Hallmark faces a year of scandals. First, one of their marquee stars gets charged with committing fraud to get her daughters admitted to an elite college. Then, in the midst of their Countdown to Christmas programming, the channel’s decision to pull an ad featuring two brides generates massive backlash. Hallmark ekes out a ratings win, but the cracks in its ... Show More
Dec 2021
Christmas Movie Wars | An Iconic Holiday Tradition | 6
Over the past decade, made-for-TV holiday romance movies have gone from a seasonal guilty pleasure to a mainstream phenomenon, drawing in millions of viewers year over year. While Hallmark and Lifetime still seem to be guiding this sleigh, streamers like Netflix and Hulu are gett ... Show More
25m 30s
Dec 2021
Encore: Hershey's vs Mars | Chocolate Town | 1
It’s 1886 and in New York City, a young confectioner called Milton Hershey is desperately trying to save his business.He’s been struggling for years. He founded his first candy business in Philadelphia, only to watch it collapse. His second venture lasted just weeks. Now, he’s lo ... Show More
27m 39s
Dec 2021
The Holiday Special: Endless Christmas Movies and Celeb-Branded Products to Gift to Anyone but Us
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, which means Mariah Carey has a new holiday special, Kelly Clarkson has a new festive album, and there are approximately 200 new movies set at the North Pole to watch. It's impossible to sift through it all, but on this week's episode, ... Show More
39m 18s
Dec 2021
Black Christmas Movie Bonanza
It’s the holiday season, which means it’s time to press play on your favorite Christmas movies. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by essayist and pop culture critic Rebecca Theodore-Vachon to talk about what really makes a Black Christmas movie, and which clas ... Show More
18m 55s