both. It was a nice reminder that you can actually have a career you like, maintain it, and be happy in a good relationship that adds balance to your life.

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  12. I have yet to find a FAVORITE movie from this year..besides North Pole: open for Christmas, and that's just because my little one loved it with me!

    I very surprisingly liked the lifetime version better..and I couldn't believe myself. All of candace's movies at Christmas are always my favorite, but this year..it just didn't make the cut!

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    1. Sherry In CaliforniaFriday, December 18, 2015

      I actually liked this year's Candace movie better than last year's Candace movie, but I can agree that none of what I would consider to be my "favorite" Christmas movies in general have come from this year. I still think that 2013 was the best year for made-for-TV Christmas movies so far. That said, I still thought there were a couple of gems last year.

      This year's movies... well, let me just say that I have enjoyed a lot of them across all the channels, for different reasons. There are not too many that I flat out disliked. So I can certainly pick movies I liked better than others from this year's batch -- my favorites from 2015 -- but I have not found anything that I would put in my "all-time favorite TV Christmas movies" category, whereas several of 2013's movies are in that category.

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  13. Another article on Hallmark movies, that notes that during Thanksgiving week, only ESPN had more cable viewers than Hallmark ... Which is really impressive.

    http://www.avclub.com/article/hallmark-channels-countdown-christmas-movie-event--229545

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  14. ^^^ In which, as you may or may not already know, this website is mentioned. :)

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    1. Thank you for sharing that, SKP! Wow! I am honored to be mentioned! I started this site just for fun to reach a few online friends and I am amazed everyday to see the reach it has all around the world!

      Thank you, again, for sharing the article!!!

      Merry Christmas!!!

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  15. Obviously, the better one is the Christmas Detour! The one of Mayim was dull and slow paced. Candace was not that great but it was good to watch while killing time.

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