Episode Details

We would love to hear from you. Send us your thoughts or suggestions.

Hallmark's 2026 Countdown to Christmas has 34 new movies, and Jenny Forwark, Hallmark's former Chief Fan Officer, is back for her annual visit to help Eric and Andrea pick the five they are most looking forward to. Three lists, fifteen slots, and only two movies managed to land on more than one of them. Along the way, everyone also names the movies they are dreading, the pairings they can't wait to see, and one sleeper hit apiece.

What You'll Hear:

• Why Eric's age-gap rule knocked Eight Nights for Love out of his top five, and why Andrea isn't buying it

• Jenny's case for Christmas Delivered with Autumn Reeser and Wes Brown, despite its Thanksgiving Day slot

• Rachael Leigh Cook playing twins in Double Booked for the Holidays, the one movie two of the three couldn't resist

• Eric's behind-the-scenes word from the sets of Noelle Nomads and Save the Date for Christmas

• Amy Acker and Luke Macfarlane in My Christmas Cowboy: Eric calls it fire, Andrea is nervous about another Western

• Three different number ones: The Nights Before Christmas, The Christmas Eve Feast, and A Season of Promises

• The least anticipated list, from Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story to Winter Wonderlanes and The Snowflake Effect

• Sleeper picks What If Christmas, An Angel in My Stocking, and Barking All the Way (and its scene-stealing dog, Twizzler)

• The end-of-season banger streak, the loss of Finding Mr. Christmas, and high hopes for Mistletoe Murders season 3

Chapters:

0:00 - Jenny Forwark Returns for the Annual Preview

2:22 - First Impressions of the 34-Movie Lineup

6:57 - Eric's Age-Gap Rule (and Andrea's Eye Roll)

9:10 - #5: Christmas Delivered

11:13 - #5: A Danish Christmas and a Hygge Lesson

14:27 - #5: Noelle Nomads

16:45 - #4: Double Booked for the Holidays

18:43 - #4: Return to Santa

20:13 - #4: A Danish Christmas, Round Two

21:34 - #3: Holiday Unplugged

26:04 - #3: Who's Coming for Christmas?

28:02 - #3: Our Holiday Playbook

31:07 - #2: Double Booked Gets a Second Vote

32:28 - #2: My Christmas Cowboy

35:09 - Detour: Amy Acker in Crashing Through the Snow

37:46 - #2: Save the Date for Christmas

40:03 - #1: The Nights Before Christmas

42:02 - #1: The Christmas Eve Feast

44:43 - #1: A Season of Promises

46:08 - Jenny's Jake Foy vs. Jake Epstein Mix-Up

47:00 - All Three Top 5 Lists Recapped

48:40 - Least Anticipated: Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story

50:14 - Least Anticipated: Our Holiday Playbook

51:30 - Least Anticipated: Who's Coming for Christmas?

52:17 - Least Anticipated: Winter Wonderlanes

54:44 - Least Anticipated: The Snowflake Effect

56:29 - The Pairings Everyone Is Most Excited For

1:01:18 - Sleeper Pick: What If Christmas

1:03:50 - Sleeper Pick: An Angel in My Stocking

1:05:25 - Sleeper Pick: Barking All the Way

1:07:19 - The Final-Movie Streak and No More Unscripted Specials

1:10:57 - Mistletoe Murders Season 3

1:12:36 - Early Verdict on 'Tis the Season for Setups

Which of these three lists is closest to yours? And is Our Holiday Playbook a top three pick, like Eric says, or a bottom two dud, like Jenny says?

New episodes every week. Subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss a Hallmark deep dive.

#HallmarkChristmas #CountdownToChristmas #HallmarkChristmas2026 #HallmarkChannel #HallmarkMovies #HallmarkFans #ChristmasMovies #JennyForwark #RachaelLeighCook #AmyAcker #LukeMacfarlane #TylerHynes #NikkiDeLoach #JonathanBennett #RomanceMovies #CozyTV

Follow us on social media:
Instagram and TikTok: @hallmarkmysteriesandm