Countdown to Christmas is Underway on Hallmark Channel
Hallmark's annual Countdown to Christmas has begun. Here's a look at every movie premiering this holiday season.
In terms of measuring time until the holiday, Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas isn’t particularly useful. As a measure of holiday enthusiasm, it still wears the crown.
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With 32 new original movies premiering between Friday, Oct. 18 and Saturday, Dec. 21, Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas remains the gold standard in warm and fuzzy holiday movies. In addition to the slate of new movies, Hallmark+ (available as an add-on for $6 per month) will premiere a new reality competition, Finding Mr. Christmas, in which 10 men will compete in a variety of challenges to land a starring role in this year’s final Countdown to Christmas movie, Happy Howlidays, which airs Dec. 21 at 8pm ET.
Here’s a brief look at all of the movies premiering during Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas 2024. To get Hallmark Channel and watch even more holiday content on Hallmark Mystery (which will have nine new premieres) and Hallmark Family, use the link at the bottom of this page and add the Lifestyle Extra Pack to your subscription to Sling Orange or Blue.
All movies premiere at 8pm ET unless otherwise noted. All descriptions via Hallmark.
‘Twas the Date Before Christmas
Premiere: Friday, October 18
Stars: Robert Buckley, Amy Groening
Description: To prevent her family from canceling the ‘Chamberlain Family Christmas Olympics,’ Jessie lies and says she’s inviting a date to the long-standing holiday tradition. She meets Bryan on a dating app, and he agrees to spend the holiday with her and her family.
Holiday Crashers
Premiere: Saturday, October 19
Stars: Lyndsy Fonseca, Daniella Monet, Chris McNally, Jag Bal
Description: Best friends who work at a card shop “decide to shake up their humdrum world by creating new identities to crash the amazing Christmas parties from the shop’s confidential invitations.” Soon, their lies catch up to them as they’re “whisked away to a fancy corporate Christmas retreat in the snowy Vermont mountains.
Scouting for Christmas
Premiere: Sunday, October 20
Stars: Tamera Mowry-Housley, Carlo Marks, Marci T. House
Description: Relator Angela has been happily raising a 10-year-old daughter ever since her amicable divorce. Although she doesn’t have time for dating, her daughter asks the owner of her favorite bakery to help her mom cater her scout troop’s holiday event — and sparks fly!
Operation Nutcracker
Premiere: Friday, October 25
Stars: Ashley Newbrough, Christopher Russell
Description: When an antique nutcracker set to be auctioned at the Warby family Christmas charity goes missing, a demanding event planner (Newbrough) and the heir to the Warby dynasty (Russell) try to track it down.
The Christmas Charade
Premiere: Saturday, October 26
Stars: Rachel Skarsten, Corey Sevier
Description: A cautious librarian raised by home security experts finds herself in a real-life adventure when a blind date mix-up leads her into an undercover FBI operation. Forced to pose as the girlfriend of Special Agent Josh, she helps him track down an art thief targeting the Saint Nicholas Ruby at a Christmas Eve charity ball.
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The 5-Year Christmas Party
Premiere: Sunday, October 27
Stars: Katie Findlay, Jordan Fisher
Description: Each holiday season for five years, former high school theater rivals Alice and Max reunite in Chicago to work at a catering company’s Christmas parties. “While their undeniable chemistry grows, the timing is never right for romance – until the company’s final season pushes them to confront their true feelings. As they say goodbye to the job that brought them together, they might finally find love in the most unexpected way.
A Carol for Two
Premiere: Friday, November 1
Stars: Ginna Claire Mason, Jordan Litz, Charlotte D’amboise
Description: With a big dream of working on Broadway, Violette Wagner moves to New York and gets a job at a legendary diner, Fiore’s. After landing a job at the diner’s annual Christmas Eve concert, her opportunity isn’t at all what she expects.
Our Holiday Story
Premiere: Saturday, November 2
Stars: Nikki DeLoach, Warren Christie
Description: As Dave and Nell recount their love story to their daughter’s boyfriend Chris, we follow them through one special Christmas where fate routinely brought them together – and kept them apart. But as Dave and Nell tried to find one another, they were oblivious to the fact that they were work nemeses paired together to throw a Christmas festival for their town. Meanwhile, in the present, Chris struggles with relationship issues of his own as he attempts to say “I love you” for the first time to his girlfriend Jo. As our two couples and storylines intersect, lessons are taught and learned about communication, honesty and the capacity for change – in ourselves and in others.
Holiday Mismatch
Premiere: Sunday, November 3
Stars: Caroline Rhea, Beth Broderick
Description: Best known as the aunts on “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” Rhea and Broderick portray women who clash at a Christmas committee meeting and find out they’ve “accidentally set up their adult children via a dating app.” As their kids fall for each other, the mothers find an unexpected friendship.
Trivia at St. Nick’s
Premiere: Friday, November 8
Stars: Tammin Sursok, Brant Daugherty
Description: When students all flee an elite university in Vermont for winter break, the locals and faculty hunker down for their favorite time of year – the annual Christmas Bar Trivia Tournament.” Due to a last-minute change-up, an astronomy professor and a football coach much endure the ultimate holiday scavenger hunt on campus.
Santa Tell Me
Premiere: Saturday, November 9
Stars: Erin Krakow, Daniel Lissing, Benjamin Ayres, Christopher Russell, Kurt Szarka
Description: When Olivia, a successful interior designer, finds an old letter from Santa promising she’ll meet the love of her life by Christmas Eve — and that his name will be Nick — she’s stunned to meet not one, but three guys named Nick.” In addition to navigating three holiday romances, she finds herself drawn to a coworker.
Tis the Season to Be Irish
Premiere: Sunday, November 10
Stars: Fiona Gubelmann, Eoin Macken
Description: A house flipper heads to Ireland to renovate and sell a cottage, but her plans change when she meets a local realtor determined to preserve his town’s heritage.
Christmas with the Singhs
Premiere: Friday, November 15
Stars: Anuja Joshi, Ben Hollingsworth
Description: For Asha Singh, Christmas is the most important time of the year. But when she’s stuck working at the hospital during the holidays, she wishes for some much-needed Christmas magic. Enter Jake, her former high school classmate, who unexpectedly reappears in her life. After a magical year together, Jake proposes. But their first Christmas as an engaged couple isn’t exactly the fairytale they imagined. When they head home for the holidays, they quickly discover their picture-perfect romance is about to get a serious reality check.
Jingle Bell Run
Premiere: Saturday, November 16
Stars: Ashley Williams, Andrew Walker
Description: An unadventurous school teacher gets signed up for a Christmas-themed reality competition show where she’s paired with former hockey player Wes.
Confessions of a Christmas Letter
Premiere: Sunday, November 17
Stars: Angela Kinsey, Alec Santos, cameo by Brian Baumgartner
Description: When “quirky family matriarch” Settie Rose enlists struggling novelist Juan to help her in the town’s annual holiday letter-writing contest, a mixup leads to the rumor that Juan is engaged to Settie’s daughter Lily.
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Christmas on Call
Premiere: Friday, November 22
Stars: Sara Canning, Ser’Darius Blain, cameo by Donna Kelce
Description: ER doctor Hannah Michaels and EMT Wes Sullivan work on balancing their relationship and demanding jobs ahead of the holidays in Philadelphia. They spend time together as Wes helps her become more acquainted with the sights, sounds and tastes of Philadelphia, it’s clear that they’re starting to fall for each other. As the local First Responders balance duty with holiday celebrations, they come together to face challenges, support each other, and find moments of joy.
Three Wiser Men and a Boy
Premiere: Saturday, November 23
Stars: Paul Campbell, Tyler Hynes, Andrew Walker, Margaret Colin
Description: The story begins five years later with the Brenner brothers preparing for another memorable Christmas. In a crazy turn of events, possibly brought on accidently by the brothers themselves, the director of Luke’s son Thomas’ school holiday musical steps down. Luke is desperate to make his son’s stage dreams come true, so he enlists the help of his brothers Taylor and Stephan. Meanwhile, the trio navigates meeting their mom Barbara’s new boyfriend.
To Have and To Holiday
Premiere: Sunday, November 24
Stars: Madeleine Arthur, Robert Bazzocchi, Eric Close
Description: When Celeste gets engaged to Jason after just a few months of dating, her father and the couple’s would be officiant, Pastor Mark, insists on putting them through a prewedding ‘boot camp’ filled with Christmas-themed challenges.
Debbie Macomber’s Joyful Mrs. Miracle
Premiere: Thursday, November 28
Stars: Rachel Boston, Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes, Tanner Novlan, Matthew James Dowden, Max Lloyd-Jones
Description: Three adult siblings return to their childhood home at Christmas to honor their late grandmother’s wishes and try to agree on new leadership for the family’s company. Enter Annie Merkel – also known as Mrs. Miracle – who poses as an estate planner and uses her special brand of Christmas magic to help the family find common ground and rekindle their bonds.
A 90s Christmas
Premiere: Friday, November 29, 6pm ET
Stars: Eva Bourne, Chandler Massey, Katherine Barrell
Description: While celebrating her promotion alone on Christmas Eve, a workaholic lawyer is transported back to 1999 via a mysterious rideshare experience.
Deck the Walls
Premiere: Friday, November 29
Stars: Ashley Greene, Wes Brown, Danny Pellegrino
Description: Chicago interior designer Rose returns to her hometown to help her brother with a charity house flip.
Believe in Christmas
Premiere: Saturday, November 30, 6pm ET
Stars: Meghan Ory, John Reardon
Description: Although skeptical of holiday magic, Beatrice reluctantly joins her best friend on a trip to Christmasland, where she meets a charming stranger named Ethan. Soon, she begins to question what’s real and what’s part of the experience.
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Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story
Premiere: Saturday, November 30
Stars: Hunter King, Tyler Hynes, Ed Begley Jr., Richard Riehle, Diedrich Bader, Christine Ebersole, Megyn Price; cameos by Donna Kelce, Jenna Bush Hager, Coach Andy Reid; and players Trey Smith, Mecole Hardman Jr., Clyde Edwards-Helaire and George Karlaftis
Description: Alana Higman is sure that her family’s lifelong history as Kansas City Chiefs superfans makes them a frontrunner to win the team’s ‘Fan of the Year’ contest. Derrick, Director of Fan Engagement, is tasked with evaluating how Alana and her family stack up against the other two finalists. As the pair spends time together, it’s clear there’s a spark between them but when her grandfather’s vintage Chiefs good-luck winter hat goes missing, Alana begins to doubt everything she believed about fate, destiny and even questions her future with Derrick – unless, that is, a little Christmas magic can throw a Hail Mary.
The Finnish Line
Premiere: Sunday, December 1, 6pm ET
Stars: Kim Matula, Beau Mirchoff, Nichole Sakura
Description: Inspired by her father’s acclaimed legacy in dog sled racing, Anya follows in her dad’s legacy in dog sled racing, heading to Finland after his death to take part in the 40th annual Joulurauha race.
The Christmas Quest
Premiere: Sunday, December 1
Stars: Lacey Chabert, Kristoffer Polaha
Description: An archeologist and her ex-husband, an expert in ancient Norse languages, are sent to Iceland at Christmas time to search for the legendary treasure of the Yule Lads. When others join in the hunt, the pair find themselves swept into a thrilling adventure as they race to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.
Season’s Greetings from Cherry Lane
Premiere: Thursday, December 5
Stars: Jonathan Bennett, Annabelle Bourke, Corey Cott, Sarah Dugdale, Shannon Kook, Vincent Rodriguez III
Description: In 1951, a doctor wants to make the holiday special for his worried wife before he is shipped out to serve in Korea, but when she suffers a minor fracture to her arm his carefully planned out Christmas Eve plans are upended. In 2003, a newly married couple who are always in agreement about everything hosts two sets of in-laws for Christmas Eve for the first time and find that they may not have had as much in common as they thought they did. And in 2024, a couple tries to arrange special Christmas surprises for each other but keeping them a secret may be harder than they thought.
Private Princess Christmas
Premiere: Friday, December 6
Stars: Ali Skovbye, Derek Klena, Erica Durance
Description: Vi, better known as Princess Violet of Wingravia, adores the privileges of being a royal, if none of the responsibilities. After being disappointed by Vi one time too many, the Queen decides to test her daughter’s mettle once and for all and issues an ultimatum: Vi must pass a vigorous leadership boot camp in Colorado or lose the throne to her uncle. At boot camp, Vi and her fellow cadets are put through a rigorous grind under the uncompromising supervision of Captain Ryan Douglas.
Sugarplummed
Premiere: Saturday, December 7
Stars: Maggie Lawson, Janel Parrish
Description: With dreams of creating a perfect Christmas she’s seen on TV, Emily gets a major surprise when her wish comes true: Sugarplum, a tv movie’s optimistic main character, magically steps off the screen.
Leah’s Perfect Gift
Premiere: Sunday, December 8
Stars: Emily Arlook, Evan Roderick, Barbara Niven
Description: A Christmas lover, Leah has admired the holiday from afar because she’s Jewish. “Though her family celebrates Hanukkah, Leah has longed to experience a traditional Christmas. When her boyfriend Graham invites her to spend the holidays with his classic Connecticut family, she eagerly accepts. Excited to dive into the quintessential Christmas she’s always dreamed of, Leah quickly discovers that fitting in with Graham’s uptight family and his not-so-welcoming mom is easier said than done. As holiday traditions clash and awkward moments pile up, it is not quite the cozy Christmas that she expected.
Happy Holidays from Cherry Lane
Premiere: Thursday, December 12
Stars: Benjamin Ayres, Catherine Bell, James Denton, Erica Durance, Julie Gonzalo, Ryan Rottman
Description: In 1960, Eli and Penny take in Eli’s curmudgeonly father, Walter, and are forced to navigate some tricky family waters to get through the holidays while also working on a Christmas themed time capsule for son Alex’s school project. In 1998, we see Regina and Nelson’s first meeting: stuck together when a blizzard strands Nelson in Regina’s home on Christmas Eve. In 2015, Jessie faces a big challenge while planning her sister’s last-minute Christmas Eve wedding – the officiant is Tim, her high school sweetheart, whom she hasn’t seen in almost 20 years.
Hanukkah on the Rocks
Premiere: Friday, December 13
Stars: Benjamin Ayres, Catherine Bell, James Denton, Erica Durance, Julie Gonzalo, Ryan Rottman
Description: Just one week before Hanukkah, corporate lawyer Tory is unemployed and questioning what’s next. “As she helps her Bubby prepare for the holiday, she embarks on a quest across Chicago to find the last box of coveted Hanukkah candles. Her search leads her to unexpected encounters and self-discovery.
The Santa Class
Premiere: Saturday, December 14
Stars: Kimberley Sustad, Benjamin Ayres
Description: Ahead of the holidays, Kate North reluctantly takes over her father’s struggling Santa School. Soon, she and her new co-worker Dan “discover who they believe to be the real Santa Claus, lost and without his memories after his sled steered off course and crashed near the school.
Following Yonder Star
Premiere: Sunday, December 15
Stars: Brooke D’Orsay, John Brotherton
Description: When a scandal upends a famous TV mother’s life ahead of the holidays, she heads to a luxury Vermont resort for Christmas. Upon arriving, a booking error leads her to a quaint B&B owned by an astronomy teacher.
Deck the Halls on Cherry Lane
Premiere: Thursday, December 19
Stars: John Brotherton, Erin Cahill, Brooke D’Orsay, Chelsea Hobbs, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Sam Page, Matt Dusk
Description: In 1966, single guy David’s plans for a simple Christmas are dashed when his neighbor Stephanie arrives with news that she won a contest to have Tommy Saunders’ Christmas Eve TV special broadcast live from her house – but used his address. In 1981, John and Lizzie learn that this will be their last Christmas on Cherry Lane after John receives a job offer in Michigan and Lizzie finds out she’s pregnant. In 2000, best friends Matt and Rebecca find unexpected feelings developing as they try to find out who is behind a series of Christmas-themed random acts of kindness.
Happy Howlidays
Premiere: Saturday, December 21
Stars: Jessica Lowndes, opposite the to-be-announced winner of Finding Mr. Christmas
Description: A webpage editor spending the holidays alone is “drawn into an unusual encounter when she encounters a stray dog.”
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