The holiday season has taken over TV and streaming. (Photo illustration: Alex Cochran for Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images)
Welcome to the It List Winter Guide, where we share our picks for the best in entertainment. Catch the weekly It List here for the latest releases we can’t wait to watch, stream, listen, read and binge.
As we approach the end of 2024, a huge slate of new holiday movies is inevitable. This year they are a little spicier than normal.
While Hallmark and Great American Family tend to release healthier family fare, Lifetime and Netflix are embracing mischievous and fun elements in their latest Christmas movies.
There are more than 100 new original holiday movies coming to cable TV and streaming services this year, which may seem intimidating, but Yahoo Entertainment is here to help you explore the festive frontier.
Quality mark
Nothing rings in the holidays like a heartwarming Hallmark movie. The network obviously knows this and plans to release 47 movies (and four festive TV shows) between October and December. You’ll see many familiar faces (and many familiar themes) in the days leading up to Christmas – a fun tradition that feels like coming home for the holidays.
Hunter King and Tyler Hynes in “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.” (Handmark)
Our choice: Holiday Touchdown: A Love Story for the Chiefs
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When: Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story premiered on November 30.
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What you need to know: A die-hard Chiefs fan and her family compete for the Fan of the Year competition, but along the way she falls in love with one of the team’s front office employees.
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Stars: Hunter King, Tyler Hynes
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Why I recommend it: You may already know that there’s a new Christmas movie loosely based on Taylor Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce, but Holiday touchdown comes from a fully licensed partnership between Hallmark and the NFL – and features real Chiefs players and Donna Kelce herself.
Here’s Hallmark’s full release schedule for the holiday movies:
This time every year (24 October)
Operation Nutcracker (October 25)
The Christmas Charade (October 26)
The Five Years of Christmas (October 27)
A Carol for two (November 1)
Our holiday story (November 2)
Holiday mismatch (November 3)
Trivia at St. Nick’s (November 8)
Santa Tell me (9 November)
‘Tis the season to be Irish (November 10)
Christmas with the Singhs (November 15)
Jingle Bell run (November 16)
Confessions of a Christmas Letter (November 17)
A novel Noël (November 21)
Unwrapping Christmas: Lily’s Destiny (November 21)
Christmas on call (November 22)
Three wiser men and a boy (November 23)
To have and to go on holiday (November 24)
Christmas under the lights (November 27)
Debbie Macomber’s Happy Mrs. Miracle (November 28)
Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia’s Reunion (November 28)
A Christmas from the 90s (November 29)
Deck the walls (November 29)
Believe in Christmas (November 30)
The Finnish line (1 December)
The Christmas Quest (1 December)
A dance in the snow (5 December)
Season’s greetings from Cherry Lane (5 December)
Private Princess Christmas (6 December)
Sugar picked (7 December)
Lea’s perfect gift (8 December)
Everything I need for Christmas (December 12)
Happy holidays from Cherry Lane (December 12)
Hanukkah on the rocks (December 13)
The Sinterklaas (December 14)
Following Yonder Star (December 15)
Trade in Christmas (December 19)
Deck the halls on Cherry Lane (December 19)
Happy Howlidays (21 December)
Netflix
Some of Netflix’s new holiday movies are particularly racy and shirtless this year, creating a niche that stands out from Hallmark’s more family-friendly films. Yet there is something for everyone: from Sabrina Carpenter’s cheeky Christmas special to a thriller that happens to take place during the holidays.
Dustin Milligan in ‘Hot Frosty’. (Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Our choice: Hot icy
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When: Hot icy premiered on November 13.
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What you need to know: A widowed restaurant owner accidentally brings a sweet, often topless snowman to life.
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Stars: Lacey Chabert, Dustin Milligan
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Why I recommend it: Don’t let the silly premise distract you from how sweet and genuinely funny this movie is! Supporting cast members like Craig Robinson and Joe Lo Truglio kept me beaming the entire time.
Here are the rest of the new Netflix holiday movies for 2024:
Meet me next Christmas (November 6)
The cheerful gentlemen (November 20)
Our little secret (November 27)
That Christmas (December 4)
A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter (6 December)
Mary (6 December)
Continue (December 13)
Lifespan
While Lifetime offers many of the tried-and-true classic stories in the same vein as Hallmark, the network has also been known to get a little steamy. From the latest film from the writer behind it A cowboy Christmas novel to classic G fare, Lifetime’s holiday movies balance naughty and nice.
Sasha Pieterse and Mitchell Slaggert in ‘A Carpenter Christmas Romance’. (Lifespan)
Our choice: A carpenter’s Christmas novel
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When: A carpenter’s Christmas novel premieres on December 21.
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What you need to know: After facing backlash for hinting at killing off a beloved character, a novelist retreats to her childhood home, where she reconnects with a former crush who is now a woodworker helping rebuild the town after a fire.
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Judgement: Not yet announced
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Stars: Sasha Pieterse, Mitchell Slaggert
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Why I recommend it: While the carpenter question is neither Sabrina nor Jesus, the film is still about my favorite trope of a city girl returning home and falling in love with a small-town boy – and writer Sarah Drew promises to take it one step further. bring than last year.
Christmas at Plumhill Manor (November 16)
Holiday in Happy Hollow (November 17)
Christmas in the spotlight (November 23)
Kind regards, Truly Christmas (November 24)
We Three Kings by Bebe Winans (November 30)
Christmas making or baking (1 December)
A very cheerful beauty salon (7 December)
How to fall in love by Christmas (8 December)
The holiday junkie (December 14)
Christmas at the Alpaca Farm (December 15)
Engaged at Christmas (22 December)
Big American family
The cable TV network’s Great American Christmas lineup is back for a fourth year and this time there are 16 new movies. Bill Abbott, president and CEO of Great American Media, said the network differentiates itself from others by offering faith-based films that “embrace the hope that the season transcends each of us into our best selves.”
Danica McKellar and Oliver Rice in ‘A Cinderella Christmas Ball’. (Large American family)
Our choice: A Cinderella Christmas bauble
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When: A Cinderella Christmas bauble premiered on November 29.
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What you need to know: A woman goes on a whirlwind journey to a small European country in search of more information about her biological parents, but ends up becoming a prince’s dance instructor before a very important ball.
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Stars: Danica McKellar, Oliver Rice
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Why I recommend it: It’s like Cinderella meet Princess diaries immediately Dancing with the stars twist.
Christmas in Scotland (October 19)
A proposal for a Christmas castle (October 20)
A vintage Christmas (26 October)
Christmas fabric (November 2)
A royal Christmas ballet (9 November)
One Christmas less travelled (November 16)
A little women’s Christmas (November 23)
Sleigh bells and sugar plums (November 24)
Wreathmaker Christmas (November 30)
Sweet Christmas at home (1 December)
Once upon a time there was a Christmas wish (7 December)
Get it back for Christmas (December 14)
A shelter and season’s greetings (December 15)
Christmas by candlelight (21 December)
Paired for Christmas (22 December)
Other new releases
It’s not all Hallmark and Lifetime! Many streaming services and theaters also have new holiday releases. BET+ is starting to make a name for itself with eight new seasonal movies this year — and let’s not forget the theatrical releases vying for a spot as new holiday classics.
Linda Cardellini and Ben Stiller in ‘Nutcrackers’. (Ryan Green/Hulu/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Our choice: Nutcrackers
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When: Nutcrackers began streaming on Hulu on November 29.
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What you need to know: A workaholic heads to a farm in rural Ohio to care for his four rowdy and recently orphaned nephews.
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Stars: Ben Stiller, Linda Cardellini
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Why I recommend it: It’s sweet and chaotic, just how the holidays should be. There’s a reason it’s Stiller’s first starring role in seven years!
Here are more new 2024 holiday movies released in theaters, on Hulu and beyond:
The best Christmas parade ever – in theaters, November 8
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point – in theaters, November 8
Red – in theaters, November 15
The night before Christmas in Wonderland – Hulu, November 15
An almost Christmas story — Disney+, November 15
Dear Santa Claus —Paramount+, Nov. 25
Brewster’s Millions: Christmas — BET+, December 5
Too many Christmases — BET+, December 12
Mistletoe and marriage – OWN, December 14
Queens of Christmas — BET+, December 19
A Christmas with country music – UPtv, December 21
Mixed Christmas — BET+, December 25
