REVIEW: The Hallmark Sequel "Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up" Is as Silly as the First One

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Emily and Jared are looking forward to celebrating the holidays together as a couple, and they prepare to work with their neighbors on Evergreen Lane to make this year's Christmas celebrations the best yet.  When a house on the block goes up for sale, the soon-to-be-neighbors are holiday royalty, but they are so competitive that they nearly ruin Christmas for everyone. Starring:   Lacey Chabert, Wes Brown, Stephen Tobolowsky, Ellen Travolta, Melissa Peterman, Seth Morris, and Jennifer Aspen Image:  Hallmark Media Haul Out the Holly:  Lit Up Has a Moral When the residents of Evergreen Lane learn that their new neighbors are the Jolly Johnsons--famous holiday reality stars--they are thrilled to welcome them to the block.  Everyone assumes the Johnsons will fit right in since they share their same affinity for elf culture. Emily, Jared, and the rest of the holiday crew quickly realize that the Johnsons aren't interested in joining in on the fun--they plan to take over. Image:  Tw

Hallmark Channel's Christmas in July 2023 Printable Movie Schedule

Everything is on an app these days, including the Hallmark Christmas in July 2023 movie schedule. Many of us, however, still prefer a paper checklist that allows us to see everything at once without swiping through screens.  

Some like the Hallmark app since they can set reminders to alert them about the movies they plan to watch.  The rest of us love pouring over a tangible copy so we can make notations and highlights.  We can also share the document on social media and with our friends and family who look forward to the Christmas in July movie slate. 

Hallmark Channel Christmas in July 2023 Printable Movie Schedule

Hallmark's Christmas in July 2023--What You Need to Know

Contrary to what many people assume, Christmas movies are NOT playing 24/7 on Hallmark Channel during the Christmas in July 2023 event.

Don't despair!  According to Hallmark Channel's website, there are 5-7 Christmas movies on tap for each day of July.

In between Christmas movies, you can expect the usual sitcoms:  Golden Girls, Frasier, Cheers, and Reba


Hallmark is Premiering Two NEW Movies for Christmas in July 2023

Christmas comes early again this year!  We don't have to wait until October to see new Christmas movies because Hallmark is debuting two brand new movies in July.

The first, A Royal Christmas Crush, premieres on Saturday, July 8 at 8pm Eastern.  The movie stars Katie Cassidy and Stephen Huszar.  

Here's the synopsis from Hallmark's website:  

Ava (Cassidy) accepts the opportunity of a lifetime to work at the Royal Ice Hotel, which leads her to a surprise whirlwind romance with the most important guest of all--the Royal Prince (Huszar) himself.

The real fairytale is that Cassidy and Huszar actually fell in love while filming this movie!

You can watch the trailer for A Royal Christmas Crush below.



The second premiere is Take Me Back for Christmas (previously titled The Christmas Reboot) starring Vanessa Lengies and Corey Sevier.  

Here's the movie description for Take Me Back for Christmas:  

A Christmas wish gives Renee (Lengies) the successful life she'd always dreamed of.  This new reality is perfect, except for one thing--she is no longer married to her husband, Aaron (Sevier).  Now, Renee must race against the clock to win him back before Christmas Eve.

The plot sounds familiar (think A Kiss Before Christmas and A Dream of Christmas), but I'm sure it will still be festive and fun.

The Christmas Reboot--Hallmark ChannelImage:  Hallmark Media

You can catch the premiere of Take Me Back for Christmas on Saturday, July 15 at 8pm Eastern.

Something You'll Notice About Hallmark's Christmas in July 2023 Schedule

Every season, Hallmark fans eagerly scan the Christmas movie schedule looking for their all-time favorites.  Many fans repeatedly express how much they love the older Hallmark movies far better than the lineups from recent years.

You'll notice that the Christmas in July 2023 schedule throws a few oldies into the mix, but the majority of them are more recent.


Why does Hallmark staunchly refuse to replay the gold mine of classics stockpiled in their vault and choose, instead, to only air newer movies on a loop?  Unless the schedule changes, several movies are repeated during July despite Hallmark having an arsenal of movies they could show. 

No one knows the answer because Hallmark always dodges the question.  Avoiding an honest dialogue leaves Hallmark's reasoning up to conjecture.  Are we not graced with movies from Christmases past due to contractual stipulations, financial royalty obligations, loss of licensing, or is the issue political?  Since Woke Wonya Lucas took the reins of Hallmark a few years ago, her obvious agenda has been to infuse diversity, equity, and inclusion into as many movies as possible.  Are the older movies too white, too moral, and too laced with faith to appeal to a culture that has turned aside from virtue in pursuit of secularism?


Hallmark ran a social media campaign which allowed viewers to vote for their favorite Christmas movies that Hallmark vowed to play during the "Fan Favorites Marathon" over July 4 weekend.  What Hallmark conveniently failed to mention is that THEY chose the list of movies fans could vote for. 

Hallmark Fan Favorites Christmas in July movie marathon

I admin a Hallmark movie Facebook group of over 88K members.  I can tell you that while the majority of group members love My Christmas Family Tree, enthusiasm expressed for the other three options above has been VERY LOW.

When you look at the July 4th weekend marathon, you will see other movies that were unpopular with the majority of Hallmark fans, such as We Wish You a Married Christmas and The Holiday Sitter.

Clearly, Hallmark's Fan Favorite Marathon is misleading.  Most true fan favorites are of movies from several years ago, but Hallmark won't include them in the list of voting options.  If July 4 weekend was truly a marathon of fan favorites, the lineup would look vastly different.

It would be nice if Hallmark could finally offer a reason to justify burying some of the best movies the brand has ever produced.  Fans would really love to know the answer. 

If you would like to reach out to Hallmark to ask them, you can contact them here:

E-mail:  viewers@hallmarkmedia.com

Phone:  888-390-7474 

Should you receive an informative reply rather than a generic one that sidesteps your inquiry, please share the response in the comment section below.

Hallmark Channel's Christmas in July 2023 Printable Movie Schedule 

The Christmas movie schedule below is derived from the listings Hallmark Channel advertises on their website.

DISCLAIMER:  Hallmark is notorious for changing their movie line-up!  

**The schedule shared here for you to download and print reflects the one on Hallmark's web page as of July 23.  It is entirely possible that Hallmark will make some scheduling changes that will impact the accuracy of the printable schedule shared in this blog post.**

Hallmark Channel 2023 Christmas in July Schedule
**Click on the image above to download and print the movie schedule for July 1-31.**

THIS PRINTABLE SCHEDULE WILL BE UPDATED EACH SUNDAY!

Bookmark this page and check back for updates.  Hallmark posts updated schedules on their website every Sunday, so this printable checklist will be tweaked each Sunday to reflect the most current schedule available.  

Need More Christmas Movies?

Hallmark's biggest rival is Great American Family (GAF)--the new network led by former Hallmark CEO, Bill Abbott.  GAF has marked seven months of being TV's fastest growing network.  

Under Abbott's leadership, GAF is producing movies that are always clean and family-friendly.

While GAF is still building a library of content that can't currently compete with Hallmark's vast catalog selection, the fledgling network continues to ramp up offerings and recently completed a merger with Pure Flix.

Great American Family will be hosting a Christmas in July event as well--an entire month of 24/7 Christmas movies, including the premiere of A Belgian Chocolate Christmas on July 8.

Hallmark Christmas in July 2023
Image:  Hallmark Media

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