Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolfe will headline a new Christmas movie for Hallmark. The actors, who played sister and brother in the Fox series Party of Five, will once again play siblings in Hallmark’s A Merry Scottish Christmas.
Chabert made the announcement in a post on Instagram.
“A dream come true!” she wrote. “I’m so thrilled to be reuniting with one of my dearest friends @iamscottwolf for a very special @hallmarkchannel #CountdownToChristmas movie! We are having so much fun filming #AMerryScottishChristmas and can’t wait to share it with you this holiday season!”
New Christmas movie
“We are so excited to reunite Lacey and Scott and know our viewers will fall in love with this movie,” said Lisa Hamilton Daly, executive vice president of programming for Hallmark Media. “The nostalgia of seeing Lacey and Scott together again on screen is going to be a special holiday treat for our viewers.”
For six seasons, Chabert and Wolf played Claudia and Bailey Salinger on Party of Five. The series, which also launched the career of Neve Campbell, featured a set of siblings forced to band together when their parents are killed.
Reunited
In a statement made through Hallmark, Wolf said he is thrilled to be working with Chabert again.
“Working with Lacey on ‘Party of Five’ was one of my favorite experiences ever,” he said. “Reuniting after all of these years to tell such a beautiful story together is a dream that I’m so glad is coming true.”
“Scott and I have talked for years about doing another project together. When we first read this story about these siblings at a crossroads, we both knew it was the perfect opportunity,” Chabert said.
A Merry Scottish Christmas
The working title of the new Christmas movie is A Merry Scottish Christmas. (As a working title, it can be changed at any time.) In the movie, Chabert and Wolf play estranged siblings who reunite to visit their mother in Scotland. It is only when they’ve arrived that their mother (played by Fiona Bell) reveals a family secret.
Countdown to Christmas
Hallmark begin airing round-the-clock Christmas movies during the holidays in 2009. Countdown to Christmas has become so popular that the network will typically premiere dozens of new movies during the period.
In 2023, Countdown to Christmas is expected to premiere in October.
Hallmark has not yet given a release date for A Merry Scottish Christmas. We will update this story as more information becomes available.
New Murder, She Baked movie has fans asking if Mike and Hannah are getting back together
Alison Sweeney, Barbara Niven, and Cameron Mathison are hard at work on a new Murder, She Baked movie. The stars have been posting from the set of A Zest for Death: A Hannah Swensen Mystery, which should be released this summer.
But fans have only one question: Will Mike and Hannah get back together?
New Murder, She Baked
In a recent Instagram post, Alison Sweeney shared a behind-the-scenes look at the new movie.
“Here we go again!! Back on set filming another #HannahSwensen with my friend @cameronmathison !! #setlife,” she wrote.
“Sooo exciting!” wrote one fan in the comments section. “I hope it’s a good one and Hannah and Mike find each other again for good ok?”
Another fan added, “Seriously though! They need a happy ending!”
The series
Hallmark has made seven movies in the Hannah Swensen series, which is also known as “Murder, She Baked.” Based on the cozy mystery books by Joanne Fluke, the movies include:
Murder, She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery (2015)
Murder, She Baked: A Plum Pudding Mystery (2015)
Murder, She Baked: A Peach Cobbler Mystery (2016)
Murder, She Baked: A Deadly Recipe (2017)
Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts (2016)
Sweet Revenge: A Hannah Swensen Mystery (2021)
Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery (2023)
The breakup
In Carrot Cake Murder, Mike and Hannah broke up, much to the dismay of fans. Hannah began working on a cold case with Mike’s blessing. But as she uncovered more clues, Mike began relaying her discoveries to the police department. Though Hannah understands why he does it, she can’t help but feel betrayed.
“You have to give Mike credit that his instinct was to be in on it with Hannah and help her,” Sweeney said in an interview with TV Goodness. “It’s what he wanted to do, and it is a cold case. And so, she really thought that was the plan and then it would be no problem because the police, aren’t even able to investigate. It’s a dead end for them and the door was wide open for her.”
But Sweeney was quick to add that there is a path that Hannah and Mike can take that leads back to each other.
“I love developing stories where, as fun as it was for them to be together and they’re just crime-solving besties, this story of wanting to be together, of finding their way back to each other, and earning each other’s trust again, the tension and the romance and the grand gestures that they have to make to earn it back is, to be honest, my favorite part.”
She also added that the author of the series, Joanne Fluke, was very protective of the characters as well.
“I have to remind everyone that we are the keepers of someone else’s characters,” Sweeney said. “And Joanne cares very passionately about Hannah and everyone in Eden Lake. And these are the stories she tells.”
When Calls the Heart social media accounts shut down by disgruntled fans
Hallmark Media is considering taking legal action against disgruntled fans who have managed to shut down several Instagram accounts dedicated to its popular series When Calls the Heart.
In a post shared on Brian Bird’s account, the show’s co-creator confirmed that accounts for the series have been suspended by Meta, the company that runs both Facebook and Instagram.
“The issue is complex, but we are aware that someone is targeting and reporting fan accounts for reasons we will not speculate on here,” read the message, which was signed “The Heartie Admin Team.”
Social media accounts
Though Hallmark won’t comment on who is attacking the accounts or why, fans are saying it is the work of Hearties still upset over the death of character Jack Thornton (played by Australian actor Daniel Lissing).
Thornton was killed at the end of Season 6, shortly after his wedding to Elizabeth (Erin Krakow).
The next two seasons saw controversy as Elizabeth, who gave birth to Jack’s son after his death, was pursued by two different men. When she chose businessman Lucas Bouchard (Chris McNally) over Mountie Nathan Grant (Kevin McGarry), some Hearties were upset, claiming she made the wrong decision.
Why Jack fans are attacking social media accounts now, instead of say, immediately after he left the show, is unclear. Some fans have speculated that it is because Elizabeth and Lucas are expected to marry in Season 10.
“It’s been years since Jack’s been gone,” wrote one fan in the comments section of Bird’s post. “The actor who played him wanted out, and I guess they could’ve replaced him with another, but it was the writers’ choice to go in another direction. It’s just a TV program, for crying out loud! And goodness gracious! I can’t believe of all the pages on social media, Hearties are the least controversial/offensive fan base I’ve ever seen.”
Suspended accounts
According to Instagram, accounts can be suspended for not meeting “community guidelines.” These include only posting photos appropriate for all age groups and not promoting hate, violence, or terrorism.
Anyone can lodge a complaint against an Instagram account. Meta administrators will sometimes suspend an account until they can investigate further. Though account holders can appeal the suspension, it can take time to get the issue resolved.
Some Hearties have speculated that the accounts were attacked so they would be offline in the lead-up to the premiere of Season 10, which is scheduled for July 30.
Moving forward
A post by Star Watch Byline urged fans not to give up.
“If you know of any specific account names or own an account that is either a general #WCTH fan site or a #WCTH cast member fan site that has been removed by Instagram, please send us the name of the site so we can send a list to Hallmark Media legal to see if they can help recover the sites,” read a post. “They have been notified of the issue but would need account names if you wish them to be recovered.”
Brian Bird’s message also urged fans to remember that the When Calls the Heart community is strong.
“Especially in tough times, Hope Valley values teach us to come together in support of one another and the greater good. We will come together with our collective goodwill and sustained belief and delight in this show.”
Tributes continue to pour in for Treat Williams as new details emerge about his death
Friends, neighbors, and co-stars continue to pay tribute to the late actor Treat Williams, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in Vermont on June 12.
New details are emerging about what happened during and immediately after the accident that took his life, including the fact that he was responsive and conscious when first responders arrived.
Tributes
Barbara Niven shared a touching Instagram post featuring a photo of Williams and several other cast members from the series Chesapeake Shores.
“Treat lived large and savored every bit of life. He loved his craft and it was an honor to spend six years with him on Chesapeake Shores,” she wrote. “He truly was the patriarch of our family, both on and off the set. And he made it so much fun. He would suddenly break into a song from Grease or Hair as we were rehearsing a scene, and came in with horrible dad jokes every day to make the crew laugh. What an actor he was. I think he was this generation’s Spencer Tracy.”
“Thanks for always having my back, bud,” wrote Andrew Francis in a post on Instagram.
Memorial service
A memorial service was held for the actor on June 19 in Vermont, where he lived with his wife of 35 years, Pam Van Sant. According to US Weekly, friends and family, including his adult children Gill, 31, and Ellie, 25, gathered in an intimate ceremony. Williams was buried on June 20.
According to reports from the Vermont State Police, Williams was critically injured when a motorcycle he was driving collided with a car at 4:53 p.m. on June 12 in the town of Dorset. Williams and his wife, Pam Van Sant, have a farm about seven miles from the small town.
Williams was airlifted to the Albany Medical Center in New York where he later died from his injuries.
New details
According to a witness, Williams was alert and responding to questions immediately after the accident.
Local business owner Matt Rapphahn told reporters he saw the accident and called 911. When responders arrived, Williams was conscious.
“He was responsive to questions,” Rapphahn said. “I had my hopes pretty high that he was going to pull through.”
Police said a local man driving an SUV was turning left into an auto shop and crossed into the path of Williams, who was on his motorcycle. Williams was wearing a helmet. The driver of the SUV was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to the police.
Community in mourning
Members of the community where Williams and his wife live had kind words to say about the star.
“As a community, everybody is in shock. Even if they didn’t know him, they knew of Treat,” said Greg Cutler, the vice chair of the Manchester select board.
“He was just very easy to talk to,” Rapphahn said. “He was just like another guy, you know, and every experience I had with him was great. Just talk about movies, cars, motorcycles, music.”
Hallmark releases new posters for Season 10 of When Calls the Heart
Hallmark has released a set of When Calls the Heart posters ahead of the show’s Season 10 premiere. The posters feature individual characters from the series, including Erin Krakow as Elizabeth Thornton, Pascale Hutton as Rosemary Coulter, Kavan Smith as Lee Coulter, and Chris McNally as Lucas Bouchard.
“I read on the internet that season 10 is premiering July 30, so it must be true!” McNally wrote in the caption of his post on Instagram. “*spoiler it is* Thank you #hearties for your patience!”
Season 10
Hearties have been waiting anxiously for a return of Hallmark’s longest-running original series since Season 9 finished in May 2022. The show usually premieres in February or March but Hallmark delayed it this year to promote two new series, The Way Home and Ride.
But Hearties got some good news when Hallmark announced it would begin filming Season 11 of When Calls the Heart this summer.
“I am beyond excited for season 10 of When Calls the Heart to premiere July 30,” Erin Krakow said in a statement through the network. “This season is full of beautiful moments and exciting twists and turns. I can’t wait for the Hearties to see what we’ve created for them!
“And I’m so thrilled, proud and grateful to Hallmark that the show has been renewed for season 11. We have so many more stories to tell. With our amazing cast, crew, and brilliant writers, there will be no shortage of romance and new adventures for the residents of Hope Valley! Having the Hearties continue this journey with us has meant the world and we are thrilled to share what’s in store these next two seasons!”
Previews
A trailer for Season 10 showed Elizabeth (Erin Krakow) writing in her diary, narrating a scene that includes Rosemary (Pascale Hutton), Lee (Kavan Smith), Florence (Loretta Walsh), and Molly (Johannah Newmarch).
In the clip, Elizabeth explains that the town has fallen on hard times, but that the members of the community have come together to help each other.
“First, the coal mine was destroyed,” she says. “Then the oil wells dried up. And then we lost the foundry, and with it, the promise of new jobs. But in true Hope Valley fashion, Florence, Molly, and Minnie started a swap meet so that nothing would go to waste.”
In the new clip, Elizabeth tells Lucas, “It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come.”
She also speaks to Bill Avery (Wagner), telling him to seize the day. The trailer shows Minnie Canfield and Mei Suo before showing a very pregnant Rosemary smiling at Lee.
“We’re on a big adventure,” she says.
New posters
The stars of the show shared pics of the new posters on their Instagram accounts.
“It’s almost time #hearties!” wrote Natasha Burnett, who plays Minnie Canfield in the series. “See you Sunday July 30th!”
“Can. Not. Wait,” wrote co-star Johannah Newmarch.
Kavan Smith shared a photo of his poster with the caption, “ @erinkrakow told me I had to post!”
Nice one, Kavan.
Season 10 of When Calls the Heart will premiere on Hallmark Channel on July 30.
New Hallmark movie stars Eva Bourne of When Calls the Heart
New Hallmark movie
In a recent interview, Bourne said she was thrilled to be working with Hallmark again.
“I was super grateful for the opportunity, and I was excited that this was the script that I got to have the first leading role with,” she told the website Just Jared. “I had a lot of ideas swirling around in my head about all the things that would come with a lead, but to be honest, all of my worries, were completely gone once the second day came.”
In Make Me a Match, Bourne plays Vivi, a young woman who works for a matchmaking app despite her own unfortunate dating history. Vivi hires Raina (played by Rekha Sharma), an Indian matchmaker, to provide advice on how to improve their numbers. Raina suggests an unusual arrangement to teach Vivi her tactics: she will use her expertise to help Vivi find love, and Vivi can use what she learns through this process to help her company.
According to Hallmark, “As they embark on this matchmaking journey, Vivi meets Raina’s son, Bhumesh (played by Rushi Kota), and questions whether finding love is something one must take control of or allow to happen on its own.”
When Calls the Heart
Make Me a Match marks the first time Bourne has appeared on Hallmark since leaving When Calls the Heart in 2020. Bourne played Clara on the series for eight seasons. Fans were expecting her back in Season 9 but found out in a teaser for the season that Clara and her husband, Jesse (played by Aren Buccholz) had left Hope Valley to try homesteading in Montana.
The show’s producers didn’t give a reason for Clara and Jesse’s departure.
About the cast
In addition to Bourne, Make Me a Match stars Rekha Sharma, who has starred in the TV shows Star Trek: Discovery, Another Life, The Imperfects, and Roswell, New Mexico.
Rushi Kota, who plays Bhumesh in the movie, has appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, CSI: Vegas, and Ordinary Joe.
Make Me a Match will premiere on Hallmark Channel on Saturday, June 24 at 8/7c.
What Paul Campbell had to say about a sequel to Three Wise Men and a Baby
Paul Campbell recently weighed in on whether fans can expect a sequel to the hit Christmas movie Three Wise Men and a Baby. The actor, who co-wrote the script for the film with fellow Hallmark star Kimberly Sustad, said he had already broached the subject with the higher-ups at the network.
Three Wise Men and a Baby premiered during the 2022 Countdown to Christmas lineup on Hallmark Channel. Starring Paul Campbell, Tyler Hynes, and Andrew Walker, the comedy was an immediate hit. It became the most-watched movie on cable in 2022.
Three Wise Men and a Baby
In the movie, Campbell, Hynes, and Walker play three brothers who are so busy arguing with each other that they can’t even give their mother (played by Margaret Colin) the peaceful family Christmas she longs for. When Walker’s character finds an abandoned baby at the fire station where he works, he brings the child home to his mother. While they try to track down the baby’s parents, the brothers are forced to work together and even end up participating in some Christmas traditions they avoided in the past. (Cue the hilarious scenes where the three guys dress up as elves.)
A sequel
In a recent interview with TV Insider, Campbell said it is highly unlikely that there will be a sequel to the movie. The writer and actor said he asked network executives about doing another movie with the same characters.
He was told that Hallmark doesn’t do sequels.
“Hallmark has said many, many times over the years, they don’t do sequels,” Campbell said. “The problem is it’s really hard to tell a love story twice. And that movie is still a love story. It’s a story about brothers rediscovering their love for each other. We talked with the network early on about a potential sequel and they just said, ‘We love the movie. We’d love to sort of work with you guys again in another capacity, but it’s just not going to be in powers on this one.’ So, unfortunately, unless we get a miracle, I would say the chances are zero.”
The answer came as a shock to fans, who have been hoping to see a second Three Wise Men and a Baby movie.
Some fans pointed out that Hallmark does, in fact, do sequels. In 2022, the network premiered The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls. The film, which starred Treat Williams, Robert Buckley, and Jonathan Bennett, was a sequel to the original Countdown to Christmas movie The Christmas House.
There were also sequels to each movie in the popular Wedding Veil trilogy, which starred Lacey Chabert, Alison Sweeney, and Autumn Reeser.
But Campbell said chances of a remake are zero and that it would take “a miracle” to get a second movie in the works.
Hynes and Campbell
Campbell did say he would love to work with Tyler Hynes again.
“I’ll take Tyler Hynes any day of the week,” Campbell said. “I think he’s hysterical. I love him as a person and I feel like if we brought him in to cameo, he’d come in and do something really weird. He’d be on board to do something really, really strange.”
Stephen Huszar and Katie Cassidy found love while filming new Hallmark movie
Stephen Huszar and Katie Cassidy, who met while filming the new Hallmark movie A Royal Christmas Crush, are officially an item. The actress shared the news with her 2.7 million Instagram followers in a post featuring a photo of the pair.
“Welp, cats out of the bag… Happy Monday!” she wrote in the caption.
In an earlier post, she shared a photo from the set of A Royal Christmas Crush with the caption, “#PrinceCharming.”
New Hallmark movie
In A Royal Christmas Crush, Cassidy’s character Ava “accepts the opportunity of a lifetime” to work at the Royal Ice Hotel, which “leads her to a surprise whirlwind romance” with a prince (played by Huszar), according to a synopsis from Hallmark.
The romantic comedy is one of four new Hallmark movies set to premiere in July. The others include The Christmas Reboot, starring Vanessa Lengies and Corey Sevier; A Lifelong Love, starring Andrea Brooks and Patch May; and Aloha Heart, starring Taylor Cole and Kanoa Goo.
(For more details about July movies, click here.)
New romance
Cassidy, 36, and Huszar, 39, met while filming A Royal Christmas Crush. A source told People magazine that they are very happy together.
“They’re very much in love and just got back from a European trip in which they joined her family in Portugal, then headed to Spain and France, before hitting Monaco for the Grand Prix,” the source said.
Cassidy is the daughter of singer and TV star David Cassidy and fashion model Sherry Williams. Her breakout role was on the 2003 Lifetime TV series The Division. She has also appeared on the TV shows New Girl, 7th Heaven, Gossip Girl, Supernatural, and The Flash.
Cassidy starred in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as in the horror movies When A Stranger Calls and Black Christmas.
Stephen Huszar has appeared on the TV shows Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, The Flash, iZombie, and Letterkenny.
He played Jake Killian in the Ruby Herring Mysteries series on Hallmark. In 2021, he joined the cast of the Hallmark series Chesapeake Shores. He has starred in the Hallmark movies Time After Time (2011), Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: A Bone to Pick (2015), Magical Christmas Ornaments (2017), Return to Christmas Creek (2018), My One & Only (2019), A Homecoming for the Holidays (2019), Time For Us to Come Home for Christmas (2020), Undercover Holiday (2022), and Love in Glacier National (2023).
A Royal Christmas Crush will premiere on Hallmark Channel on Saturday, July 8 at 8/7c.
Becca Tobin and Jake Epstein star in the new Hallmark movie The Wedding Contract
Becca Tobin and Jake Epstein star as a bride and a groom determined to get through the wedding planning process together in the new Hallmark movie The Wedding Contract. But things get complicated when both the mother of the groom and the mother of the bride offer their opinions. When the groom gets caught up in work commitments, the bride starts wondering if she should call the whole thing off.
New Hallmark movie
In the movie, Becca Tobin stars as Rebecca and Jake Epstein stars as Adam. Rebecca and Adam are very much in love and decide to get married but that’s when the trouble starts. As they begin to plan the wedding — and their life after the wedding — it becomes clear they have different priorities.
While Rebecca cares deeply about home and family, Adam is completely devoted to his work. Adam is not as connected to or as familiar with Jewish tradition as Rebecca. Adam is ambitious and is considering taking a job in LA for a promotion to vice president, while Rebecca really wants to build her life close to her family, her synagogue, and her rabbi (played by Michael Benyaer).
When both their mothers get involved in planning the wedding, the bride and groom become overwhelmed.
But when Adam begins to focus on work and Rebecca begins to wonder whether they should even be getting married, it is the meddling mothers-in-law who end up bringing the couple back together.
June Weddings
The Wedding Contract is one of four new wedding-themed movies to premiere on Hallmark in June. The others include Wedding Season, starring Stephanie Bennett and Casey Deidrick; Love’s Greek to Me, starring Torrey DeVitto and Yannis Tsimitselis; and Make Me a Match, starring Eva Bourne and Rekha Sharma.
Hallmark recently announced that four new movies will also premiere in July. For a complete list, click here.
About the cast
Becca Tobin starred as Kitty Wilde on the Fox television series Glee. She has also appeared on the shows Drop Dead Dive, NCIS: Los Angeles, and Mystery Girls. Tobin starred in the Hallmark movies A Song For Christmas (2017), Love at First Dance (2018), and Sister of the Bride (2019). In 2021, she starred in the Great American Family movie Christmas Is You.
Jake Epstein starred in the hit Canadian series Degrassi: The Next Generation as Craig Manning, a musician with bipolar disorder. He has also appeared in Star Trek: Discovery, Private Eyes, The Umbrella Academy, and Hudson & Rex.
In 2021, he starred in the Hallmark movie The Eight Gifts of Hanukkah with Inbar Lavi and Sheila Tyson.
The Wedding Contract will premiere on Hallmark Channel on Saturday, June 17 at 8/7c.
Beloved actor, father, and husband Treat Williams killed in motorcycle accident
Treat Williams, the beloved star of Hallmark’s Chesapeake Shores, was killed on June 12 in Vermont. The actor was riding his motorcycle when he was hit by a car, according to reports from the Vermont State Police and the Dorset Fire Department.
The actor leaves behind his wife, Pam Van Sant, and two children, Gill Williams, 31, and Ellie Williams, 24.
Treat Williams
Treat Williams made his film debut in 1975’s Deadly Hero. He appeared in the movies The Ritz and The Eagle Has Landed before landing the role of George Berger in the screen adaptation of the musical Hair. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance. He received another Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the 1981 movie Prince of the City.
His agent, Barry McPherson, told People magazine that the star will be missed.
“He was the nicest guy,” McPherson said. “He was so talented. He was an actor’s actor. Filmmakers loved him. He’s been the heart of Hollywood since the late 1970s.”
Chesapeake Shores
From 2016 to 2022, Williams starred as Mick O’Brien in the hit Hallmark series Chesapeake Shores, alongside Meghan Ory, Barbara Niven, and Dianne Ladd. He also had lead roles in the Hallmark movies The Christmas House and The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls.
When he wasn’t filming, the actor lived with his family in Vermont. In a 2020 interview with Southern Living magazine, the actor talked about how his home life resembled the lives of the characters he played for Hallmark. For example, he and his children would cut down their own Christmas tree every year.
“We go to a little, wonderful, vegetable market stand,” he said. “And then my son and I, we put it up. All the decorations come out into the living room, a bottle of wine gets set down on the table and we always put on the exact same album. It’s Frank Sinatra’s Jolly Christmas.”
Tragic accident
According to a report from the Vermont State Police, a Honda SUV was turning left into a parking lot when it collided with Williams’ motorcycle in the town of Dorset.
“Williams was unable to avoid a collision and was thrown from his motorcycle. He suffered critical injuries and was airlifted to Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York, where he was pronounced dead,” according to the statement.
Williams was wearing a helmet, police said.
Tributes
Fellow actors and directors have spoken out on social media about how wonderful Williams was to work with.
“Treat and I spent months in Rome filming “Once Upon a Time in America,’” actor James Woods tweeted. “It can be pretty lonely on the road during a long shoot, but his resilient good cheer and sense of humor was a Godsend. I really loved him and am devastated that he’s gone.”
“Treat Williams was a passionate, adventurous, creative man,” actor Wendell Pierce tweeted. “In a short period of time, he quickly befriended me & his adventurous spirit was infectious. We worked on just 1 film together but occasionally connected over the years. Kind and generous with advice and support. RIP.”
Hallmark CEO says more Signed, Sealed, Delivered in the works
The CEO of Hallmark Media says the company is working on a return of the hit movie series Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
“We’re pretty excited about that,” she told The Sun during a red carpet interview at a ceremony for the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame.
“I will tell you, the POstables are alive and well,” she said. “They send me notes, they send me pictures, every time I go to my office, they’re there….So, we are really listening to our fans and leaning into the fandom.”
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Signed, Sealed, Delivered premiered on the Hallmark Channel as a television series in 2014. Written by Martha Williamson — who also created the Touched by an Angel series — it starred Valerie Berinelli, Carol Burnett, Della Reese, Marilu Henner, and Valerie Harper.
After a successful first season, the show was changed from a 1-hour episode format to a 2-hour film format. Twelve films were released over the next seven years:
Signed, Sealed, Delivered For Christmas (2014)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: From Paris With Love (2015)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Truth Be Told (2015)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Impossible Dream (2015)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: From the Heart (2016)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: One in a Million (2016)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Lost Without You (2016)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Higher Ground (2017)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Home Again (2017)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Road Less Travelled (2018)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: To the Altar (2018)
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Vows We Have Made (2021)
POstables
The movies follow four employees of the United States Postal Service’s Dead Letter Office. Oliver (played by Eric Mabius), Shane (played by Kristin Booth), Rita (played by Crystal Lowe), and Norman (played by Geoff Gustafson) take it upon themselves to track down intended recipients of undeliverable mail.
The series has developed a loyal following of fans who call themselves POstables.
Canceled series
POstables have been waiting anxiously since 2021 for a new movie in the series. Hallmark has canceled a number of its series in recent years — including Hailey Dean Mysteries, Mystery 101, and Picture Perfect Mysteries — leaving some fans to fear that Signed, Sealed, Delivered was also headed for cancellation.
Hallmark has dropped hints here and there about bringing the series back, but the statements Wonya Lucas made on the red carpet at the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame are the most definitive so far.
We will continue to follow this story and update it as soon as more information becomes available.
Why Skyler Samuels didn’t seek advice from Candace Cameron Bure for her role in new Aurora Teagarden movie
For her new role as Aurora Teagarden, actress Skyler Samuels spent hours studying the Hallmark mysteries starring Candace Cameron Bure.
“I watched a bunch of the original ones and just really studied Aurora and her world and tried to hone in on her traits and characteristics that really made her her,” Samuels said in an interview with TV Insider. “Then from there, I just reverse-engineered who I imagined she might have been when she was in her early to mid-20s, and that’s really where the fun of inventing the younger Aurora came from.”
New Aurora Teagarden movie
Samuels will play the librarian-turned-sleuth in a new Aurora Teagarden movie coming out on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. A prequel to the series that starred Bure, Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New shows a young Aurora, who has just graduated college and moved back in with her mom in the small town of Lawrenceton, Washington.
But instead of seeking out advice from Bure, Samuels relied on co-star Marilu Henner to help her bring the beloved character to life. Henner has portrayed Aida Teagarden, Aurora’s formidable mother, in every one of the mysteries.
“And so she was kind of our encyclopedia for a lack of a better word [for] the world of Aurora and tidbits with that crazy memory of hers,” Samuels said in an interview with Yahoo. “She really was able to fill us in on anything we didn’t know.”
The prequel
Hallmark premiered the first movie in the Aurora Teagarden mystery series in 2015. Based on the books by Charlaine Harris, the series consisted of 18 movies:
Aurora Teagarden Mystery: A Bone to Pick (2015)
Real Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2015)
Three Bedrooms, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2015)
The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2016)
Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2017)
A Bundle of Trouble: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2017)
Last Scene Alive: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2018)
Reap What You Sew: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2018)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: The Disappearing Game (2018)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: A Game of Cat and Mouse (2019)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries:n Inheritance to Die For (2019)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: A Very Foul Play (2019)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Heist and Seek (2020)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Reunited and It Feels So Deadly (2020)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: How to Con a Con (2021)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Til Death Do Us Part (2021)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Honeymoon, Honeymurder (2021)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022)
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New
In the new Aurora Teagarden movie, Skyler Samuels stars as Ro, who has just graduated from college and returned to Lawrenceton. While applying for grad school programs and trying to settle on a thesis, Ro works as a teacher’s assistant in a crime fiction class. She also waits tables at the local diner.
In her free time, she discusses cases with her friend, a local police officer named Arthur (played by Evan Roderick), and helps her friend Sally (played by Kayla Heller) plan her wedding.
But when Sally’s groom fails to show up for the rehearsal dinner, Ro and Arthur set out to find him. They find the groom but also discover a dead body, and Sally’s fiancé becomes the prime suspect in the case.
The new Aurora
In recent interviews, Samuels said she felt a responsibility to the fans of the series to portray Aurora in a way they found familiar.
“It was our goal to make something that felt familiar but also exciting to the old audience,” she told Yahoo.
She also said it was fun to play the character before she had become a skilled detective.
“The one thing that I love watching as an audience member is imperfect people,” Samuels told TV Insider. “It’s just not interesting if people are too put together or too polished. It’s fun to see people be human and a little rough around the edges. When we meet Aurora as an adult, she’s pretty polished and she’s good at solving her mysteries and crimes. She’s in her stride.”
“I thought it would be really fun to just embrace the version of her where she’s not good at this stuff yet. She’s still definitely figuring it out, and you’re watching her stumble into her superpower of being this gumshoe mystery solver and how that love and obsession develops for her.”
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New will premiere on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries on Friday, June 9 at 9/8c.
Popular Hallmark movie franchise moving to Great American Family
The popular Hallmark movie franchise The Christmas Waltz is moving to Great American Family. The network, which was started by former Hallmark CEO Bill Abbott, announced it will produce a second movie in the series, Paris Christmas Waltz.
Filmed on location in Paris, the movie stars Jen Lilley and Matthew Morrison (of Glee fame). It will premiere later this year.
Hallmark movie
The Christmas Waltz premiered on Hallmark during the 2020 Countdown to Christmas lineup. The movie starred Lacey Chabert as Avery, a woman who breaks off her engagement shortly before her storybook Christmas wedding. Though she is devastated, she decides to attend the ballroom dancing lessons she booked to prepare for the reception. Sparks fly between Avery and her handsome instructor (played by Will Kemp). But their relationship is put in danger when Avery’s former fiancé decides he wants her back.
The movie was written by husband-and-wife team Michael and Janeen Damian. Michael Damian, who is best known for his role as Danny Romalotti on The Young and the Restless, has collaborated with his wife on 17 original movies with his wife, including Falling for Christmas and Irish Wish.
Paris Christmas Waltz
In Paris Christmas Waltz, Jen Lilley plays Emma, a woman who gives up her job right before Christmas so a colleague who has a family can keep his.
While she tries to figure out her next step, she meets Leo, a professional dancer (played by Matthew Morrison). When he gets the opportunity to perform in Paris, he invites Emma along for the adventure.
The movie will “sweep viewers into the magic of the city’s most iconic destinations,” according to a press release from Great American Family.
The Great Migration
Bill Abbott left Hallmark in 2020. In June 2021, he announced he had partnered with Dallas-based Hicks Equity Partnership to buy two cable networks in a deal Bloomberg estimated at $90 million.
The networks began airing content in September. Many actors known for their work with Hallmark began appearing in films and programs for Great American Family, including Jen Lilley, Trevor Donovan, Jessica Lowndes, and Danica McKellar.
In April 2022, Candace Cameron Bure made headlines when she announced she would be moving to Great American Family.
“I’m very excited to develop heartwarming family and faith-filled programming and make the kind of stories my family and I love to watch,” Bure said in a statement through the network.
Great American Family has not yet announced a premiere date for Paris Christmas Waltz. We will update this story as more information becomes available.
New Hallmark movie Love is Greek to Me showcases the beauty of Santorini
A new Hallmark movie starring Torrey DeVitto will premiere this weekend. Love is Greek to Me was filmed on location on the island of Santorini.
In an Instagram post from the set, DeVitto told fans how much she enjoyed filming in Greece.
“I cannot say enough wonderful things about this experience and the people I got to work with,” she wrote in the caption. “Can’t wait to share this project with you all! #LoveIsGreekToMe.”
New Hallmark movie
In Love is Greek to Me, DeVitto stars as Ilana, who accompanies her boyfriend, Mike (played by Yannis Tsimitselis), to Greece to attend his sister’s wedding.
To Ilana’s relief, Mike’s large Greek family welcomes her with open arms. Mike then surprises her by proposing at the same lighthouse where his father proposed to his mother.
His well-meaning mother, Athena (played by Marina Sirtis), gets so excited she goes overboard trying to plan the wedding. Ilana becomes overwhelmed by her mother-in-law’s attempts to find the perfect dress and book a church.
Ilana starts to wonder if she and Mike are meant to be together after all.
June Weddings
Love is Greek to Me is one of four new wedding-themed movies to premiere on Hallmark in June. The others include Wedding Season, starring Stephanie Bennett and Casey Deidrick; The Wedding Contract, Becca Tobin and Jake Epstein; Make Me a Match, starring Eva Bourne and Rekha Sharma.
Hallmark recently announced that four new movies will also premiere in July. (For a complete list, click here.)
About the cast
Torrey DeVitto plays Dr. Natalie Manning on the NBC shows Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. She got her start on the series Dawson’s Creek and had parts on Drake and Josh, CSI: Miami, One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, and Army Wives.
She has starred in the Hallmark movies Best Christmas Party Ever (2014), If I Had to Be You (2015), Write Before Christmas (2019), The Christmas Promise (2021), Rip in Time (2022), and Twas the Night Before Christmas (2022).
Yannis Tsimitselis has starred in several television shows in Greece, as well as the movies Bachelor, Bachelor 2, Bachelor 3, and The Black Bachelor.
Love is Greek to Me will premiere on Hallmark Channel on Saturday, June 10 at 8/7c.
Four new Hallmark movies coming to television in July
Four new Hallmark movies will premiere on Hallmark in July. A drama, a romantic comedy, and two Christmas movies will have their debut, as Hallmark airs its annual Christmas in July lineup.
Katie Cassidy, who co-stars in A Royal Christmas Crush with Stephen Huszar, shared a photo from the set of the movie on Instagram.
“#PrinceCharming,” Cassidy wrote in the caption of the pic, which showed her kissing Stephen Huszar on the cheek.
New Hallmark movies
In A Royal Christmas Crush, Katie Cassidy plays a woman who gets the opportunity of a lifetime to work in an ice hotel. Her new job leads to a surprise whirlwind romance with the most important guest of all, the Royal Prince (played by Huszar).
Next up is The Christmas Reboot, starring Vanessa Lengies and Corey Sevier. Lengies plays a woman whose Christmas wish comes true. She gets the life she always dreamed of except for one small thing: she is no longer married.
Andrea Brooks will star in the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries drama A Lifelong Love. The When Calls the Heart star plays a woman who is trying to reunite her grandfather with his long-lost love. She teams up with her college friend (played by Patch May) to create a book about the experience.
Finally, Taylor Cole and Kanoa Goo will star in Aloha Heart. Cole plays a conservationist who travels to Hawaii for her friend’s destination wedding. While staying at a boutique hotel, she gets to know the owner (played by Goo). He is trying to make his business more competitive but resists her efforts to help. When he finally agrees to follow her advice, he realizes he has romantic feelings for her.
Christmas in July
Hallmark recently released a trailer for its Christmas in July lineup. During the programming event, which got its start in 2012, Hallmark will air Christmas-themed movies including Three Wise Men and a Baby, Haul Out the Holly, and We Wish You a Married Christmas.
Schedule:
A Royal Christmas Crush will premiere on Hallmark Channel on Saturday, July 8 at 8/7c.
The Christmas Reboot will premiere on Hallmark Channel on Saturday, July 15 at 8/7c.
A Lifelong Love will premiere on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries on Friday, July 21 at 9/8c.
Aloha Heart will premiere on Hallmark Channel on Saturday, July 29 at 8/7c.
Two friends pair up to survive wedding season in new Hallmark movie
Stephanie Bennett and Casey Diedrick play friends who pair up to get through wedding season in a new Hallmark movie premiering this weekend.
In Wedding Season, Bennett plays Trish, a single woman who keeps insisting she doesn’t need a wingman for the upcoming weddings of her three best friends.
She eventually agrees to accept help from her best friend, whose brother Ryan (played by Diedrick), is back in town. Trish and Ryan have a romantic history making their simple arrangement a little more complicated.
New Hallmark movie
In the movie, Trish is preparing to write a magazine article about how weddings impact friendships. She agrees to take her best friend’s brother as her date to the weddings.
As she spends time with Ryan, she realizes she may still have feelings for him. Before she can tell him, Ryan gets an opportunity of a lifetime and needs to leave town.
“With everything at stake and emotions running high, the friends take a hard look at what their priorities are and realize that true love is worth fighting for,” reads a synopsis from Hallmark.
June Weddings
Wedding Season is one of four wedding-themed movies premiering on Hallmark in June. Also premiering are:
Love’s Greek to Me, starring Torrey DeVitto as Ilana, who is asked to be the maid of honor at the wedding of her Greek boyfriend’s sister in Santorini. To her surprise, her boyfriend (played by Giannis Tsmitselis) proposes and she is left dealing with his over-enthusiastic mother, Athena (played by Marina Sirtis).
The Wedding Contract, starring Becca Tobin and Jake Epstein as a couple planning their wedding. Their big day and their future are put in jeopardy when Adam (Epstein) lands a new ad campaign, and their mothers meet for the first time.
Make Me a Match, starring Eva Bourne (who played Clara on When Calls the Heart) as Vivi, a woman with a substandard romantic history who works at a data-driven matchmaking app. Once she discovers that the success rate for matches at her company is low, she hires Raina (played by Rekha Sharma), an Indian matchmaker, to provide advice on how to improve their numbers.
About the cast
Stephanie Bennett has appeared on the television shows iZombie, UnREAL, Supernatural, Lucifer, and Shadowhunters.
She has starred in the Hallmark movies The Nine Lives of Christmas (2014), Valentine in the Vineyard (2019), Lonestar Christmas (2020), The Nine Kittens of Christmas (2021), and Christmas Class Reunion. She also appeared in the 2014 episode of Signed, Sealed, Delivered titled “Dark of Night.”
Casey Diedrick starred opposite Emily Osment in the 2021 Countdown to Christmas movie A Very Merry Bridesmaid. He has also appeared in the TV shows In the Dark, Driven, and Now Apocalypse.
Wedding Season will premiere on Hallmark Channel on Saturday, June 3 at 8/7c.