Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast

Rich & Rene
  • 5.0 (12)
  • TV Reviews

Just two guys talking about Hallmark Christmas movies. That’s it—nothing else. No other channels, no series, no reality TV, and no detours into Loveuary, Spring Into Love, Summer Nights, or Fall Harvest. If it’s not a Hallmark Christmas movie, we’re not covering it. Each week on The Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast, we review a favorite from past years and keep up with the current films from Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas every October through December. Christmas... all year long!  *** The Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast is not affiliated with Hallmark Media.

  1. 5d ago

    November Christmas

    On November 28, 2010, 13.5 million viewers tuned in to watch November Christmas—a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie featuring one of the most impressive casts in Hallmark history: Sam Elliott, Karen Allen, Sarah Paulson, and John Corbett. Vanessa is a young girl living in a small Rhode Island community who is facing a life-threatening illness. As summer approaches, her family worries she may not be strong enough to make it to the holidays. But the tight-knit community rallies around Vanessa and her family, literally moving up the holidays so she can experience Halloween and Christmas while she's still well enough to celebrate. And yes, as the title suggests, Christmas comes to town in November. And the ratings speak for themselves: November Christmas is the second-highest-rated Hallmark Christmas movie of all time, behind only 2023’s A Biltmore Christmas. It may not be the Christmas rom-com formula Hallmark is known for today, but for any Hallmark fan, November Christmas is a must-watch holiday classic. In this episode of Forever Hallmark Christmas, we talk about: 🎄 Behind-the-scenes movie fun facts  🎄 Our favorite moments  🎄 Anything we’d rewrite?  🎄 The best supporting characters  🎄 “Are We Sure?” — our ultimate Hallmark logic check  🎄 Who — or what — truly won the movie  🎄 And, of course, our personal final rating! For the Love of Hallmark. ❤️🎄 Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/foreverhallmarkchristmas Email: ForeverHallmarkChristmas@gmail.com *** Not affiliated with Hallmark Media.

    November Christmas

  2. Sep 22

    2026 Hallmark Christmas Movie Fantasy Draft with Pour The Wine, It's Romcom Time

    FOUR PODCASTERS. 34 MOVIES. 28 DRAFT PICKS. LET THE HALLMARK GAMES BEGIN! 🎄🏈 What happens when four massive Hallmark Christmas movie fans decide to hold their own fantasy football-style draft? You guessed it… instead of quarterbacks and kickers, they’re drafting their favorite 2026 Countdown to Christmas movies! Rene and Rich, co-hosts of The Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast, might be family… but today they’re going head-to-head to see who can build the ultimate movie roster. And over at Pour The Wine, It’s Rom-com Time, husband-and-wife hosts Garry and Amy are putting their marriage to the test as they battle it out to see who can make the better picks! There are 34 movies in this year’s Countdown to Christmas lineup, and these four Hallmark superfans are drafting 28 of them — 7 movies each. But HOW do you decide which movies make your roster? Do you go after the movies getting all the buzz? Disney. Biltmore. Bears. Did we mention Disney? 🎄 Maybe you draft based on your favorite Hallmark stars? Paul Campbell. Kimberley Sustad. Tyler Hynes. Nikki DeLoach. Kris Polaha. Lacey Chabert. Andrew Walker. Or maybe you’re a writer geek and want to bet on the names behind the scripts? Russell Hainline. Julie Sherman Wolfe. Zac Hug. And then there are the storylines… Road trips. Time loops. Twins. RV parks. Competing choirs. Bowling alleys. Amnesia. Football. Hanukkah. Weddings. Yep… Hallmark has pretty much covered everything this year. 😂 So who built the strongest roster? Who reached for a sleeper? Who grabbed the obvious first-round pick? And who may have completely lost the plot? There’s only one way to find out… LET THE DRAFT BEGIN! 🎅🏈🎬  For the Love of Hallmark. ❤️🎄 Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/foreverhallmarkchristmas Email: ForeverHallmarkChristmas@gmail.com *** Not affiliated with Hallmark Media.

    2026 Hallmark Christmas Movie Fantasy Draft with Pour The Wine, It's Romcom Time

  3. Sep 17

    Sugarplummed

    If you love Christmas magic, 2024’s Sugarplummed may be the perfect Hallmark Christmas movie for you! The Hallmark Channel doesn’t take itself too seriously in this fun, self-aware Christmas comedy written and directed by Ryan Landels (Santa Tell Me). Emily (Maggie Lawson) wants to create the perfect “Hallmark Christmas” for her family. Enter Sugarplum (Janel Parrish), a Christmas fairy with a very detailed book of rules for creating the ultimate holiday season. At first, everything goes exactly according to plan… until it doesn’t. And when things go off the rails, they go downhill fast! While Emily and Sugarplum are at the heart of the story, Emily’s family—Ben (Brandon Zub), Nina (Kyra Leroux), and Ben (Avan Stewart)—provide plenty of laughs and push back against Emily’s picture-perfect Christmas expectations. And keep an eye out for some terrific cameos from Hallmark favorites Victor Webster, Fiona Gubelmann, and Carlo Marks. It’s Christmas, it’s magical, and it’s definitely Hallmark with a wink!  In this episode of Forever Hallmark Christmas, we talk about: 🎄 Behind-the-scenes movie fun facts  🎄 Our favorite moments  🎄 Anything we’d rewrite?  🎄 The best supporting characters  🎄 “Are We Sure?” — our ultimate Hallmark logic check  🎄 Did Sugarplum make Emily and Ben’s marriage stronger?  🎄 The Mistletoe Meter — we give that final kiss a letter grade… and ask the question… is there a difference between a married couple kiss and a couple kissing for the first time?  🎄 Who — or what — truly won the movie  🎄 And, of course, our personal and completely unbiased final rating! For the Love of Hallmark. ❤️🎄 Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/foreverhallmarkchristmas Email: ForeverHallmarkChristmas@gmail.com *** Not affiliated with Hallmark Media.

    Sugarplummed

  4. Sep 10

    A Dickens of a Holiday!

    It’s Hallmark talent galore in A Dickens of a Holiday! Brooke D’Orsay (Cassie) and Kristoffer Polaha (Jake) lead the way, with one of Hallmark’s best writers, Julie Sherman Wolfe, delivering a fantastic screenplay. This movie has a little bit of everything: a Dickens festival in a cozy Ohio Christmas town, a Christmas Eve performance of A Christmas Carol, a director returning home from Manhattan, and a big-time action movie star doing the same. Throw in Christmas vibes, two brothers working through some old differences, and the mystery of a mixtape made back in high school—and you have one of the very best Hallmark Christmas movies of 2021. But what really sets this movie apart are the performances from Brooke D’Orsay and Kristoffer Polaha—with Kris delivering what may be the best monologue in Hallmark Christmas movie history. And if there’s a Mount Rushmore of Hallmark writers, Julie Sherman Wolfe is certainly on it… and the sharp snarky dialogue between Jake and Cassie is some of her very best. There’s a reason this is rated (per IMDb) as the 17th best Hallmark Christmas movie of all time.  And oh yeah… if you’ve ever wondered what Rich and Rene would have put on a mixtape in 1994, when Kris Polaha was 17 years old… we’ll give you our top five songs! In this episode of Forever Hallmark Christmas, we talk about: 🎄 Behind-the-scenes movie fun facts  🎄 Our favorite moments  🎄 Anything we’d rewrite?  🎄 The best supporting characters  🎄 “Are We Sure?” — our ultimate Hallmark logic check 🎄 Will Cassie and Jake’s relationship last? 🎄 The Mistletoe Meter — we give that final kiss a letter grade 🎄 Who — or what — truly won the movie 🎄 And, of course, our personal and completely unbiased final rating! For the Love of Hallmark. ❤️🎄 Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/foreverhallmarkchristmas Email: ForeverHallmarkChristmas@gmail.com *** Not affiliated with Hallmark Media.

    A Dickens of a Holiday!

  5. Sep 3

    Remembering Dolly Parton: Hallmark's Christmas at Dollywood

    On August 28th, 2026, the Hallmark Channel made a classy move, airing a special presentation of the 2019 movie Christmas at Dollywood just days after the world lost Dolly Parton at age 80. For a week, flags were ordered lowered to half-staff as people around the world mourned a beloved icon whose legacy stretched far beyond music to film, philanthropy, and so much more. Forever Hallmark Christmas is a movie review podcast. But this week, we’re putting that aside to celebrate Dolly and her incredible life. We dive into her one and only Hallmark movie—one of the most-watched Christmas movies of 2019—and explore how Danica McKellar’s connection to Dolly helped make the film happen. We also have plenty of behind-the-scenes stories, plus a deep dive into Dollywood and Dolly’s remarkable Imagination Library, including some things you won’t find in the movie. “When I’m inspired, I get excited because I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.” — Dolly Parton RIP Dolly. 1946–2026 ❤️ Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/foreverhallmarkchristmas Email: ForeverHallmarkChristmas@gmail.com *** Not affiliated with Hallmark Media.

    Remembering Dolly Parton: Hallmark's Christmas at Dollywood

  6. Aug 31

    Hallmark 2026 Christmas Preview Show - Part 2

    Countdown to Christmas 2026: The Forever Hallmark Christmas Preview Show… Part 2!!! Hallmark is expected to release the official Countdown to Christmas 2026 schedule in just a few weeks. Until then… we’re breaking it all down! In our first preview episode, we discussed 12 new Christmas movies coming in 2026. Now, in Part 2, we’re spotlighting 11 more movies that are on our radar! From October through December, these familiar faces will be hanging lights, building gingerbread houses, and sipping plenty of peppermint hot chocolate: Victor Webster • Amanda Schull • Jessy Schram • Will Kemp • Daniella Monet • Kevin McGarry • Daniel Lissing • Janel Parrish • Rachel Leigh Cook • Owain Yeoman • Emilie Ullerup • Corey Sevier • Rhiannon Fish • Jake Foy • Taylor Cole • Charles Michael Davis • Ali Liebert • Brooke D’Orsay • James Denton • Pascale Hutton • Brendan Penny • Lori Loughlin • Tom Cavanaugh We’ll break down what we know about their upcoming movies — and share our first thoughts along the way. The countdown starts October 17th… and we’re ready! For the love of Hallmark! Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/foreverhallmarkchristmas Email: ForeverHallmarkChristmas@gmail.com *** Not affiliated with Hallmark Media.

    Hallmark 2026 Christmas Preview Show - Part 2

  7. Aug 27

    Christmas in Evergreen: Bells are Ringing

    We wrap up the Christmas in Evergreen series with its fourth and final installment, Bells Are Ringing! Hannah (Rukiya Bernard) and Elliott (Antonio Cayonne) continue the relationship that started getting serious in Tidings for the Season, while an all-star supporting cast returns to Evergreen: Barbara Niven, Ashley Williams, Jaeda Lily Miller, Holly Robinson Peete, Malcolm Stewart, Chris Cope, and Keith Martin Gordey—one of Hallmark’s best Santas ever! If you like a movie with a lot going on—plots and subplots galore—this might be the Hallmark movie for you. Rich and Rene debate whether all those storylines add to the excitement of this final trip to Evergreen... or if the movie suffers because there’s simply too much happening. But one thing is for sure: if there’s an iconic Hallmark Christmas town, it’s Evergreen! In this episode of Forever Hallmark Christmas, we talk about: 🎄 Behind-the-scenes movie fun facts  🎄 Our favorite moments  🎄 Anything we’d rewrite?  🎄 The best supporting characters  🎄 “Are We Sure?” — our ultimate Hallmark logic check 🎄 Will Hannah and Elliott make it as a couple? 🎄 The Mistletoe Meter — we give those Christmas kisses a letter grade 🎄 Who — or what — truly won the movie 🎄 And, of course, our personal and completely unbiased final rating! For the Love of Hallmark. ❤️🎄 Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/foreverhallmarkchristmas Email: ForeverHallmarkChristmas@gmail.com *** Not affiliated with Hallmark Media.

    Christmas in Evergreen: Bells are Ringing

  8. Aug 20

    In Merry Measure

    Every Christmas season, we tend to get a storyline involving a youth choir, a high school theatre production, or some other holiday competition. But what happens when you take that familiar Hallmark setup, add the Broadway star who originated the role of Princess Anna in Frozen the Musical, put her opposite one of Hallmark’s leading hunks — wearing glasses for a good part of the movie, no less — and give them a script from a first-time Hallmark writer who would go on to write favorites like The Santa Summit, The Santa Class, and Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper? You get 2022’s In Merry Measure! Darcy (Patti Murin) was a famous pop star back in high school, but she returns home to Dayton for the holidays to spend time with her sister Gretchen (Jennifer Robertson) and her family. When Darcy’s niece Megan is cut from the high school choir by Adam (Brendan Penny), Darcy decides to start her own choir and compete against the team coached by Adam — who just happens to be a former high school classmate. But while the choir competition drives the story, it’s the script that really makes this movie stand out. The banter between Darcy and Adam is funny, sharp and genuinely entertaining. The secondary characters get surprisingly strong dialogue and development. And there are more memorable scenes than we can count. Writer Russell Hainline proves you absolutely can have both the rom AND the com in a classic Hallmark Christmas movie — and he does it in a way that is heartfelt, clever and incredibly entertaining. In this episode of Forever Hallmark Christmas, we talk about: 🎄 Behind-the-scenes movie fun facts  🎄 Our favorite moments  🎄 Anything we’d rewrite?  🎄 The best supporting characters  🎄 “Are We Sure?” — our ultimate Hallmark logic check 🎄 With a potential move back to Dayton, will Adam and Darcy actually make it as a couple? 🎄 The Mistletoe Meter — we give those Christmas kisses a letter grade 🎄 Who — or what — truly won the movie 🎄 And, of course, our personal and completely unbiased final rating! For the Love of Hallmark. ❤️🎄     Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/foreverhallmarkchristmas Email: ForeverHallmarkChristmas@gmail.com *** Not affiliated with Hallmark Media.

    In Merry Measure
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Just two guys talking about Hallmark Christmas movies. That’s it—nothing else. No other channels, no series, no reality TV, and no detours into Loveuary, Spring Into Love, Summer Nights, or Fall Harvest. If it’s not a Hallmark Christmas movie, we’re not covering it. Each week on The Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast, we review a favorite from past years and keep up with the current films from Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas every October through December. Christmas... all year long!  *** The Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast is not affiliated with Hallmark Media.

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