Christmastime has arrived (on television)
It’s just three days until Halloween, so, naturally, TV’s already begun counting down till Christmas.
Nonstop Christmas content began Friday on the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mystery. And Hallmark’s first new Christmas movie premieres Saturday at 7 p.m.: “Marry Me at Christmas” with Rachel Skarsten and Trevor Donovan.
Expect a record 33 new Christmas movies on the Hallmarks this season — 21 premieres for Hallmark, with another 12 on HMM. Hallmark debuts more titles every weekend through Christmas, with five straight nights of new over the Thanksgiving holiday. (There’s a schedule online:
Freeform also goes big for Christmas, but that channel at least finishes its traditional 13 Nights of Halloween first. Its Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas doesn’t start until Nov. 18 (see for details).
Lifetime loves the season, too, but its first new Christmas films wait to premiere Thanksgiving weekend, when Melissa Joan Hart stars Nov. 26 with her “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” aunt Beth Broderick and Mario Lopez in “A Very Merry Toy Store.”
Beyond original films, you’ll find familiar movies like “Black Christmas” and “Almost Christmas” running already in premium cable rotation. BET airs “This Christmas” Monday at 9 p.m. and Tuesday at 5 p.m., while TV One has it Wednesday at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.