Hallmark gets it right

My dear friend Allison works for Hallmark Channel. As I’m sure everyone knows, their Christmas movies are a world unto themselves, and I love hearing the backstage stories. Allison is here for Thanksgiving and she said she wanted to show me one of their movies this year. She said she normally wouldn’t “make me” watch one of them – although I enjoy them (if they’re good)!! – but that this one felt special to her and she really wanted to share it.

It’s a takeoff Christmas version of Three Men and a Baby and it’s called Three Wise Men and a Baby. We watched it and I am so glad I saw it. It’s sweet and funny and at one point I even tear-ed up (the moment was an homage to Florence Henderson in The Brady Bunch emerging from the crowd singing “Silent Night” to help inspire the crowd … I think it was “Silent Night” I couldn’t find it on YouTube and … sorry. This shit works).

Three Wise Men and a Baby had three separate plots – as opposed to the stereotypical one – and the three lead guys – Andrew Walker, Tyler Hynes and Paul Campbell – play adult bickering brothers, and they were adorable and their dynamic was charming. The script was written by Paul Campbell as well. The whole thing felt very confident. Cheesy? Well, maybe? But there’s a time and a place for that. Besides, I didn’t find it so. Its moments were unforced, and you may see where it all was going, but there’s a comfort in that too.

I said to Allison afterwards something along the lines of, “I like movies that do what they set out to do and do it without embarrassment. I appreciate movies that are freely themselves, without pushing or being lazily reliant on cliche. This movie is just freely itself and you can feel it.” The mom of the three guys is played by Margaret Colin, and she was in the original Three Men and a Baby, a smart fun bit of casting if you picked up on it.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The next day a writer from Variety got the ratings scoop and it’s a big one: Three Wise Men and a Baby averaged 3.6 million viewers – which, in this day and age, is massive, making it the #1 watched cable movie in all of 2022. Not just Hallmark. but all of cable TV. !!!

Allison shared with me the article and I just wanted to share it because

1. I enjoyed the movie if you want to check it out and
2. it was cool to see my friend so excited and I was happy she decided to “make me” watch the movie.