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Great American Family Releases 2023 Christmas Movie Lineup

Great American Family Releases 2023 Christmas Movie Lineup

By Movieguide® Contributor 

The Great American Family network has released its 2023 Christmas lineup, featuring stars Danica McKellar, Chad Michael Murray, Candace Cameron Bure, Trevor Donovan and more. 

The network will debut 20 new original Christmas movies as part of this year’s Great American Christmas, beginning on October 21, PEOPLE reported. 

GAF’s CEO Bill Abbott says that what separates his network from competitors is its commitment to faith and family values.

“There’s a huge blank space in this category and we are focused relentlessly on high quality content that will satisfy the underserved viewer, in a way that entertains and inspires,” he shared. “There’s a lot of content out there that goes in a different direction and we are going to stay in that family, faith and hometown values area.”

Many of the network’s stars are vocal about their faith journeys.

In A PARIS CHRISTMAS WALTZ, “Emma (Jen Lilley) relinquishes her job so a colleague with a family will keep his. Contemplating life’s next steps, Emma meets a professional dancer, Leo (Matthew Morrison) whose love for competitive dancing is waning, until a once in a lifetime opportunity arises for the novice to join the pro and sweep all of Paris off its feet.”

Lilley is a former Movieguide® Awards host and is an outspoken activist for foster car and adoption.

“I think that if you want to take care of children in a really dedicated manner, especially children who are in foster care who really need a lot of love and attention, and they need a lot of consistency, then I would not have been able to successfully do the show at the same time… Something had to give,” Lilley told Forbes.

A ROYAL CHRISTMAS ROMANCE follows “Bella Sparks (Danica McKellar), owner of Bella Sparks Couture, [as she] takes on a demanding new client ‘Stefan’ (Damon Runyan) to outfit for a week of high stakes meetings and events after his luggage goes missing. Stefan asks Bella to be his “official plus one” for many of the formal soirees, a request Bella accepts with good humor. Imagine Bella’s reaction when she accidentally discovers ‘Stefan’ is Stefan William Francis Brown, the Duke of Tangford.”

McKellar is working on strengthening her Christian faith, and often shares devotionals in her Bible bits videos posted to Great American Community.

“When have we found ourselves forcing solutions instead of humbly asking God for guidance?” McKellar said.

“For the Bible to have the same exact dynamics happening in the stories again and again, it’s got to mean that we’re supposed to pay attention. And I have to believe it’s so that we can avoid making those same kinds of mistakes. One of these recurring themes is ego versus humility—thinking we can do stuff on our own versus asking for God’s help,” THE WONDER YEARS’ star said.

BLESSINGS OF CHRISTMAS stars “Lori Loughlin, James Tupper, and Jesse Hutch: A TV chef (Loughlin) is divinely inspired to take over her late aunt’s charity with help from a new friend (Hutch) and handsome business associate next door (Tupper),” per PEOPLE.

GAF was the first network to welcome Loughlin back after her college admissions scandal. She also attended this year’s Movieguide® Awards where she reunited with Candace Cameron Bure.

In ‘TWAS THE TEXT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, “Addie (Merritt Patterson), a New York City chiropractor mistakenly receives a text from ‘Nana’… Nana invites Addie to spend the holiday in Vermont. It is picture-postcard perfect and exactly as Nana described except for one surprise. Nana’s single son, James (Trevor Donovan), a traveling doctor is also home for the holidays. Over three consecutive years, James and Addie are together during the holidays, though it isn’t until they are both single that they begin to see each other in a different light.”

CHRISTMAS ON WINDMILL WAY stars Christa Taylor Brown and Chad Michael Murray. “To save her family’s legacy windmill, a woman (Taylor Brown) must remind her ex-boyfriend (Michael Murray) of the best of their hometown,” PEOPLE reported. 

In BRINGING CHRISTMAS HOME, a “retired military officer, now Military History professor, Caroline Upton (Jill Wagner) is enlisted to assist antiques store owner, Russell Carlisle (Paul Greene) in finding the family of WWII Army officer Orin Newton before Christmas with the hope of returning precious personal artifacts – Orin’s dress uniform, medals, and a stack of love letters from his beloved Alice who waits for him back home…Caroline and Russell then search the love letters for clues as to what happened to Orin and whether he ever made it home to Alice.”

Wagner recently shared about her strong Christian faith and the moment she came to Christ.

“There was a time in my life I felt alone, sad, distant like there was nothing left to fight for…then I looked up, asked for help and HE came,” she said. “I just want to remind people that God is always around if you ever need to speak to him. HE listens.”

MY CHRISTMAS HERO follows “US Army reservist and orthopedic physician, Nicole Ramsey (Candace Cameron Bure) [who] is dedicated to serving military service members and their families at the Joint Military Base in Lacey, Washington, home of I Corps and the 62nd Airlift Wing. This Christmas, with the help of many dedicated heroes, Dr. Ramsey is on a mission to honor a special fallen soldier and bring much needed healing to her own family.”

Bure’s previous movie with GAF, A CHRISTMAS … PRESENT won several awards at the 2023 Movieguide® Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry.

“Guys- 🙈 I’m pretty darn excited for my company @candyrock.entertainment 🍭💎! Our first movie out of the gate, A Christmas…Present and we won Best Family Television from @MovieGuide Awards,” she wrote on Instagram. “I love my business partners/work husbands/long time friends so very very much @jbrooksred and @fordenglerth . A huge thanks to @geraldwebb @jimheadjr @chad_m_christopher , @bradkrevoy @brentryangreen @iamrandywayne . Massive thank you to @billabbotthc and @gactv for being unashamed to share scripture and the name of Jesus on cable television and for your dedication to faith and family entertainment.”

Other movies include: 

  • 12 GAMES OF CHRISTMAS
  • A CHRISTMAS COMMISSION
  • A CHRISTMAS FOR THE AGES
  • A DASH OF CHRISTMAS 
  • A MODEL CHRISTMAS
  • A ROYAL CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY 
  • A TIME CAPSULE CHRISTMAS
  • DESTINE 2: CHRISTMAS ONCE MORE
  • MISTLETOE MOMENTS
  • OUR CHRISTMAS WEDDING 
  • PEPPERMINT & POSTCARDS
  • SANTA, MAYBE
  • THE CHRISTMAS REGIFT

 Movieguide® previously reported on the success of last year’s Great American Christmas: 

The 2022 Christmas season has hardly begun, but Great American Family is already breaking records!

Their first holiday movie of 2022, DESTINED AT CHRISTMAS, premiered October 22 and broke “all network ratings records” in all key demographics, including total households, total viewers, women 25-54 and women 18-49.

DESTINED AT CHRISTMAS has been broadcast three times, earning a million total viewers. 

Bill Abbott, the president and CEO of Great American Media, celebrated this milestone on Twitter. 

“Not all Christmas movies are created equal,” he wrote. “We understand better than anybody how to produce quality Christmas movies and that great content wins. Viewers have found that in our #GreatAmericanChristmas programming event on #GreatAmericanFamily!”

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