The Hallmark Channel will premiere its first two Hanukkah-themed movies this month in honor of the holiday, which starts this year on Dec. 22. “Our audience is very vocal, and they tell us when they’d like to see more of something,” says Michelle Vicary, Crown Media’s executive vice president of programming. “We’ve heard over the years that they would like to see [a Hanukkah movie] if a script came in that we liked. And that happened this year — twice.”
“Holiday Date” premiers on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. Brooke (Brittany Bristow) is dumped right before Christmas and enlists the help of actor Joel (Matt Cohen) to play the role of her boyfriend for the holidays. Brooke had described her ex-boyfriend as “Mr. Christmas” to her family and worries about keeping up the ruse when she discovers Joel is Jewish.
In “Double Holiday,” which premiers on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m., career-minded Rebecca (Carly Pope) finds her plans for Hanukkah don’t go as expected when a promotion opportunity comes up at work. When the company CEO asks Rebecca and her insufferable office mate, Chris (Kristoffer Polaha) — also her main competitor for the promotion — to plan the company’s Christmas party, she realizes they must overcome their opposing styles to succeed. As their planning progresses, Chris embraces Rebecca and her family’s Hanukkah traditions when he joins their nightly celebrations. In turn, Rebecca begins to see him in a new light.
