WEBVTT - Low-Stakes Love: Hallmark’s Holiday Comfort Movies - Lab 121 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:09.200 I'm t T and I'm Zakiah, and this is Dope Labs. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:14.600 Welcome to Dope Labs, a weekly podcast that mixes hardcore 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.040 science with pop culture and a healthy. 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:17.599 Dose of friendship. 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:24.320 T T. This lab is gonna be a fun one today. 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:27.600 I already know it is because wine. It ties in 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:29.960 a few of my favorite things. 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:32.559 A few of your favorite things. Tell us? 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.520 What are they? So the holiday season? I think it's 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:37.480 just a nice time of year. You know, the radio 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.840 stations are playing all the Christmas carols. Mariah Carey back 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:46.599 on her bullshit and I love her for it. I 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:49.720 think also there's just something about the holiday times, like 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:53.720 throw your cares away. You know, everybody's working together so 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:55.880 we can have some of that holiday magic, which I 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:59.600 know is invisible labor by someone else, but it just 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:03.600 helps us socialize and enjoy one another. And we've talked 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.760 about like the art of celebration in a lab before. Yeah, 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:10.440 you know, it's like temporal, so like based on time, 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.600 it's like the people you have around you. It really 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:16.520 just puts a lot of people in a very good mood. Well, 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:19.000 we talk about tradition, particularly around the holidays. There is 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:21.480 a holiday carols and there's what I consider to be 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:25.120 like the backdrop of every holiday season for me, and 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.600 that is a TV in the living room going with 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:31.880 a Hallmark movie, okay, a Hallmark Christmas movie. Every year 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:36.080 Hallmark drops about forty of these things. Absolutely, absolutely, I 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.880 think Brandy is going to be in one with her 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:44.000 daughter this Christmas. Yes, I'm pretty sure Kelly Rowland did one. 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:47.440 It feels like you gotta do one at least once 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.720 I'm ready to do. My Christmas movies are the new 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:53.160 like Marvel or superhero movies, Like everybody had to have 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:55.760 a superhero movie. Now everybody has to have a Christmas movie. 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:58.240 And so I was like, there has to be something 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:00.760 to it right, and who's track these movies? And what 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:02.720 are the best ones? We got to get into it, 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:05.600 and so we say, hmm, we know somebody who was 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:09.000 able to take some analytics and some feel good vibes 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.080 and put it right with those Christmas movies. And so 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:13.800 I talked to Jenna Golden about the Hallmark movies. Yes, 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:17.800 and Jenna Golden is a woman of many talents, and 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:21.080 so I was so sad I missed this episode, but 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:29.560 I know you got all the goods from Jenna. 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:33.640 I am Jenna Golden, and I don't really know why, 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.200 but somehow I decided that I wanted to start watching 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:42.000 all of the Hallmark Christmas movies every year and rating 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:44.480 them on a scale of one to five, as well 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:47.359 as providing a little bit of context and a review 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:51.360 on social media channels. And I started doing it. I 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:55.000 believe it was twenty twenty, which makes sense because we 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:57.720 were all home and there wasn't a whole lot to do, 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:00.600 and there also wasn't a lot of joy in the 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.359 world at that time, and it just felt like there 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:06.720 was time to engage on something like that. And I 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:11.280 started watching them and found it slightly more entertaining than 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:14.239 I thought I would actually liked some of them, which 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:16.880 I wasn't sure was going to be the case. And 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:19.560 now here we are, six years later, getting ready to 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:23.360 start the new year and the new cycle of the 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:26.560 twenty twenty five Hallmark Christmas movie season. 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.000 Now I love that you've added a rating system, and 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:31.680 I'm like, this may have to do with some of 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:32.760 your other background. 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.560 Yeah, I think that what happened was when I started 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.400 watching the movies and then I started posting about them 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:43.040 on Instagram and on Twitter. I was sort of shocked 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.960 how many people secretly replied to me that I've actually 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.840 been watching these for years, or I actually secretly really 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:54.360 like these movies, and there's like this underground group of 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:58.120 people who tend to love it. But most people do 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:02.520 not have time to watch four Christmas movies every year, 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:05.640 and I think a lot of people realize that some 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:09.800 of them are good and most of them are eh. Yes. 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:13.040 So I kind of thought, well, if people are only 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:16.240 going to watch two or three of these every season, 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.080 if I could kind of create this ever evolving list 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.040 that pushed the best ones to the top, then people 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.119 could come back when they finally had that moment during 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:29.080 the holidays with their family or free time on Sunday 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:32.000 in front of the fire and say, Okay, if I'm 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:34.039 going to watch one of these, which one is going 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.680 to be the best one to watch? And so providing 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:40.200 a rating system helps people to look through and sift 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:43.240 through and figure out, all, right, which one's the best, 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:44.960 so that I'm going to have the best experience when 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.120 I decide to actually sit down and watch one of these. 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:50.320 I like that it feels like you are simplifying the 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:54.240 process of discovery when it comes to holiday movies, and 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:57.320 I think that's one of the things that deters me 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:00.040 when it comes to watching these kind of movies. Some 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.000 of them are there's just a few good, and the 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:04.560 rest of them just kind of fall on the uh 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:08.120 iffy end right now. Do you feel like there are 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:11.800 things that you can tell very early on, like are 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.960 you able to kind of nail your rating early on 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:16.919 when you first started watching a film. 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:18.120 Yeah, I think you've. 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:20.680 Got a good sense for it pretty early on. There's 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:22.960 a few things that I feel like you're always looking for. 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.240 And let's be clear, like none of these are all 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:28.640 that unique or creative or like totally outside of the box. 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.880 So you pretty much know going in like it's probably 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.280 going to get wrapped up in a nice neat boat, 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.400 someone's gonna probably fall in love, there's gonna be a 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:41.640 good kiss. So all things being equal, the things generally 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.120 are looking for, or I'm looking for in the beginning 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:45.920 that are going to let me like check them off 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:49.279 the list. First is chemistry. Do you feel like the 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:52.239 leads actually are into each other? A lot of times 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:54.560 some of these movies, you honestly feel like they're brother 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:57.120 and sister and you're a little bit like, yeah, I'm. 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.320 Not feeling that vibe. That's not doing it for me. 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:04.560 So there's chemistry for me, there's like the cozy feels 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:09.080 and vibes. So am I seeing like cookie baking? Is 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:10.760 there like a snowball fight? 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:11.520 You know? 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:15.640 Are we having cocoa? Are we decorating a tree? Are 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:19.120 we sledding? All of these like typical things that make 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:23.640 you feel like it's very seasonal. And then lastly, generally 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:27.479 you're looking for something that isn't overly cheesy and isn't 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:30.960 too silly that you're actually kind of buying it a 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:32.960 little bit and jumping in. 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:33.360 In that way. 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:35.880 So oftentimes you can tell some of those things from 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.680 the beginning. And I think also to your point that 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:43.320 you mentioned earlier, in addition to their being so many, 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:48.440 so Hallmark alone this year is actually making a change. 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:49.760 So there's actually only. 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:53.799 Twenty four new movies in twenty twenty five, which sounds 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:56.680 like a lot, but there were forty one last year, 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.640 and there were forty the year before, So that's just Tallmark, 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:04.159 and I think that they are hopefully moving towards a 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:10.800 quality verse quantity. But then there's Lifetime, then there's Netflix, 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.840 there's ABC, So it's not just Hallmark themselves in terms 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:17.400 of the amount that they have really spearheaded and they 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:19.960 have kind of been king of the hill in this area. 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:22.960 But all these new entrants into the space too have 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:27.200 added additional holiday viewing, which sounds great but can be really. 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:29.040 Overwhelming when you're trying to figure out what you want 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:29.480 to watch. 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:32.280 You know, I think that makes a lot of sense. 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:34.520 I was listening to you say like, I'm looking for 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:39.360 the cozy factor, and immediately there's a little bit of psychology, 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:43.200 you know, stirring around in my head, because I was like, oh, yes, 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:47.160 I think there are certain like sensory elements, Like I'm 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:49.280 thinking about what's happening when we're watching these movies. 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.560 If it's a holiday time, it's already chaotic. 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:56.160 I am trying to figure out which holiday parties I'm 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:58.480 going to how I'm going to tell my nephews that 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:01.000 I'm not buying them gifts this year, you know. But 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:02.960 I think there's often just all of this stuff that's 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.520 happening in the background of our own lives, and that 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:09.920 we sometimes are looking for things that feel soothing and calm. 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:13.920 For me, It's like snow is on the ground, there's 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.440 a fire lit somewhere inside, there's cookies in the oven. 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:22.680 Like that just is the perfect winter time experience. So 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:24.040 I love. 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:28.080 That whole look and feel and it just kind of 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:30.960 like takes you into the season and you don't have 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:34.760 to even celebrate Christmas or be religious to appreciate that 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.400 it's still this beautiful season filled with all these traditions 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:39.080 and warmth. 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.239 And I think also your question. 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.960 About you know, or your point about the fact that 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:47.760 like it's a hectic time of year, I mean that 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:52.160 is why people are drawn to these movies. Yeah, no 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:56.240 one's watching these movies for like the complex story lines, right, 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:59.760 no one's expecting anything. Crazy people say over and over again, 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:02.400 I can't believe you watch not just one of those movies, 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:04.400 but forty of those movies. Aren't they all the same? 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:08.360 And the answer is sort of. But honestly, the reason 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:12.479 why people watch them is because they're light, they're easy, 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:17.880 they're low stakes, they're totally uncomplicated, and also like the 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:22.319 world's complicated, and so people just want easy for an 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:26.440 hour and a half, and like Hallmark delivers that times 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:27.000 a thousand. 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.559 When you mentioned the snow scene, I was thinking back 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:51.319 to a childhood Christmas classic for me was home Alone. 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.880 I love It's a top five for me. Top five. 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:56.400 First of all, there was snow on the ground, and 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:58.760 that was so rare growing up in North Carolina. It 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:02.360 was it was like, it's not snowy, you know. So 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:05.079 I was like, oh, I love that. Being home alone 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.920 my dream as a kid, making mac. 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:10.920 And cheese and just sitting by yourself at the table. 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:13.200 Like he doesn't want to do that, right, Yes. 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:15.760 I don't know why it was okay with the burglars 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:19.440 trying to get in, but you know, as time has 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:22.480 gone on, those things have shifted. And when I was 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:25.320 just thinking, like, what's the kind of element that I 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:29.079 really like in holiday movies, I think that it's everybody 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:32.600 coming together for a big dinner or big meal, a 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.400 scene that is set around the Christmas meal. It used 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:39.000 to feel like Thanksgiving movies had that kind of thing, 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.800 but I think the Christmas meal is very important and 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:43.880 the chaos that goes on in the home around that. 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:46.319 I think one of the things that I hear people 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.760 talk about or I spy on people talking about on 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:54.520 threads and on Instagram, and I think this may be shifting, 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:58.040 like the big city character goes to small town, runs 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:02.760 into someone from high school or whatever, and now there's romance. 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:03.880 Listen. 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.839 I think that the real truth is that those are 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:11.280 all absolutely storylines period. 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:12.600 Like I'm not going to lie to you. 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:16.320 That is one hundred percent a very common trope that 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:20.760 takes place in Christmas movies, not just Hallmark Christmas movies, 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:23.760 but traditionally have been common in Hallmark Christmas movies. 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:24.920 Very often. 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:30.480 You've got big city girl, you know, boss lady goes 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:34.559 to her hometown, meets old boyfriend who runs a Christmas 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.520 tree mill with this family. The business is going to 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.640 be sold. What are they going to do? Like that 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:44.040 is the stakes of the situation. In the past, though, 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.880 I would say it was almost ninety eight percent of 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:51.920 the time that the big city business woman ends up 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.319 leaving her career and leaving the city and moving and 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:59.559 becoming a partner to the Christmas tree farm. Which listen, 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.120 if that's your dream, have at it. Nobody is judging 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:05.880 that choice. But I would say in the last five 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:10.320 ish years that has changed, and so we're not always 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.000 seeing the same outcome, even if we're seeing some of 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:20.320 the same actions throughout it. Oftentimes more recently, the man 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:23.080 moves to the city, or the woman decides to split 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:25.240 her time, or they come up with like a more 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:29.240 modern take on how this can look. And the real 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.120 truth is that Hallmark itself, if you want to go 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:35.120 there like, has gone through a massive shift in the 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.440 last five to seven years in terms of leadership, in 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.280 terms of diversity. And so I think when you talk 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.360 to people at first and you say Hallmark Christmas movies, 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:48.960 there is especially for people like me who live in 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:53.439 a big city and you know, live on a coast, 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:59.960 there is an assumption that these are very traditional, very conservative, 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:04.680 very white movies. And it is one hundred percent true 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:08.560 that for most of Hallmark's existence that was the case, 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.400 and in the last five years that has changed a 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.600 lot due to a massive shift in leadership. And so 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:18.800 I would say to people who think of the old Hallmark, 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:22.320 it's not that anymore. It is shifting and changing. There's 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:24.480 still work to be done, but there is a lot 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:25.480 moving there. 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:29.439 So if you haven't seen a Hallmark movie since COVID, 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.400 I would just say give it another try. Maybe there's 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.400 something out there for you. Yeah, we've talked about the 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:38.320 snow and kind of the scene setting what we typically 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.440 think of for the holidays. I think so many of 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:45.040 them have in the past led with like a romantic 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.839 interest for these holiday movies. But we're also seeing the 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:51.679 rise of a broadcast of characters very much where you're 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:54.760 not leaning on just you know, two people. I'm curious, 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:57.079 you know, when we look at all these elements, particularly 0:13:57.080 --> 0:13:59.720 as we see the shift from romance to the broadcast, 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:03.120 you think that's positive. What's your take on that as 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:06.320 a reviewer of so many of these films. 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:08.720 Yeah, I think you're exactly right. That has been a 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:12.359 huge shift in the last few years. On Hallmark in particular, 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:16.680 it was always a story of a man and a 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:19.160 woman and waiting for the kiss at the end. 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:20.720 And for those who have. 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:25.320 Not watched older Hallmark movies, the kiss always happened in 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:29.440 the last one minute of the movie until the last 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:34.320 five to six years, so very chaste, waiting till the 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:36.760 end and then you get the kiss and then credits 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:40.160 roll and it is done. What we've seen in the 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:43.800 last few years is so many stories that are around 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:49.240 sisters as the main storyline of love, you know, through 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:55.680 working through their familial relationships, best friends, large families that 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.880 are dealing with multi generations, and so I would say 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:04.640 Hallmark made a very large shift that maybe even twenty 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:09.040 percent of the movies aren't just focused solely on this 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:14.120 one romantic connection, and I think it's positive. I think 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:18.480 that love is happens in many different ways, and romantic 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:22.040 love is one way, but there's all other types of love, 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:26.080 whether it's friendship or siblings or other different types of relationships, 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.400 and I think that it gets boring watching the same 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:32.880 exact relationship over and over. 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:33.560 And over again. 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:38.040 So I welcome the fact that we can explore all 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:41.480 different types of relationships and enjoy them just as much 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:44.880 as the others. And I also really love a love story, 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.320 so you know, I like it all. But I think 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:51.480 that always relying on the exact same formula, especially in 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:54.720 today's age, where people live very different types of lives 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:58.000 and there's so many different ways to live, I think 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:02.240 it's nice to highlight different And then also to your point, 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.160 there have been a lot of movies in the last 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:08.200 few years that have been kind of like these gigantic casts. 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:12.320 So twenty people and it's busy and crazy and everyone's 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:15.040 running around, and fifteen people came in for the holiday 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.760 and they all rented out a hotel or whatever that 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.440 might be. And so it's like these ensemble casts of 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:23.840 all these different stars together and that's also fun. It 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:26.600 breaks up the monotony of the same story over and 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:27.120 over again. 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.280 You have helped us kind of think about some of 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.960 the shifts. I think it's easy to rely on, you know, 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.240 a first experience you had with Hallmark, like Hallmark and 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:54.920 Lifetime movies being on in the background is something I 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.280 am very familiar with and think about when I think 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:01.000 about the holiday season. But I have to be honest, 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.320 I haven't given them another shot. I see your reviews, 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.199 but I haven't given them another shot. And so for 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:10.439 someone who is saying, okay, Jenna, we hear you, we 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.080 hear that there's some changes, we should give it another shot. 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:15.840 What's on your mount Rushmore? Who's your list of you know, 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.440 your list of movies you think people should check out. 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:20.360 They can be Hallmark or if you want to bring 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:23.600 in some of the competitors, if you have some Netflix, Lifetime, 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:27.359 Hulu recommendations, We're open to those two. 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:32.520 Okay, Well, first of all, I would say, you know, 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.320 all of these places, whether it's Hallmark or Hulu, or 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:39.040 whatever have apps and descriptions and so like, definitely do 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:42.359 a little bit of research beforehand, because again, what you 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:45.280 don't want to happen is you decide to like cozy 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:48.879 up for that first holiday movie of the year and 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.200 it's like the only day that you have and you're 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.960 so excited to like put on the pajamas and sit 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:56.159 by the fire and do the thing. Yeah, and then 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.600 you watch like the total dud and you're like, oh, wow. 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:01.200 Did I even bother right? 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:05.600 Yeah, So I would definitely, you know, do your best 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:08.200 to kind of look around. For me, I would say 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.720 there are also specific actors and actresses that I like 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:15.080 regularly am super drawn to and do an amazing so 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:19.359 on Hallmark. For me, Ashley Williams, they are some of 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:22.840 the queens of Hallmark that have been there for years 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:27.920 and years that really do a wonderful job of acting 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:30.560 and they really pull you in and they could balance 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:33.280 the emotional with the funny. So for me, I'm kind 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:38.080 of gravitating towards some of them. I would say for 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:43.280 Hallmark last year there was a really really fun new 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:47.399 partnership that they did with the Kansas City Chiefs. So 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:50.880 for those of you who like sports but also want 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:54.800 to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie. They did this crossover. 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:59.440 They're they're doing another one this year. Okay, so last 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:03.680 year's was Holiday Touchdown, A Chief's Love Story, and this 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:06.440 year is going to be a Holiday Touchdown a Bill's 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:10.080 Love Story. And the one last year was just really fun. 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:14.440 It was about a family that loved sports, loved football. 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:19.000 It ran through all the generations, and there's a love story, 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:21.800 but there's the family component, but there's the sports, and 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:24.720 I think it was just like really different than anything 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:27.679 they'd ever done, and I think it appeals to a 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:30.720 very wide swath of people, not just females. 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:32.119 Lots of people that might. 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:34.480 Be interested if you're cooking or you're at home and 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:37.600 people can kind of watch in the background. So I 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:40.680 would recommend checking out one of those because they tend to. 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:42.439 Be really appealing and fun. 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:46.600 Another one that's been really popular in the last few 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:50.120 years was there's now been I think three or four 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:52.520 of them, but the first one, I believe was Three 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:56.000 Wise Men and a Baby and they took like three 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:59.640 of the Hallmark hunks that have been around for years 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:03.320 that are brothers and they end up with a baby 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:06.360 for a long weekend, and it's you know, the brothers, 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:10.399 it's the family, it's the baby. It's funny, it's romantic, 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:13.280 it's all the things. And it's obviously a riff on 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:16.600 a movie from our childhood, which was Three Men and 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:17.360 a Baby, So. 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:19.960 That's a fun one. 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:26.320 It is quite surprising how many secret Hallmark movie watchers 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:28.720 are out there that you don't know that will slide 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:33.359 into my dms. People like very sophisticated conservative men, like 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:35.120 people you just would not expect. 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:38.080 But there is something kind of universal. 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:44.080 About that warm Christmas movie in the background that everybody 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:46.439 just kind of craves when it gets cold out. And 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:49.679 so people I think are becoming more and more comfortable 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:52.879 with coming out with it because it's become cooler to 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:56.360 like like this stuff. But I would say, also, there's 0:20:56.400 --> 0:20:59.360 so many people who will tell me, Okay, I don't 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:03.560 necessarily love the movies, but like my mom and my 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:05.679 grandma watched these when I was growing up, and like 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:08.640 that's really special to me, and so I associate with that. 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:11.560 So I think so many people have like a generational 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:15.040 pull to it because so many moms, grandma's aunts spent 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:16.520 a lot of time watching these movies. 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:25.320 Yeah, another holiday tradition. T T. I gotta make sure 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:28.880 I watch the Hallmark movies this year because I think 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:31.159 I had been sleeping on them. Yeah. I feel like 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:34.760 lots of people sleep on them. And I am the 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:36.919 type of person that, like, you know, I'm scrolling on 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:39.800 TV and trying to find something to watch, and I'll 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:43.120 see Hallmark has hours and hours and hours. 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:44.480 Of movies just back to back. 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:47.479 And it's not just Hallmark. Yeah, Brandy, she has a 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:50.560 Lifetime movie that is coming out and it's a Christmas 0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:53.040 movie and it's called Christmas every Day. And I'm definitely 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:56.160 gonna be watching that. So, you know, all these Christmas movies, 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:58.560 they may feel a little cheesy, but you know, I 0:21:58.560 --> 0:22:01.240 think they're sweet and they're starting to change. So there's 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:03.200 a little bit of something for everybody out there now, 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:06.200 not just waiting for the build up to the single kiss. 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:11.240 Tell us what you're watching this holiday season? Mm hm 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:13.840 ooh you remember This Christmas? Yes, the one that had 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:16.600 Chris Brown in it. My friend went to trivia and 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:19.520 somebody said Chris Brown's version of This Christmas was better 0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:22.159 than Donnie Hathaway's version. Yeah, we have got to be 0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:26.400