The Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas is an annual tradition that only seems to get bigger and more robust with every passing year. The holiday-themed slate of shows and movies typically begins in October — before Halloween is even over, the audacity! — and runs for more than two months, offering holiday-themed romantic comedies, frosty winter adventures, festive competition shows and murder mysteries. (Murders just go down easier when they’re Christmas-themed.) The Countdown to Christmas is already underway, but there are still dozens of great shows and movies to watch between now and Dec. 25.
While the Hallmark Channel comes standard with many cable plans, if you’ve cut the cord and are looking for a way to watch Countdown to Christmas, there are plenty of options. You can find Hallmark Channel favorites on Philo, Frndly, YouTube TV or Fubo, or get the standalone Hallmark Plus plan that includes a vast library of this year’s releases and older hits. Trying to save some money? You can watch all of this year’s new releases free with a Hallmark Plus BingePass on Hoopla if you have a library card.
Here’s a look at everything still to come on the 2025 Countdown to Christmas and the best ways to watch.
Mistletoe Murders, season 2 (Nov. 7)
The first season of Mistletoe Murders was released on the Hallmark Channel in October, and season 2 arrives just a few weeks later, showing you just how addictive this mystery series is. The show stars Sarah Drew as Emily, the proprietor of a Christmas-themed gift shop in the small town of Fletcher’s Grove (that’s an Easter egg for you Murder, She Wrote fans). Emily’s an excellent sleuth, a good thing as there’s a disproportionate number of murders in this town that need solving. Two new episodes of the show will drop weekly on Nov. 7, 14 and 21.
Christmas Above the Clouds (Nov. 8)
Christmas Above the Clouds is a riff on A Christmas Carol and, in case you’re someone who thinks Hallmark movies are bland or boring, let’s see how you feel when I tell you that the main character of this film is named Ella Neezer. ELLA NEEZER! Erin Krakow, who also stars in When Calls the Heart, plays the Scrooge-inspired character, a workaholic with no real sense of the Christmas spirit who attempts to skip the holiday by leaving town. Then she boards her flight to Australia and ends up being visited by three spirits, as well as by her ex-boyfriend (Tyler Hynes).
A Keller Christmas Vacation (Nov. 9)
Jonathan Bennett has become a familiar face on Hallmark, and in A Keller Christmas Vacation, he stars with Brandon Routh and Eden Sher as siblings who have drifted apart but reunite when their parents take them (force them?) on a holiday cruise down the Danube. A fun family comedy, the film premieres on Nov. 9. (The movie is actually a pretty good advertisement for river cruises. Send help, I’m turning into my parents.)
Finding Mr. Christmas, season 2 (Nov. 10)
Finding Mr. Christmas is Hallmark’s first reality competition series. Hosted by Jonathan Bennett, the show features 10 aspiring actors competing in a variety of entertaining challenges “with a Hallmark twist.” The winner will be crowned Hallmark’s next leading man and take home the title of “Mr. Christmas.” The show premiered on Oct. 27 and new episodes will air weekly on Mondays through Dec. 15 when the winner is revealed. A reunion episode will air on Saturday, Dec. 20.
Baked With Love: Holiday (Nov. 10)
Tamera Mowry-Housley hosts Hallmark’s baking competition Baked With Love: Holiday, where she and judges Anna Haugh and Vaughn Vreeland set out to determine the best home bakers who compete in a series of holiday-themed challenges using their own family recipes. The show premiered on Oct. 27 and airs weekly on Mondays through Dec. 15.
Three Wisest Men (Nov. 15)
A trio of Hallmark Channel’s popular leading men play the titular Three Wisest Men in this upcoming holiday comedy. Three Wisest Men is the third film in an annual holiday series (see also: Three Wise Men and a Baby and Three Wiser Men and a Boy) about the Brenner brothers. They’re three grown, just barely-adult men who live near their mom (Margaret Colin) and are navigating life changes, new relationships, and the fact that their mom is putting their childhood home up for sale, and this is the last Christmas they’ll be spending there.
Tidings for the Season (Nov. 16)
Tamera Mowry-Housley stars as Lucy, a single mom taking care of her son Robbie (Elijah-Justus Lewis) in Tidings for the Season, out on Nov. 16. Robbie’s a big fan of a local newscaster named Adam (B.J. Britt) and is excited when he gets to meet his hero and, this just in, it turns out Lucy and Adam might just be the perfect co-anchor to one another.
Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story (Nov. 22)
Hallmark and the NFL is an unlikely pairing … or is it? Last year, one of the best holiday films on the channel was Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story (it featured cameos from Donna Kelce and a kitten named Catrick Mahomes, what more do you need to know?). This year, the football romance tradition continues, and this time we’re headed to Western New York where two lifelong Buffalo Bills fans find love … with a little help from the Bills Mafia. Cameos in this film include Coach Sean McDermott and Bills players Damar Hamlin, Ray Davis, Dawson Knox and more.
Melt My Heart This Christmas (Nov. 23)
A glassblower named Holly James (Laura Vandervoort) secretly displays her work at a holiday fair under a pseudonym and when her work takes off and her identity is revealed, the people she’s closest to, including the fair’s director, Jack (Stephen Huszar), feel betrayed. Has she … blown her chances at love with Jack? Will she be able to melt his heart by the end? Can she renew his faith in her? My glass terminology is limited but I’m guessing they make it work. The film premieres on Sunday, Nov. 23.
We Met in December (Nov. 27)
If you’re looking for a cozy way to cap off your Thanksgiving, the charming romance We Met in December premieres on Thursday, Nov. 27. In the film, Autumn Reeser and Niall Matter star as Annie Lane and Dave Weeks, two travelers who spend a magical, romantic evening together on an unexpected layover. When they eventually get on their flights home, they forget to exchange numbers and so each of them ventures out on a quest to find the other based on the limited information they have. All you had to do was NameDrop, guys!
The Snow Must Go On (Nov. 28)
In The Snow Must Go On, a former Broadway star agrees to direct his niece’s high school Christmas musical in the hopes of impressing an influential Broadway producer. The film, which stars Heather Hemmens and Corey Cott, premieres as part of a Black Friday double feature on the Hallmark Channel, along with The More the Merrier. If you’re into musical theater backdrops, check out last year’s A Carol for Two, another Broadway-themed holiday romance.
The More the Merrier (Nov. 28)
Three women go into labor — on Christmas Eve, during a blizzard! — and one of them is the only OB/GYN for miles around. That leaves the only two doctors on call at the hospital (Rachel Boston and Brendan Penny) to bring these babies into the world while they’re snowed in. The More the Merrier gets delivered on Nov. 28.
An Alpine Holiday (Nov. 29)
Sisters Faith and Kelly decide to honor their grandmother’s dying wish by traveling to the French Alps for Christmas to re-create her first trip there with their grandfather. While the two women rekindle their sisterly bond, Kelly and their French mountaineer guide, Frederic, also spark a romance. Ashley Williams and Laci J. Mailey co-star.
A Grand Ole Opry Christmas (Nov. 29)
A Grand Ole Opry Christmas (out Nov. 29) is the perfect movie for a country music fan. The movie is set at the famed Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and features cameos from loads of country stars including Bill Anderson, Brad Paisley, Dailey & Vincent, Drew Baldridge, Jamey Johnson, Maggie Baugh, Mickey Guyton, Pam Tillis, Rhett Akins, Riders in the Sky, Suzy Bogguss and Tigirlily Gold. Actors Nikki DeLoach and Kristoffer Polaha star in this, twangy, time-hopping romance.
The Christmas Cup (Nov. 30)
Romance blooms between a marine (Rhiannon Fish) and a local fire chief (Ben Rosenbaum) when they join forces to lead the annual Christmas Cup competition between their town and the rival town nearby. The film arrives on Hallmark on Nov. 29.
Christmas at the Catnip Cafe (Nov. 29)
A Hallmark movie set in a cat café? Is someone reading my vision board?? In this new festive feline-focused film, Erin Cahill stars as Olivia, a woman who has partially inherited a cat café. Problem is, she doesn’t really want a cat café. As Olivia spends her holidays there trying to convince the veterinarian, Ben (Paul Campbell), to sell it, she ends up falling for him.
Twelve Dates Till Christmas (Dec. 5)
Mae Whitman stars as Kate, a textile designer in England whose best friends sign her up for a holiday-themed dating service without her knowing. She reluctantly joins, but has no idea just how much her life is about to change as a result. This six-episode series premieres on Dec. 5 and airs two episodes weekly, with new episodes dropping on Dec. 12 and Dec. 19. Jane Seymour, Mary McDonnell and Nathaniel Parker co-star.
A Suite Holiday Romance (Dec. 13)
A Suite Holiday Romance involves a case of mistaken identity — or at least, a case of not being quite honest about one’s identity — as two strangers (Jessy Schram and Dominic Sherwood) meet at a New York hotel at Christmastime and fall for each other under false pretenses. Can their love be real if it was initially based on lies?
Oy to the World! (Dec. 14)
In the pantheon of wonderfully silly, punny titles of Hallmark movies, Oy to the World! might be my second favorite of all time. (First place always and forever will be Roux The Day: A Gourmet Detective Mystery.) Oy to the World! is, as the name subtly implies, an interfaith romance between an Episcopal choir director and a Jewish choir director, who also happen to be longtime rivals, forced to work together for a fundraiser to help with construction of the local temple. They connect through the power of song and … I think I might have just described the perfect movie.
A Make or Break Christmas (Dec. 20)
Hunter King and Evan Roderick star in A Make or Break Holiday as a couple hosting their first big family Christmas. It proves to be more stressful and overwhelming than they realized and it pushes them to the brink. Just as they’re on the verge of a breakup, their families arrive to celebrate, forcing them to fake their way through a jolly holiday.
The Christmas Baby (Dec. 21)
The Christmas Baby is the second film on the Hallmark holiday calendar that riffs on Three Men and a Baby. That 1980s movie, about a baby dropped on the doorstep of three unsuspecting bachelors, loosely inspired the Hallmark film Three Wise Men and a Baby (which evolved into the 2025 sequel Three Wisest Men), and now it also seems to have inspired The Christmas Baby. The film stars Ali Liebert and Katherine Barrell as two women who unexpectedly have a baby dropped at their door and have to figure out how to care for him while juggling their already complicated lives.
Ready, Set Glow! (Dec. 22)
Hallmark leading man Wes Brown hosts this holiday lights showcase spectacular that takes viewers to some of the most impressive, festive displays around. Wes will introduce the special people behind them and share their heartfelt — and often emotional stories — behind their displays and how they contribute to the community. All episodes of the show have previously premiered on Hallmark Plus, and it makes its series debut on the Hallmark Channel Dec. 22.
