Halloween is more than a week away, but Hallmark Channel has already decked itself with fake snow and cheesy romance as its Christmas season kicks off on Friday.
And it’s not just a little Christmas thrown into the network’s usual mix of “Golden Girls” reruns and original series.
The network is going jingle all the way, with its 24-hour slate of holiday-themed programming including 41 new original films on both Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
The first, “You, Me & The Christmas Trees” starring Danica McKellar, Benjamin Ayres and Jason Hervey, airs on Friday. McKellar plays Olivia, a Christmas tree expert trying to save a 100-year-old Christmas tree farm where the trees are dying.
It’s possible she may fall in love with the farmer. Who can say for sure?
On Sunday, police detectives Tamera Mowry-Housley and Paul Campbell team up to solve a string of holiday heists in “The Santa Stakeout,” which also stars Joe Pantoliano.
And on Oct. 31, the network will air “Christmas Sail,” featuring a cast made for a comic con panel: Katee Sackhoff, fresh off her role as Bo-Katan in “The Mandalorian,” along with Patrick Sabongui of “The Flash” and Terry O’Quinn of “Lost.”
Expect plenty of other holiday tropes, such as a plot centered on a bakery that specializes in gingerbread cookies (“Gingerbread Miracle” starring Merritt Patterson and Jon Ecker, Nov. 5); a 100-year-old time capsule (“A Christmas Treasure” starring Jordin Sparks, Michael Xavier, Nov. 7); and a home decoration contest (“The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls,” starring Robert Buckley, Ana Ayora, Jonathan Bennett, Dec. 18).
Hallmark Channel regulars Lacey Chabert (“Christmas at Castle Hart,” Nov. 27) and Candace Cameron Bure (“The Christmas Contest,” Nov. 28) will also turn up.
You knew they would.
Visit the Countdown to Christmas website for the full list of this year’s offerings and their premiere dates, or download the print-at-home guide.