What’s the recipe for Hallmark and Lifetime holiday movies? Small towns, mystery men and baked goods.

It goes like this: A high-powered career woman returns to a small town where she unexpectedly reconnects with a man with a heart of gold. Together, they embark on a quest — maybe to save a family farm, a struggling business or even each other. As love blossoms and tough choices are made, all set against a magical holiday backdrop, the story wraps up with a happy ending and a renewed sense of purpose.

Sound familiar? It’s the formula for almost every holiday movie on the Hallmark Channel or Lifetime network — and it’s almost always sure to deliver.

“People love holiday movies because they’re predictable, they’re positive and they make us feel good,” Makana Chock, a media psychology researcher and professor at Syracuse University, told Yahoo Entertainment, noting that they may even stimulate the release of feel-good chemicals like dopamine and oxytocin.

Beyond the surface-level joy, however, these movies also tap into a “fundamental need for belonging,” media psychologist Pamela Rutledge told Yahoo Entertainment. Such predictability “creates expectations of a safe emotional space” during the holiday season.

But how did these made-for-TV movies become synonymous with the holidays? Let’s take a closer look.

The roots of a genre

Before Hallmark was known for its holiday movies, it was (and remains to be) a humble greeting card company founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall.

Building on its legacy of nostalgia and togetherness, the company ventured into television in 1951 with Amahl and the Night Visitors, an opera sponsored by Hallmark for a Christmas Eve broadcast. It became the first of many specials under the Hallmark Hall of Fame banner, cementing the company’s place in holiday entertainment.

By the 1990s, Hallmark had earned a reputation for its original holiday content, centering mostly on characters rediscovering community and purpose through the magic of the Christmas season — a formula that became a staple for many of its holiday films.

The launch of the Hallmark Channel in 2001, followed by its “Countdown to Christmas” marathon in 2009, marked a turning point for the company as it began dominating the holiday movie scene, beginning with the channel’s first original holiday movie, Santa Jr., in 2002. Lifetime joined the trend in 2012 with the network’s “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” lineup, which solidified the channels as go-to destinations for holiday entertainment.

“Audiences resonate deeply with the way Hallmark captures the essence of the holiday spirit,” Samantha DiPippo, senior vice president of programming at Hallmark Media, told Yahoo Entertainment of its holiday films. “It’s a tradition that brings people together in so many meaningful ways.”

And yes, the demand is still high. Last year alone, the Hallmark Channel released 31 original holiday movies — plus an additional nine for the “Miracles of Christmas” lineup on its sister channel Hallmark Movies & Mysteries — two of which debuted to roughly 3 million viewers in its network release, per Forbes.

What makes a traditional holiday movie?

According to Chock, a classic holiday movie plot centers on a main character (often an outsider either by choice or circumstance) who “initially rejects or is rejected by a group, whether that’s family or a community.” As a result, “they may reject Christmas itself. Or they may love it, but they’re celebrating it all alone.”

In the process of the film, the main character is “welcomed back into a group,” usually with the help of a charming love interest and a picturesque setting. By the end, love flourishes, justice is restored and the lead character finds belonging.

Of course, not every story is the same. A New York Times analysis found that while plotlines differed, most holiday movies released by Hallmark and Lifetime between 2017 and 2023 shared familiar tropes, designed to create a world that feels both safe and aspirational — small towns, Christmas Eve festivities, struggling businesses and even the occasional baking competition.

Casting also plays a key role. Familiar faces like Lacey Chabert, Tatyana Ali and Candace Cameron Bure, known for their wholesome relatability, have appeared in dozens of Christmas films for the Hallmark Channel and are synonymous with the genre.

Male actors like Andrew W. Walker, Corey Sevier and others have also starred in numerous films for the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime, adding a comforting sense of continuity for viewers.

‘Hallmark is for everyone’

While these movies have captured hearts, they’ve also faced criticism for their lack of diversity.

According to the New York Times, 18% of Hallmark movies released between 2017 and 23 featured nonwhite stars on the posters, compared to 44% of those released by Lifetime. In recent years, however, the networks have made strides by introducing LGBTQ couples, interracial relationships and stories centered on underrepresented communities.

In 2020, Hallmark aired its first movie featuring a same-sex couple, The Christmas House. Two years later, it premiered The Holiday Sitter, the first to have an LGBTQ couple as its leads. Both movies starred LGBTQ actor Jonathan Bailey. Lifetime followed suit in 2020 with the premiere of The Christmas Setup, the first LGBTQ-themed holiday film in the network’s history.

Chock credits the shift to “a desire to appeal to a younger demographic that is not only more accepting, but actually has greater expectations” when it comes to representation.

DiPippo insisted that when it comes to holiday love stories, “Hallmark is for everyone.”

“We want all our viewers to see themselves and their love stories reflected in our programming,” she told Yahoo, noting that Hallmark aims to produce content that “reflects a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, perspectives and lifestyles in the form of storytelling.”

Not everyone has embraced these changes, however. Great American Family, a newer competitor led by former Hallmark executive Bill Abbott, positioned itself as a faith-forward alternative.

In 2022, actress Bure, who left the Hallmark umbrella to become chief creative officer for Great American Family, said the network would keep “traditional marriage at the core” of its holiday offerings — a view that Abbott later dismissed.

“Holidays are for everyone,” acknowledged Rutledge, who stressed that changes reflecting more inclusivity were necessary to address a “growing demand from audiences for stories that reflect the real world.”

The evolution continues

As streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu have entered the holiday movie space with hits like Happiest Season (2020) and this year’s Hot Frosty and The Merry Gentlemen, Chock said the genre has evolved to include edgier humor but still retains its core themes of love, redemption and “being part of a family.”

Not to mention, streaming services have an “incredible amount of personalized data” that’s utilized to better understand what appeals to certain demographics, she said. This allows streamers to develop a more targeted strategy when creating new stories for the holiday season.

Hallmark has evolved to include its first holiday limited scripted series Holidazed and Mistloetoe Murders as well as its first-ever reality competition series, Finding Mr. Christmas, all of which are debuting this season on Hallmark+.

“You’re seeing changes in how holiday movies are approached,” said Chock. “We’re even seeing more holiday movies that involve Santa getting a little sexy. I mean, when did Santa become a sex symbol?”

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