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Hallmark
Movies, Series and "Hearties" |
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Even though the Christmas movies follow a certain pattern, you can
predict what is going to happen and you know there is a happy ending,
for a lot of people that is important. Not everybody has a nice neat
Christmas or someone to share it with and we live in a world where too
often both in love and other matters there are not happy endings. While
we realize that Hallmark movies may not be everybody’s cup of tea, for
some people they do offer hope, they bring comfort and they remind us
that home is where our hearts are and love is with whom our hearts
belong.
The themes of romance, family, reconciliation, finding or restoring the
good in people and the absence of violence are consistent throughout
Hallmark / Crown Media (the parent company) programming whether it is
the series When Calls The Heart,
now in its fifth season or the
Good Witch another Hallmark production,
Chesapeake Shores or movie
sequels such as the Gourmet
Detective or Murder She
Baked. Yes some might also say that there is an underlying theme of
Christian values in the programming, not overt, not pushy, but it is
there, however this piece is not about religion today, it is about why
the Hallmark brand continues to grow in market share. The actors, actresses and executives of Hallmark have taken the experience one step further for “hearties” their devoted followers, because they interact with the viewers while the movies are being broadcast, they take time to reply to specific messages on Twitter or to hold Facebook Live sessions and yes that is part of marketing, but it is also part of letting people know that you are grateful and that you care. What is refreshing about that atittude is it runs against the grain of what the entertainment industry often does, which is to say you will like this, sit there, be quiet and oh did we happen to mention that you will like this. No, what Hallmark does is take to heart the feedback that they receive from their "hearties" and yes that poor pun was fully intended.
The recently concluded airing of the
When Calls The Heart
Christmas movie, The Christmas Wishing Tree trended as # 1 on Twitter,
# 1 on iTunes
and once again was a leader in market share for its time slot.
Chesapeake Shores the
television series often dominates social media while it is being
broadcast and the market share for the Hallmark Christmas movies was the
greatest in their time slots for all of cable television.
If people are looking for violence on their television screens or
lewdness they can turn on the news channels or easily enough find that
through the internet. We live in a society that too often in the
business world has returned to a 1940s or ‘50s style of management that
bullies its employees, where big government disdains the opinions of the
people it was elected to serve and where the same media outlets, which
once mocked the tabloids, have now become them. Hallmark's success is
demonstrating that there is a segment of our population that is
hungering for something different, an alternative. It is not about
seeing the world through rose colored glasses, but it is instead about
discovering or rediscovering that which makes us happy, brings us peace
and hopefully gives us an opportunity to show our children that there is
another way to go through life.
So to Hallmark yes we talk to the characters that grace our screens and
yes some will certainly reach for tissues. There are people who will cry
tears, because they hunger for those feelings of love and belonging
again and some will shed tears of gratitude for what they have in their
lives. We will laugh as Maggie Price (Brooke Burns) keeps chef turned
detective Henry Ross (Dylan Neal) in check, we will fall in love over
and over again with Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow) from Hope Valley,
because of the goodness that she always sees in people. We will laugh
with Allie Shaw (Ashley Williams) and her challenge of keeping her truck
running in Evergreen, but oh how devoted she is to that truck, because
“It was my grandpa’s truck,” and through every one of those child actors
from Imogen Tear (When Calls The Heart) to Jaeda Lily Miller (Christmas
In Evergreen) to Brooklyn Rae Silzer (Christmas In Homestead)
who remind us what it was like to see the world through the eyes of a
child and to believe that there is no wish that is too big. With
Most importantly your screenwriters, your cast, your directors and your
crews continue to remind us what it feels like to fall in love and you
remind us that whether it is Taylor Cole’s Jessica McEllis (Christmas In
Homestead) or Alicia Witt’s Kim Ross and David Alpay's Zeke in
The Mistletoe Inn that
sometimes something beautiful happens in our lives, while we are busy
chasing what we thought was more important.
Yes we realize this is the world of entertainment, but good songs, good
movies, great performances and good stories were all meant to inspire
and to evoke a strong emotional response. The best part of all is we can
enjoy your movies, your series and your programs with all the members of
our families. So on behalf of “Hearties” of which the publisher of this
magazine considers himself to be one, we say thank you.
--- Riveting Riffs Magazine
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Now
that Christmas is over I thought I would take a few moments to talk
about Hallmark Christmas movies and more generally the programming that
exists on the Hallmark Channel and on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
Channel.