It's that TIME again... to look forward to another weekend filled with Christmas movie premieres, as we transition from November to December! Christmas is in full swing now, and I'm loving all of the hustle and bustle the Christmas season brings! It truly is The Most Wonderful TIME of the Year!!!
Look for NEW Christmas movie premieres on Great American Family, the Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, Lifetime, and UPtv!
See ALL of the movie details below, plus details on the Christmas movie I removed from the Christmas schedule, and extra Holiday Programming Notes...
Thursday, November 30, 2023:
Synopsis: Facing her first Christmas without her mother and looking to avoid loneliness, Carly (Grimes-Beech) heads to a quaint town to lead the church choir at Christmas. Once there, Carly meets Matthew (Carmack), a man back in town after serving in the army. As she gets to know Matthew, the choir and townspeople, she stumbles across clues that suggest she may have been brought here for a life changing reason. As the mystery unravels one thing is clear, this journey will teach Carly about true love, learning to trust, and that forgiveness is needed to finally heal.
Friday, December 1, 2023:
Synopsis: JJ (Rhiannon Fish), grieving the loss of her grandmother and seeking dissertation inspiration, stumbles upon an unexpected holiday destiny. Meeting Henrik (David Elsendoorn), a Norwegian from Bergen, their connection deepens when he discovers she has a troll figurine from his hometown. To explore the troll's history and her grandmother's ties, JJ agrees to join Henrik on a journey to Norway. In Bergen, they're drawn into Henrik's family Christmas and wedding traditions, with his sister's wedding the day before Christmas Eve. JJ embarks on a holiday adventure, uncovering the troll's origins and finding her own path to healing, love and family.
Saturday, December 2, 2023:
Synopsis: To save her family’s legacy windmill, a woman (Taylor Brown) must remind her ex-boyfriend (Michael Murray) of the best of their hometown.
Saturday, December 2, 2023:
Synopsis: Tabloid journalist Charlotte (Brooke D'Orsay) attempts to land an interview with a reclusive Count. In response, the royal family has a groundskeeper (Will Kemp) pose as the Count since the real one fled years ago.
Saturday, December 2, 2023:
Synopsis: In Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas, five glamorous ‘80s soap opera stars reunite to share the spotlight to shoot the final Christmas episode of their long-running soap opera. The producer, Alex (Travis Burns) and director Nell (Taylor Ann Thompson), old college friends, do their best to keep things on the rails but as the ladies come together, old rivalries resurface that threaten to tear the whole production apart. With the show nearly canceled before it even begins due to the ladies' famous diva behavior, they reluctantly agree to set aside their differences and past secrets to "act" as if they all still love each other. When old sparks reignite between Alex and Nell, the ladies become eager to play cupid and conspire to bring the couple together. Along the way, the divas also discover that the love between them all is still very strong too.
Sunday, December 3, 2023:
Synopsis: When small-town wedding planner Rachel is faced with planning her biggest Christmas wedding yet for an out-of-town influencer couple, she is thrown an unexpected surprise when the bride’s manager turns out to be Logan, her first love and high school sweetheart. He reminds her what it is to love, and through rediscovering the magic of Christmas, she rediscovers a part of her heart she closed off long ago.
Sunday, December 3, 2023:
Synopsis: A city manager (Marshall Williams) recruits the help of a childhood friend (Erin Agostino) in setting right his town’s Christmas Charity event, while she sets to work setting him up with her close friend.
Sunday, December 3, 2023:
Synopsis: A Mahogany presentation. A woman (Morgan) returns home to help with her family's Christmas Carnival and romance ignites. A photojournalist (Rowe) curates a surprise reunion.
Sunday, December 3, 2023:
With the holiday season in full swing, Olivia Hayes (Elena Juatco) goes undercover to provide her readers with an in-depth and cynical look at the hugely successful annual Secret Santa for Singles event. There, she meets single dad and handsome widower Thomas (Ryan Bruce) who is just as skeptical about the program as she is. Sparks soon fly, but with a once in a lifetime promotion on the line, will she risk losing it all for the romance she never saw coming?
Weekend Christmas Programming Notes:
CBS:
Christmas Cartoons on Saturday night...
Reindeer in Here, Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire, and Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost Tribe
(*Reminder: Candace Cameron Bure is the voice of "Pinky" in the Christmas cartoon "Reindeer In Here.")
ABC:
Christmas programs on Sunday night:
The Santa Clause and The Great Christmas Light Fight
Hallmark Drama:
Christmas Classics:
Catch some wonderful Classic Christmas Movies Saturday and Sunday on Hallmark Drama, including the Hallmark Hall of Fame movies- A Season for Miracles (Love this one sooo much!) and Fallen Angel, Window Wonderland (so fun!), Northpole, and more!
INSP:
*Catch an encore airing of Christmas in the Rockies on Saturday night.
Freeform:
25 Days of Christmas is Here! See beloved Christmas classics...
Eloise at Christmastime (one of my faves!) airs Friday morning at 11am/10c.!
Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York air Friday night.
The Santa Clause trilogy airs Saturday night.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and more air Sunday night.
TBS:
A Christmas Story (1983) and A Christmas Story Christmas (2022) air on Saturday and Sunday nights. (Note: I have not seen the 2022 sequel)
UPtv:
MUSICAL SPECIAL - HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: A CHRISTMAS HOMECOMING, a Christmas Music Special on SATURDAY AT 7:00PM ET.
Show details via UPtv: Get ready to ring in the holidays with Bill & Gloria Gaither and all of their homecoming friends on Home for the Holidays: A Christmas Homecoming! Sit back and listen to an array of Christmas standards, nostalgic seasonal favorites, and power-packed anthems. This timeless recording features the powerful voices you have grown to love during the most wonderful time of the year. Featuring Gospel Music Hall of Fame Members, Gaither Vocal Band singing “Home for the Holiday’s”, Multi-platnum-selling recording artist Josh Turner’s rendition of “Joy to the World”, award-winning singer/songwriter Mark Lowry performance of “Mary Did You Know?”, DOVE Award-winning musical artist Lynda Randle & brother Michael Tait’s lively cover of “Go Tell It On the Mountain”, the unparalleled tenor voice of David Phelps’ moving edition of “O Holy Night”, and many more of your friends from the Homecoming Family of artists. Home for the Holidays: A Christmas Homecoming is sure to usher you into the holiday season of joy and love.
*Following Home for the Holidays is an encore airing of the musical special Josh Turner: King Size Manger at 8pm/7c.
WEEKEND MOVIE PICKS:
It looks like we have another weekend of great Christmas movies!
I'm very much looking forward to seeing Great American Family's TWO NEW Christmas movies this weekend, Christmas on Windmill Way and The Jinglebell Jubilee, especially since I like both of the main actors in these films - Chad Michael Murray (An Autumn Romance) and Marshall Williams (When Hope Calls).
Another movie that has piqued my interest is Hallmark Channel's A Not So Royal Christmas. Will Kemp and Brooke D'Orsay are two of my all-time favorites, and this one, based on the promo, looks delightfully comical.
I'm also looking forward to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries premiere of Time for Her to Come Home for Christmas. By the way, Maria (who is such an excellent reviewer here at It's a Wonderful Movie) has seen this and she said (paraphrasing) it is family-friendly, plus the movie has some Easter eggs in it! That sounds like so much fun! Thank you so much, Maria, for giving us this early review!
Also, it has been announced that country singer-songwriter, Grace Leer, will be seen in Time for Her to Come Home for Christmas, and her new song, "Star on Top of the Tree," will be featured prominently in the film.
You can hear the song here...
MOVIE REMOVED FROM SCHEDULE:
Although this movie is not premiering this weekend, I wanted to inform you all that I have decided to remove the Lifetime movie A Cowboy Christmas Romance from my Christmas Schedule, and I will not be promoting it next week due to sexual content. You can see details in the article at EW. My suspicions were first raised when I saw the promo for this movie last week, but this article confirmed it. As much as I like a Christmas movie in a country setting, this will be a skip for my family and me. I believe the Christmas season should be held in reverence as a holy time.
Please note: I haven't pre-screened the new Christmas movies listed above. If you'd like to post a review on whether a film is family-friendly, please share in the comments below.
Caution: Based on the promos I've seen, please know that Ladies of the ‘80s: A Divas Christmas will contain Adult Dialogue and is not suitable for young children.
SPECIAL LINKS:
Visit the *Christmas TV Schedule* for the dates and times of NEW Christmas movies airing in November and December.
You can find the NEW 2023 Christmas Movie Review post *here*.