Good With fans, this is not a drill. Four cast members from Hallmark’s hit series Good Witch will reunite at the upcoming Christmas Con in New Jersey. That’s 4 Entertainment, the company that organizes the event, revealed in a social media post that Catherine Bell, James Denton, Catherine Disher, and Sarah Power will make an […]
Sequels, reunions, and a cameo by Kevin from The Office: Everything You Need to Know about this year’s Hallmark Christmas movie lineup
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Brendan Penny and Stacey Farber connect in new Hallmark movie
Brendan Penny and Stacey Farber play single parents brought together by their adopted children in the new Hallmark movie A Season for Family. The film will premiere on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries as part of its Miracles of Christmas lineup. New Hallmark movie In A Season for Family, Stacey Farber stars as Maddy, a successful […]
Marcus Rosner and Ashley Newbrough are ‘Flipping for Christmas’ in new Hallmark movie
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UPtv’s Christmas schedule includes 8 new movies
UPtv has announced its Christmas lineup, which includes 8 new movies and 45 days of holiday programming. The films will include a musical featuring Gaither, as well as rom-coms starring Jessica Sipos, Franco Lo Presti, Peter Porte, Colin Mochrie, Mary Antonini, and Enrico Colantoni. New movies Up first is We’re Scrooged, starring Tamara Duarte and […]
Hallmark and Air Force team up on new movie
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A sequel, a series, and a film set in Scotland: Everything we know so far about Hallmark’s Christmas lineup
Summer may be in full swing but Hallmark Media has already started stockpiling material for its 2023 Christmas lineup. Brennan Elliott, Lacey Chabert, Kevin McGarry, Tyler Hynes, Janel Parrish, and Erica Durance are among the stars who have filmed movies for the upcoming holiday season. Hallmark will also release an 8-episode series about Christmas starring […]
Hallmark releases preview of 2023 Christmas in July lineup
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Tamera Mowry-Housley stars in new Hallmark movie Dream Moms
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Movie star. Screenwriter. Podcast host. Carpenter? Seven fascinating things you need to know about Hallmark legend Paul Campbell
Paul Campbell has been entertaining Hallmark audiences for years, starring in more than a dozen movies for the network. In 2022 he headlined Dating the Delaneys with Rachel Boston and Three Wise Men and a Baby with Andrew Walker and Tyler Hynes. But the Canadian actor is more than just a handsome face. Here are […]
Actor Dave Coulier set off a frenzy among fans when he would do another Full House revival “in a heartbeat.”
“Yeah, Fullest House, right?” he said during an appearance on the Tamaron Hall Show. “We talk all the time [about] how much we would love to do a show again. We just love working and we love our fans so much and we love the whole process.”
Another Full House revival
The series, which aired from 1987 to 1995 on ABC, has already had one revival. In 2016, Netflix debuted Fuller House, which ran for four seasons.
Both shows were recently picked up by GAC Family, a new network started by former Hallmark CEO Bill Abbott.
Candace Cameron Bure, who made headlines when she announced she would be starring in and producing material for GAC Family, has already begun promoting the shows on her Instagram.
“Oh. My. Lanta- your weeks just got FULLER!!” she wrote. “Full House AND Fuller House are now playing on @gactv.”
Missing Bob Saget
Coulier said the cast continues to grieve the loss of castmate Bob Saget, who passed away on January 9. In an interview with People magazine, he said he and the other members of the cast supported each other in the aftermath of his death.
“We pull together as a family during moments like this,” he said. “We’ve pretty much experienced everything that a real family can experience. Getting picked up, getting canceled, marriages, divorces, births, deaths. I mean, it’s pretty much what every family goes through. And we’ve stuck together through all of it.”
Full House and Fuller House
Full House premiered on September 22, 1987. It followed a widowed father (played by the late Bob Saget) of three little girls who invites his brother-in-law (John Stamos) and best friend (Dave Coulier) to move in and help him raise his daughters.
The show ran for eight seasons and launched the careers of both the adults on the series, and the children, who were played by Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.
In 2016, Netflix announced it was producing a revival of the series. Fuller House premiered on February 26, 2016. It featured Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, and Andrea Barber living in the family home and raising Bure’s three sons.
A second season premiered on December 9, 2016. Two more seasons followed, and the series finished up in 2020.
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What is GAC Family?
Hallmark star Candace Cameron Bure made headlines when she announced she was leaving the network to work with GAC Family. The actress has signed a contract to produce and star in content for the network, which is run by former Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott.
While the move had lots of people talking, some had only one question: What is GAC Family, anyway?
GAC Family was launched in June 2021 by Abbott, who had previously led programming at Hallmark Channel’s parent company, Crown Media. In a deal Bloomberg valued at $90 million, Abbott worked with Dallas-based Hicks Equity Partners to buy two cable networks.
The networks, GAC Family and GAC Living, began airing content in September 2021. GAC Family premiered a slew of original movies in time for the holidays and is already working on more for the 2022 holiday season.
Who else is working with GAC Family?
Candace Cameron Bure joined Hallmark veterans Danica McKellar, Jessica Lowndes, and Jen Lilley in signing an exclusive contract with the network. Other Hallmark stars have also made movies for GAC Family, including Trevor Donovan, Brendan Fehr, Jennie Garth, Maggie Lawson, Sarah Lind, Daniel Lissing, M Chad Michael Murray, Sam Page, Merritt Patterson, Becca Tobin, Jill Wagner, and Dewshane Williams.
Who is Bill Abbott?
A native of Long Island, Abbott started his career in advertising after earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the College of the Holy Cross. He quickly became interested in television ratings and programming and moved on to work as a manager representing television stations around the country.
“I learned so much about what works, what doesn’t, what programming resonates,” he said in an appearance on the Up Next with John Contratti podcast.
He spent 20 years at Crown Media producing original content for Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama. He left the network in early 2020.
On Contratti’s podcast, Abbott said that a quantity over quality mentality had taken hold at too many networks. His plan with GAC Media is to provide family-friendly content for viewers.
“There’s so much need for family content in the market and in this space,” he said. “You know, it’s pretty scary, quite frankly, the amount of content that’s out there…the vast majority of content that’s salacious and just is not appropriate for any member of the family.”
What’s on GAC Family and GAC Living?
In addition to movies, GAC Family has been showing reruns of I Dream of Jeannie, Full House, Fuller House, Who’s the Boss, and Bewitched.
GAC Living has been airing episodes of Hazel, Father Knows Best, Aloha Builds, First Time Flippers, Going RV, Growing Up Gator, Seaside Snacks and Shacks, Kimberly’s Southern Kitchen, Southern Fried Everything, Mountain Mamas, and Tiny House, Big Living.
Where can I find GAC Family?
We have a breakdown here of which cable companies have it. Where possible, we have included the channel numbers. Since channel numbers vary by region on some cable providers, we have included links to their websites where you can access the channel numbers for your area.
No cable? No problem. GAC Family is available to stream on the following subscription services:
Cable providers:
Cox: Click this link to find the GAC Family channel in your area.
DirectTV: Channel 326
Dish: Channel 165
Frontier: Click this link to find the GAC Family channel in your area.
Mediacom: Click this link to find the GAC Family channel in your area.
Optimum: Click this link to find the GAC Family channel in your area.
Spectrum: Click this link to find the GAC Family channel in your area.
U-verse: Channel 1529
Xfinity: Channel 1620
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Candace Cameron Bure is moving to GAC Family
Candace Cameron Bure is moving to GAC Family. The Hallmark veteran will produce and star in content for the new network, which was started by former Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott in 2021.
“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.
Bure joins other Hallmark favorites Danica McKellar and Jen Lilley, who have signed exclusive contracts to produce and star in content for the network, which began programing in September.
“Candace is adored by generations of fans as one of family entertainment’s most cherished and relatable stars,” said Abbott, president & CEO of GAC Media. “She has helped build this genre into the mainstream success it is today, and I look forward to working together at GAC Media as we further establish our brands as leaders in quality family programming. I am truly honored that she has chosen to be a part of and help curate her special brand of family entertainment here at Great American Channels.”
Abbott made headlines in June 2021 when he announced he had partnered with Dallas-based Hicks Equity Partners to purchase two networks in a deal Bloomberg estimated at $90 million.
Hallmark vs. GAC
Hallmark has been signing deals left and right with its actors. Lacey Chabert, Brennan Elliott, and Holly Robinson Peete are among the stars who have agreed to work exclusively with Crown Media in the coming years.
But many of its actors have already started working with GAC Family. Trevor Donovan, Brendan Fehr, Jennie Garth, Maggie Lawson, Sarah Lind, Daniel Lissing, M Chad Michael Murray, Sam Page, Merritt Patterson, Becca Tobin, Jill Wagner, and Dewshane Williams have appeared in movies with the new network.
Aurora Teagarden
The former star of Full House has appeared in more than two dozen movies for Hallmark. Her latest, Aurora Teagarden: Haunted By Murder, premiered on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries in February.
In addition to starring new content for GAC Family, Bure’s Candy Rock Entertainment production company will oversee and curate programming from GAC and create year-round seasonal celebration content.
“I am constantly looking for ways that I can inspire people to live life with purpose,” Bure said. “GAC fits my brand perfectly; we share a vision of creating compelling wholesome content for an audience who wants to watch programming for and with the whole family. Great, quality entertainment with a positive message is what my partnership with GAC is all about!”
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New Christmas movies coming to CBS in 2022
New Christmas movies coming to CBS in 2022 promise to bring a touch of Hallmark to the network. CBS has announced the production of three Christmas-themed films, two of which are being produced by a company that does extensive work with Hallmark Channel.
Until last year, CBS limited its holiday programming to the children’s classics “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman.” But in December 2021, the network released the original movies “Christmas Takes Flight” and “A Christmas Proposal.”
CBS is one of several networks and streaming platforms cashing in on Hallmark Channel’s winning holiday movie formula. In 2021, Netflix added 12 holiday romantic comedies to its lineup, including A Castle for Christmas, starring Brooke Shields and Cary Elwes.
Hallmark ratings sweep
Hallmark, which is famous for producing dozens of romantic comedies throughout the year, had a ratings sweep last holiday season with its Countdown to Christmas and Miracles of Christmas programming.
According to Nielsen ratings, more than 2 million viewers tuned in to watch the new holiday movies premiering every weekend from late October to late December. During the opening weekend of Countdown to Christmas, Hallmark beat out all four major networks for the 8-10 p.m. Saturday time slot among women ages 18-54.
New Christmas Movies coming to CBS
Sheryl Crow will write music for the first of the three movies, which is titled When Christmas Was Young. Written by bestselling novelist Robert Tate Miller (Hope at Christmas, Forever Christmas), the movie follows a music manager desperate to find a hit for one of his clients. When he meets and falls for a singer-songwriter who gave up on making it big years before, he tries to secure the rights to a Christmas song she wrote.
Dance and fitness guru Amanda Kloots will star in Fit For Christmas, a movie that takes place in the Christmas-obsessed town of Mistletoe, Montana. According to a description from the network, Kloots plays a fitness instructor at the local community center who meets and falls for a businessman, only to find out he wants to tear down the center to build a resort. The movie is being produced by Brad Kevoy’s Motion Picture Corporation of America, a company that has produced Christmas movies for Hallmark, Netflix, and GAC Family, the new network started by former Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott.
Motion Picture Corporation of America is also producing Must Love Christmas, the third movie on the CBS holiday roster. In the film, an author known for her Christmas-themed novels becomes stranded in a small town. She finds herself in a love triangle with a childhood friend and a local reporter.
CBS has not yet given a release date for the films.
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What is on GAC Living?
What is on GAC Living? The network premiered in September, one of two new channels launched by former Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott.
The two networks aim to deliver “sage and entertaining storytelling that enriches lives,” Abbott said.
What is on GAC Living?
GAC Living will focus on unscripted lifestyle content and follow the tagline “Life Well Lived.”
The channel has several series on currently, with plans to bring on more.
What is on GAC Living: The current lineup
Hazel
Shirley Booth starred in this classic sitcom as Hazel Burke, a no-nonsense housekeeper with a talent for managing the family she works for. The series ran from 1961 to 1966 and co-starred Don DeFore, Bobby Buntrock, Maudie Prickett, Whitney Blake, Ray Fulmer, and Julia Benjamin.
Fun fact: the series was originally sponsored by Ford Motor Company. The family all drove Fords, and in 1964, the Ford Mustang made its first appearance on TV.
Father Knows Best
Originally a radio series, Father Knows Best premiered as a TV show on CBS in 1954. The network canceled it after one season, but NBC picked it up and ran it for three more seasons. CBS got the show back and ran it from 1958 to 1960.
The series starred Robert Young and Jane Wyatt as Jim and Margaret Anderson, a midwestern couple with three children: Betty (Elinor Donahue), Bud (Billy Gray), and Kathy (Lauren Chapin).
First Time Flippers
Newbies try their hand at flipping houses with the guidance of professionals.
Aloha Builds
Aloha Builds follows brother-and-wiser duo David and Michelle Jaime as they remodel homes in their home state of Hawaii.
Going RV
Families looking to take to the open road going shopping for their new home on wheels.
Tiny House, Big Living
Families work with tiny house builders to come up with their dream homes.
Growing Up Gator
This reality series follows sisters Britney, Kasey, and Chelsea Brooks, who work for their family’s alligator farm in Christmas, Florida. In addition to caring for the 7,000 animals on their farm and go out to rescue stranded alligators.
Seaside Snacks and Shacks
Sabin Lomac, the co-owner of Cousins Maine Lobster, travels the coastal areas of the US to find the best local seafood dishes.
Kimberly’s Southern Kitchen
On this series, musician Kimberly Schlapman cooks up some of her favorite southern recipes.
Southern Barbecued Everything
The hosts of this show travel the country looking for the best southern barbecue.
Southern Fried Everything
This show explores America’s fascination with everything deep-fried.
Mountain Mamas
Two women help buyers find reasonably priced homes in Montana and fix them up.
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Production starts next week on the GAC Family 2022 Christmas movie Catering Christmas. It is the first of several movies that that will be produced by the network, which will started by former Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott.
Catering Christmas stars Merritt Patterson and Daniel Lissing. According to a synopsis from the GAC Family, Merritt plays Molly Frost, who is struggling to make a go of her new catering business when she unexpectedly lands New Hampshire’s biggest event of the year, the Harrison Foundation Christmas Fundraiser.
Though she is more than ready to take on the challenge, she runs into problems when it comes time to meet with the man who has been appointed to run the event. Carson Jacob Harrison (Lissing) is the reluctant heir to the Harrison Foundation. However, he has no interest in the foundation. Instead, he spends his time traveling the world taking photographs.
His aunt puts him in charge of the Christmas fundraiser, hoping he will start taking his duties as heir more seriously.
At first, Molly struggles to get Harrison interested in the event. But when she shows him all the good the foundation has done for the town — and for her, personally — he changes his mind, and the two begin working on a history of the foundation.
Merritt Patterson
A native of Whistler, Vancouver, Patterson landed her first TV role on the series Kyle XY at the age of 15. She went on to have parts in Supernatural, Ravenswood, and The Royals.
Patterson starred in several movies for Hallmark, including A Royal Winter, The Christmas Cottage, and Picture a Perfect Christmas.
In 2021, she starred in Jingle Bell Princess, one of 12 original movies produced for GAC Family.
Daniel Lissing
Daniel Lissing began his career in his native Australia on the TV series Pizza. He went on to have roles in Home and Away, Out of the Blue, and Packed to the Rafters.
His breakout role in the States was on Hallmark’s When Calls the Heart, on which he played Mountie Jack Thornton for five seasons. He has also had roles on Girlfirends Guide to Divorce, S.W.A.T., and The Rookie. He has starred in the Hallmark movies The December Bride and Christmas in Love.
In 2021, he starred the original movie The Christmas Star for GAC Family.
GAC Family 2022 Christmas movie
The executive producers of the movie include Brad Krevoy and Amanda Philips, who both worked on the Hallmark series When Calls the Heart. Other executive producers include Eric Jarboe, Amy Krell, Vince Balzano, Jimmy Townsend, Suzie Belzberg Krevoy, and TW Peacocke, all of whom have worked on series for Crown Media. Peacocke will direct from an original screenplay by Cara J. Russell.
No release date has been given yet for Catering Christmas.
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GAC Media CEO: Too much of today's TV content salacious
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The former CEO of Crown Media said that too much of today’s TV content is salacious. Bill Abbott said that a “quantity over quality” philosophy has taken over at some networks.
In an appearance on the Up Next with John Contratti podcast, Bill Abbott talked about his two new networks, GAC Family and GAC Living, and his attempt to expand the realm of family-friendly programming on television.
“Not all rom-coms are created equal,” Abbott said. “Just because someone makes a rom-com doesn’t mean that it has a lot of heart and emotion.”
In the interview, Abbott mentioned his 20-year tenure at Crown Media, the company that owns Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. He did not elaborate on why he chose to leave the company in early 2020. He did say he hopes to make his two new networks a home for quality family-friendly television.
Too much of today’s TV content is salacious
“There’s so much need for family content in the market and in this space,” he said. “You know, it’s pretty scary, quite frankly, the amount of content that’s out there…the vast majority of content that’s salacious and just is not appropriate for any member of the family.”
A native of Long Island, Abbott started his career in advertising after earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature from College of the Holy Cross. He quickly became interested in television ratings and programming and moved on to work as a manager representing television stations around the country.
“I learned so much about what works, what doesn’t, what programming resonates,” he said.
At Crown Media, he helped produce both shows and movies, something he hopes to do with GAC Media.
Abbott made headlines in June 2021 when he announced he had partnered with Dallas-based Hicks Equity Partners to purchase two networks in a deal Bloomberg estimated at $90 million.
Programming began in September 2021 on both networks, and GAC Family aired 12 original movies by the end of December. So far this year, the network has released The Winter Palace and Harmony From the Heart, and Abbott mentioned he was scouting locations in Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Texas for more productions.
What’s on at GAC
In addition to movies, GAC Family has been showing reruns of I Dream of Jeannie, Full House, Fuller House, Who’s the Boss, and Bewitched. GAC Living has been showing old HGTV content, but the network will ultimately produce its own lifestyle and cooking programs.
Abbott said he is interested first and foremost in giving people a place to go for simple, feel-good programming.
“You get home from work, the last thing a lot of people want to do is have, you know, more problem or see situations…that make them uncomfortable,” he said. “So we just want to be that lean-back experience in the linear space that you can count on, and you know what you’re going to get when you turn on our network.”
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