Entertainment Weekly compiled a list of every original holiday movie that is set to come out this year on streaming and TV networks and the number is mindboggling: 146. And that is likely a low number.
The appetite for feel-good romantic films where two people inevitably find some way to kiss by the end has apparently become even more insatiable.
There are, of course, the usual suspects of Hallmark and Lifetime and no shortage of familiar faces who know a regular paycheck when they see one, e.g. Danica McKellar, Lacey Chabert, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Jennie Garth, Kelly Rowland, Candace Cameron Bure and Melissa Joan Hart. VH1 and even Discovery+ have jumped into this crazy snowball fight as well, joining Netflix, BET+, ION, GAC Family, Atlanta-based UPtv and many more.
Many of the films debuted as early as October and most of them have already come out. But the networks will repeat them often and if they are on a streaming service, they are available on demand.
Here are a dozen notable original films on different networks and streaming services:
“8-Bit Christmas,” HBO Max
Notable names: Neil Patrick Harris, David Cross, Steve Zahn.
Plotline: In 1980s Chicago, a 10-year-old embarks on a quest to get the newest Nintendo system for Christmas. Harris narrates the story as an adult.
Available: on demand for subscribers
“Father Christmas is Back,” Netflix
Notable names: Kelsey Grammer, Elizabeth Hurley, John Cleese
Plotline: Four sisters reunite for the Christmas holiday in a Yorkshire mansion in England. Misunderstandings uncover the long-buried secret that tore their family apart years earlier.
Available: on demand for subscribers
“Miracle Across 125th Street,” VH1
Notable names: Nick Cannon, Lil Kim, Chrisette Michele, Kierra Sheard-Kelly, Tommy Davidson
Plotline: A Harlem rapper (Cannon) confronts his past by returning to his family’s church on Christmas Eve after battling drug addiction.
Available: Dec. 20
“A Castle for Christmas,” Netflix
Notable names: Brooke Shields, Cary Elwes
Plotline: To escape a scandal, a bestselling author (Shields) journeys to Scotland, where she falls in love with a castle ― and faces off with the grumpy duke (Elwes) who owns it.
Available: on demand for subscribers
“Home Sweet Home Alone,” Disney+
Notable names: Archie Yates, Ellie Kemper
Plotline: A married couple tries to steal back a valuable heirloom from a troublesome kid. This is yet another “Home Alone” spinoff trying to recapture the magic of the 1990 original.
Available: on demand for subscribers
“Single All the Way,” Netflix
Notable names: Jennifer Coolidge, Michael Urie, Kathy Najimy
Plotline: Desperate to avoid his family’s judgment about being single, Peter (Urie) persuades best friend Nick to pose as his boyfriend on a trip home for the holidays.
Available: on demand for subscribers
“Silent Night,” AMC+
Notable name: Keira Knightley
Plotline: An extended family comes together for a Christmas dinner in the country on the eve of destruction.
Available: on demand for subscribers
“A Kiss Before Christmas,” Hallmark
Notable names: James Denton, Teri Hatcher, Marilu Henner
Plotline: When nice guy Ethan (Denton) wishes his life had taken a different course, he wakes up the next day to find he’s not married to his wife Joyce, he doesn’t have two teenage kids, and he’s CEO of his company. If he wants to reclaim his original life and the family he loves, he must convince Joyce he’s telling the truth and win her over … and he only has until Christmas Day.
Available: 6 p.m. Dec. 10, 10 p.m. Dec. 16, 10 a.m. Dec. 18, 10 p.m. Dec. 26
“Kirk Franklin’s Gospel Christmas,” Lifetime
Notable names: Demetria McKinney, Kirk Franklin
Plotline: Olivia (McKinney), a young assistant pastor, deals with the transition to be lead pastor at a new church a month before Christmas, and finds a little romance along the way.
Available: 10:04 p.m. Dec. 13
“Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas,” Roku
Notable names: Jane Levy, Skylar Astin, John Clarence Stewart, Mary Steenburgen
Plotline: Zoey (Levy) tries to recreate the holiday magic she’s familiar with during her first Christmas without her father. This is Roku’s one-film revival of the canceled NBC series in which Levy hears others singing songs to express their feelings.
Available: on demand for anybody starting Dec. 1
“Under the Christmas Tree,” Lifetime
Notable names: Ricki Lake, Elise Bauman, Tattiawna Jones
Plotline: Alma and Charlie crosses paths when Charlie finds the perfect tree for the Maine Governor’s Holiday Celebration right in Alma’s back yard.
Available: Dec. 19
“Candy Coated Christmas,” Discovery+
Notable names: Ree Drummond, Molly McCook
Plotline: A young woman (McCook) returns to her mother’s home town of Peppermint Hollow after her plans to launch a business are derailed by circumstance. Drummond, of the Food Network’s “The Pioneer Woman,” plays the owner of a bakery who befriends the woman and introduces her around town.
Available: on demand for subscribers
About the Author
