The Latest TV News and Updates Around the Web...

heavy.com recently shared this wonderful article titled: "Danica McKellar Has ‘Miraculous’ Faith Experience After Visiting Candace Bure." In the article, they share what Danica has expressed via social media after visiting Candace's church. Danica openly shared (with teary eyes, at times) that she's... "experiencing a relationship with God and Jesus that I’ve never had before."

The article goes on to say that "McKellar posted an Instagram video on April 24, sharing that for most of her life, she was skeptical of Christianity because of the hypocrisy that she saw in the faith. But she said she’s starting to see things in a different light..."

They go on to share in even greater detail in the article of what Danica has shared with her followers via Instagram regarding her faith, forgiveness, and this new journey, even adding in the heartfelt responses of encouragement she received from her fellow GAC Family and Hallmark friends.

I was truly touched by Danica's words as she begins her walk with The Lord. I pray this is just the beginning for and her family.

You can read the full article - *here*. (I think many of you here will really enjoy it!)

On Tuesday, April 26th, The Hollywood Reporter shared this article, which may or not affect the production of TV movies in Canada...

"Directors Guild of Canada B.C. Issues Strike Notice to American Producers."

Here is a portion of the article:

"The Directors Guild of Canada’s British Columbia branch has issued a formal strike notice to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and its local counterpart, the Canadian Media Producers Association.

The announcement follows the B.C. union’s first-ever strike authorization vote, where members voted 92.2 percent in favor of striking on local U.S. film and TV sets if talks with North American producers did not reach a new collective deal.

The B.C. union has to wait 72 hours following the strike notice to begin labor action, with any production not covered by a safe harbor agreement becoming subject to possible picket lines. It’s understood that most productions currently shooting in British Columbia have signed safe harbor agreements and, with compliance, will be protected from any potential labor action."

Hopefully, this will not disrupt production too much, especially if many of the networks are preparing for their Christmas films. This is another great reason why these American companies should film here in the states and support our country.

If you're interested, you can read the full article - *here*.

Speaking of striking deals... in case you missed it, 2 more actresses recently signed contracts with Hallmark, Taylor Cole ("Making Spirits Bright") and Aimee Teegarden ("My Christmas Family Tree"). Are you excited to see these two actresses continue to work with the Hallmark network?

Aimee has a new movie coming up in May on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries titled "Heart of the Matter," in which she portrays a doctor.

See more info on Taylor Cole's deal with Hallmark *here* and Aimee Teegarden's deal - *here*!

Plus, you can see details on Aimee Teegarden's movie, "Heart of the Matter" - *here*.

GAC Family shared this announcement today via Facebook:

#GACFamilyTV will honor America’s top-performing Police & Military K-9 Heroes in an all-new special “K-9 Hero Awards” on Thursday, May 12 at 5p ET/2p PT on GAC Family Network! -via Trevor Decker News

According the article, "GAC Family will honor America’s top performing Police and Military K-9 Heroes in an all-new special “K-9 Hero Awards.” Hosted by Larissa Wohl alongside US Army Veteran and certified K-9 Trainer, James Craigmyle, “K-9 Hero Awards” will premiere on GAC Family on Thursday, May 12 at 5pm ET. The special presentation is created in partnership with Project K-9 Hero, an organization dedicated to providing assistance for our nation’s heroic working dogs.

You can read more *here*.

I personally love that GAC is honoring our furry friends and military!


Hope you enjoyed this update today! Would love to know your thoughts, as well. Please share in comments below.

Blessings, Net

Hallmark Announces New Movie: The Road Ahead

Hallmark has revealed via ET that has production has begun on a new Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film titled: The Road Ahead, starring Holly Robinson-Peete ("Morning Show Mystery") and Kaylee Bryant ("The Real O'Neals"). There were already some details revealed via social media and other sources, but since it's official now, I thought I would share.

ET gives this story synopsis: "The upcoming HM&M movie follows Madeline (Peete), a famous Hollywood actress, and Sarah (Bryant), a wilderness expert, who embark on a cross-country trip together. The road trip has a rocky start, but as the two get to know one another they soon discover some common ground and unexpectedly help each other face their past mistakes through support and unconditional love."

Basically, it's about the growing bond of female friendship, as this unlikely pair takes this journey together. I don't know Kaylee Bryant, so she's completely new to me, but I've enjoyed seeing Holly Robinson-Peete in a number of Hallmark movies, including Christmas in Evergreen, The Christmas Doctor, and Morning Show Mysteries.

I think the storyline for this movie could be an interesting scenario, depending on where their stories go. What do you think? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

Blessings, Net

image: Holly Robinson-Peete - Crown Media

GAC Media Unwraps Christmas Plans with Candace Cameron Bure hosting Thanksgiving Special, NEW Streaming Service and More!!!

Check out all the details in GAC's press release below.


GAC MEDIA PRESS RELEASE:

Bill Abbott’s GAC Media Unwraps Holiday Plans in Upfront Pitch

New specials and a free ad supported streaming channel under the tree for advertisers

It hurt GAC Media CEO Bill Abbott to have missed last year’s upfront and he is looking forward to this one like a kid waiting for Santa.

He’s got a bigger second-year slate of holiday programming to sell, including a Thanksgiving show that will be hosted by Candace Cameron Bure, Small Town Christmas specials, The Great American Rescue Bowl running opposite the Super Bowl and a new ad-supported streaming television channel called, Great American Adventure wrapped up like gifts for media buyers and their clients.

Abbott, who was in charge of advertising sales for Hallmark Channel before becoming CEO of its parent company Crown Media Family Network, started GAC Media last June.

GAC bought the cable channels Great American Country and Ride TV and relaunched them as GAC Family and GAC Live on October 15 and started airing original holiday content October 23.

”That was a very tough transition and that led to results that we didn’t love at the start,” Abbott told Broadcasting+Cable.

The timetable left little time for promotion, so not as many viewers found the channel at first.

And by that time most advertisers had already committed most of their marketing budgets for the year, making it particularly tough to get ad dollars in the fourth quarter when GAC aired original Christmas-themed movies that normally attract spending from retailers and other seasonal advertisers.

“We paid the price all of this year for that,” Abbott said. “Last year’s market was so strong, you fear you probably missed it by a year. No matter how well you tell your story you still might not have the same market conditions, although I think this year’s market seems like it will be pretty strong.”

GAC will be going into this year’s meetings with media buyers and advertisers with more than promises. There’s a track record demonstrating the quality of the holiday programming it will air and that they will have the stars that people who like holiday movies will tune in to see.

Abbott is working from the successful formula he used at Hallmark Channel.

“We’re certainly selling family-friendly content and quality original movies with talent that people love and resonate with viewers,” he said. “We’ve had a lot more time to prepare and market and do all the things necessary to drive a much bigger audience. We feel really good about where we will be in the fourth quarter.”

“If you look at the library that we built up last year with all of that original content, it just make it a much stronger offering and make us feel a lot better about where the numbers will be this fourth quarter,” added Kristen Roberts, another former Crown Media exec, who as chief revenue officer and executive VP programming is in charge of not only ad pricing, planning and inventory, but with matching up ad clients with programming they can sponsor.

GAC sees advertisers with needs to reach viewers around the holidays and is looking to meet those needs.

“There are so many advertisers that are really focused on certain times of the year than ever before and we are a good solution in the linear landscape,” he said. “With all of the original content it airs, there are plenty of integration and sponsored-by opportunities available.”

“A lot of channels have migrated their content over to their SVOD And AVOD services,” he added “We are still primarily a linear play and that gives up the ability to create on-air experiences through focus and through talent that is different and unique.”

Linear channels are still available to advertisers because they deliver at scale, Abbott said. He expects GAC Family to be in 60 million homes by the fourth quarter. (GAC Living doesn’t have enough homes for the upfront market this year, Abbott said).

GAC Family will be kicking off its holiday season programming with a special on Thanksgiving hosted by Candace Cameron Bure, one of many stars familiar to Hallmark fans now appearing in GAC Family films. After the specials, GAC will bracket retail holidays Black Friday and Cyber Monday with original movies Friday, Saturday and Sunday. “We kind of turned the corner last Thanksgiving,” Abbott said.

The network has no scripted series yet, but it planning to start a series of Small Town Christmas events starting in Kentucky. It will feature feel good content shot in a small town where GAC talent will visit, help out in hospitals and shelters and put on a show for the community.

After New Year’s on Super Sunday (another important American holiday) GAC will air The Great American Rescue Bowl, which starts up after Hallmark Channel stopped running its Kitten Bowl, a staple under Abbott. The Rescue Bowl will be hosted by former Kitten Bowl host Beth Stern.

Advertisers these days also need some digital assets and GAC will be launching a free ad-supported linear TV channel called Great American Adventures. Abbott said the channel will be programmed with content it acquired when it bought Great American Country from Discovery. “We want to be in the game,” he said.

Abbot said Great American Adventure will launch later this month. It has a distribution deal with Xumo and he expects it to be also carried on Roku and Samsung and most of the other key platforms.

GAC has also been working on creating a sort of interactive fan portal for the network that will enable viewers and the network’s talent to form more of a community.

GAC has been having upfront conversations with advertisers since February. Those have mostly taken place over soon.

“We talk about an event, but with so many people working remotely, we’ve been pretty much doing zooms, with maybe little in-person side meetings or lunches and breakfasts where we can,” Roberts said.

“On some levels that’s disappointing and unfortunate. It’s great connecting with people. But it’s allowed us to cover a lot more ground quickly without having to travel to Detroit or Chicago and all the other places around the country,” Abbott added.

GAC is also fortunate because while the company is new, its sales force, some of them Hallmark veterans, have strong ties with buyers.

“The feedback has been nothing but supportive,” Roberts said. “I think because of what Bill has done and built in the past, there’s an immediate understanding and recognition of what we’re doing. We’re having great meetings and we’re excited to get underway and start the upfront in earnest.”

----------End of Press Release ----------

My Quick Take...

I am most excited to see all of these highlights of future plans coming to GAC Family this holiday season and beyond! It's going to be fun to see how they approach this Christmas: I can't wait to see Candace's Thanksgiving Show and all the new movies! I'm very intrigued by the Small Town Christmas programming they are planning; I recall Candace recorded something like that for Hallmark years ago that never aired. Frankly, I always wondered what happened to it? Anyway, I doubt that show will be included, but I love the details they mentioned in this press release for this new program in how they are planning for the "GAC talent to visit, help out in hospitals and shelters and put on a show for the community." That sounds like such a beautiful way for the actors to reach out to others less fortunate and give back.

Another interesting new announcement, is GAC Family's streaming service titled: Great American Adventure! Upon hearing the name (which I love, by the way), I couldn't help from hearing the song, The Great Adventure by Steven Curtis Chapman, playing in my mind. Would be so cool if they could use that somehow. Anyway, I'm thrilled to hear they are going to be providing this streaming resource, and I can't wait to check it out through my Roku when it launches later this month.

Please share your thoughts in comments below.

Blessings! Net

-Candace Cameron Bure image: Lucas Rossi/Peach Hill Media/Shutterstock
-GAC Family / Great American Christmas logo: GAC Media

Happy 8 Months 'til Christmas Day! 💕🎄 Movies are Back on GAC Family (including Christmas!) This Weekend! 💕🎄 SEE HERE:

Great news for all of us fans and supporters of GAC Family! The movies we've been hoping to see - will be returning this upcoming Saturday! Many viewers have been expressing their desire to see more movies on the channel via social media, and now their wish has been granted.

The movies on GAC Family this weekend include many familiar stars: Cindy Busby (Joy for Christmas), Kevin McGarry (When Calls the Heart), Danica McKellar (MatchMaker Mysteries), Merritt Patterson (Picture a Perfect Christmas), and Trevor Donovan (USS Christmas). I've noticed some TV guides aren't showing this schedule change, yet, but I've included the schedule, announced by GAC Family, below...

TV Schedule for Saturday, April 30th, on GAC Family:

(Times in EST.)

Autumn Stables - 2pm

starring Cindy Busby and Kevin McGarry

Coffee Shop - 4pm

starring Laura Vandervoort and Cory Grant

The Winter Palace - 6pm

starring Danica McKellar and Neal Bledsoe

Jingle Bell Princess - 8pm

starring Merritt Patterson and Trevor Donovan

Accidentally Engaged - 10pm

starring Lexi Giovagnoli and Brant Daugherty

Hope this means we will see even more movies, especially on the weekends, as GAC begins to build their programming. Thank you, GAC, for giving us great family entertainment to watch!

These are the actors that have signed with GAC thus far: Susie Abromiet, Jen Lilley, Danica McKellar, Trevor Donovan, Jessica Lowndes, and Candace Cameron Bure. (Some of these are exclusive contracts, some are not.) Plus, GAC has announced: Daniel Lissing and Merritt Patterson have filmed the Christmas movie, Catering Christmas, so we can expect to see this Christmas movie this holiday season, plus all sorts of actors in the future on GAC Family!

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🎄💕 Happy 8 Months 'til Christmas Day! 💕🎄

If you'd like to Mark the 25th day of the month and Countdown to Christmas with us, simply pick something Christmassy to watch TODAY - on the 25th! It can be a Christmas movie, cartoon, sitcom or anything you like. (There's only one stipulation - it must be family friendly.) Then, please share in comments below your Christmas choice for the day!

My *Mark the 25th* pick is...

In honor of Candace Cameron Bure recently signing a deal with GAC Family, my pick to *Mark the 25th* is one of Candace's Christmas movies... Switched for Christmas. I specifically chose this movie since Candace's daughter, Natasha, is also in it with her; it's interesting to watch Candace portray both a career woman and a mother.

If you don't have time to watch something Christmassy today, please share a Christmas movie in comments below that always makes you laugh or simply makes you feel good inside.

Blessings, Net

*image: Jingle Bell Princess - GAC Media

💕🐾 It's the Dog Days of *Spring?* this Weekend on Hallmark! 🐾💕 SEE HERE:

This weekend is the last full weekend in April! I can hardly believe it! We haven't had many days of Spring-type weather here in the Mid-west, yet, but we are finally expecting temps in the low 80's this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to the warmer weather.

As for movies... a new movie is premiering Saturday night on the Hallmark Channel, and I'm hoping it's as dog-gone cute as it looks! Plus, Hope Valley days continue Sunday night on When Calls the Heart.

See details below...

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Saturday, April 23, 2022:

A Tail of Love

Storyline: Bella (Brittany Bristow) learns her dog rescue’s future is in question when they lose funding from their main sponsor, a dog food company that’s being sold. The late owner’s son, JR (Chris McNally), is a soldier who is home on leave to handle the sale. During a visit to the rescue, JR quickly bonds with Indie, a retired military dog they just took in, and begins spending more time there. When Bella learns the rescue’s property is also being sold, she turns to JR for help with finding the missing document proving her grandparents purchased the land many years before.

A Tail of Love premieres
Saturday, April 23, 2022
at 8pm/7c. on the Hallmark Channel

*Also, if you like Brittany Bristow's beautiful dresses and fashions in A Tail of Love, you can find them here!

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Sunday, April 24, 2022:

When Calls the Heart

Season 9, Episode 8

Episode 8 - “Hope Valley Days: Part 2” :

Storyline: Residents of Hope Valley continue to enjoy the town’s first-ever Hope Valley Days Festival. But with an unwelcome visitor unexpectedly still in town, everyone comes together not just in celebration, but to help one of their own.

When Calls the Heart

Season 9, Episode 8

Airs Sunday, April 24, 2022

at 8pm/7c. on the Hallmark Channel

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There is also a new movie on UPtv Sunday night titled: Kiss the Cook. An anonymous commenter shared this review for the movie: ---- "Kiss The Cook is NOT family friendly. There is a comment by women asking the two main characters to forgive HER WIFE for being I think she said over enthusiastic. Near the end of the movie the one woman kisses her wife's shoulder." ---- Thank you, anonymous, for sharing this information with us. I was able to pre-screen this movie this week, as well, and as soon as I saw the first content you mentioned, I turned it off. For anyone else curious, the two women portray farmers out in the country and their story takes place about 30-40 minutes into the movie. Anyway, I just wanted to be certain all of my followers here were aware of this storyline. I'm very appreciative of the heads up from this anonymous reviewer.

Please note: I have not pre-screened the new Hallmark movie, A Tail of Love. If you'd like to leave a review, please share in comments below.

I hope you all have a bright and beautiful Spring weekend!

Blessings! Net

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SHINING HIS LIGHT:

"The righteous care for the needs of their animals..."

~Proverbs 12:10