Noël à la télévision

I always think after two long runs on 'Sabrina' and 'Melissa and Joey' Melissa Joan Hart deserves more recognition than she gets, so it's nice to see her pop up in this Hallmark Christmas film alongside Dean Cain (a man who also knows a lot about being a 90's teen icon).

I thought this was good, with some lovely sweet moments along the way. The two leads have nice chemistry and the story holds up - two main ingredients/must have's for me in this sort of film.

Well worth a watch.

I'm not sure what it is about him, but I didn't find Dean Cain's character to be likeable at all. I'm sure he's a very nice guy, but I think that in this movie he's almost too nice. The fake kind of nice. I agree with the previous reviewer...Melissa (and the Christmas season) is the bright spot in this film. Maybe if she had a costar like Brennan Elliot it would've been a better movie.

I had been avoiding this movie the last two Christmases because Christmas movies with Dean Cain tend not to be Excellent. This one has Melissa Joan Hart and that made the difference. She was great in God's not Dead 2. The movie was very effective in catching some great television moments as our characters act out their host roles of a morning national talk show. Real nice Christmas scenes.

We've liked Dean Cain since he played Superman, and Milissa Joan Hart always turns in a good performance.

Here, they play two newscasters with a broken romantic past who come into competition to take over an opening on a popular national morning show.

There are two other candidates for the slot, so the competion is four-pronged.

The story of how the competition progresses is interesting and often amusing. What the two leads find out about their history creates the crisis all of these romcoms need, and its resolution rings true, and takes more time than some of the resolutions in these movies.

This is one we can watch many times. Recommended.

There has never been any bias for or against Hallmark Christmas films. Actually think there are a mix of good, bad (and worse in some cases) and somewhere between mediocre and decent, so it's a variable output really. One just needs to know what to expect and not to expect too much. Have always appreciated romantic dramas with touches of comedy, so yeah 'Broadcasting Christmas' was hardly one of those doomed from the start sort of films.

'Broadcasting Christmas' lived up to and exceeded mixed expectations, as it could have gone either way of being charming and cute or being sickly sweet and cheesy. And it manages on the most part to be the former while still having some degree of substance. 2016 was inconsistent in quality for Hallmark and 'Broadcasting Christmas' is one of the better efforts in my personal opinion. Anybody that loves Christmas and wants a pleasant inoffensive distraction on a dull afternoon may find it likeable enough and while not great it's nice enough.

Did find that the story can be slow and too thin, as well as contrived, in spots, and the supporting characters are sketchy in development. This tends to be a common Hallmark problem so that was not unexpected.

Likewise with the music tending to be too intrusive. Have found more than once with Hallmark that their soundtracks are on the too intrusive and too constant side. Still find that the case here, though there have been worse cases before and since.

However, a lot is good. Melissa Joan Hart and Dean Cain are always watchable and they certainly are here, both in fact being very appealing. Hart particularly in a role that plays to her strengths as an actress very well indeed, with a quirky warmth. Cain does the boy next door type of character with easy going charm. The chemistry between them is sweet and natural, not looking creepy. The supporting cast also fare more than decently, especially Jackee Harry who breathes life into her material.

Visually, 'Broadcasting Christmas' is good looking. It's beautifully photographed and the scenery is quite captivating. The dialogue flows better and more naturally than the dialogue in most Hallmark films and doesn't fall as much into cheese and soap. The story is very light-hearted and really warms the heart, despite its predictability, and the characters never bored or irritated despite being Hallmark cliches pretty much.

Concluding, pleasant enough film. 7/10.