Over the last several years, Hallmark has become rather famous for its heavy Christmas movies slate, ramping up the number of movies released year after year for the last several years. Unfortunately, due to a lot of unforeseen circumstances in 2020, I don’t believe we’ll be getting any headlines about Hallmark hitting new holiday movie heights in 2020. If anything, we’re seeing the opposite as the network even cancelled a staple: the When Calls The Heart Christmas movie. Obviously, Hearties are feeling all the feels.
First and foremost, if you aren’t up on the news, Hallmark actually made the announcement When Calls The Heart would be lacking in Christmas cheer this year. It’s worth noting the network did try to brighten the mood a little by mentioning a “special surprise” would be coming.
The lack of a When Calls The Heart Christmas film does surprise me a little, simply because the popular Hallmark period drama was one of the first productions to get back to work after the quarantine period experienced in countries all over the world earlier this year. Many fans were simply grateful there will be any When Calls The Heart coming up at all thanks to Season 8 being able to get off the ground with mask-wearing, quarantining between filming and all kinds of new protocols. Per fan Terry Ann:
Thanks to everyone involved at WCTH in these difficult times during the pandemic. My Christmas wish is everyone be safe while filming in Vancouver. Looking forward to seeing S8.
A lot of fans were bummed about this update, which is to be expected. When Calls The Heart has consistently been one of Hallmark’s highest-rated and most well-liked programs on the network, even spawning a sequel When Hope Calls. (The sequel originally aired as part of the streaming program before hopping to the network itself.) Anna B's take?:
Wait... What? No #WCTH Christmas special? Awww, such a 2020 bummer. Thank you to the cast and crew for all that you are doing in such a difficult year.
Given “2020 bummer” seems to be one of the big themes of this entire year, it’s no surprise some fans basically said given the way the whole year is going, this is one of the most 2020 developments so far and we haven't even reached the tail end of the year yet.
A fan or two even decided to speculate about what the “special surprise” could ultimately be, and some of the guesses weren’t half bad. Fan Pamela Smith said:
Ultimately, Hallmark fans will be getting some holiday movies this year. The network has been making strides to change up some of that content a bit as well, adding more diverse storylines and even some other holiday tales – including movies about Hannukah—in recent years. The lineup for 2020 has already basically been revealed by the cabler for 2020 and productions have been working in “pods” to make the magic happen.
Still, there's a fairly full slate of fall content ahead before we get to Christmas movies along with When Calls The Heart Season 8, which is expected to hit the network in 2021. To see what’s headed to TV before then, take a look at our full schedule.
