Mae Whitman to Headline Hallmark's Twelve Dates of Christmas; Mary McDonnell and Jane Seymour Co-Star
How's this for a (very) early Christmas present?
Hallmark Channel announced Thursday that Mae Whitman (Parenthood, Good Girls) will headline The Twelve Dates of Christmas, a limited series adapted from the Jenni Bayliss novel of the same name.
More from TVLine
Parenthood's Most Emotional Episodes
Jonas Brothers Christmas Movie Coming to Disney+ — Watch Love, Actually-Inspired Announcement
Casting News: Power Vet Finds Reasonable Doubt, The Boys Prequel Adds 2 and More
The project reunites Whitman with Mary McDonnell, who played her mom in the '90s sci-fi classic Independence Day. The ensemble also includes Julian Morris (Pretty Little Liars), Toby Sandeman (Running Point), Nathaniel Parker (Midsomer Murders), Lucy Eaton (Staged) and Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman). The official logline reads as follows:
Talented Saville Row textile pattern designer Kate (Whitman) lives in the quaint village of Blexford, England, next door to her father Mac (Parker), who is long-divorced from Kate's mother Delilah (McDonnell), a globe-trotting American always on an adventure. When not at work, Kate looks after Mac, who's recovering from a motorbike accident and is inclined to spend his days sitting in his recliner.
Unbeknownst to Kate, her best friend Laura (Eaton) signs her up for The 12 Dates of Christmas – a holiday-themed matchmaking program in the days leading up to the holiday featuring carefully curated, yuletide dating experiences — in an attempt to get Kate out of her rut. Lovingly coerced by Laura and longtime best friend Callum (Morris), a reluctant Kate ultimately gets into the spirit of the program and is caught off guard when she meets someone (Sandeman) who reinvigorates her zest for life. But when Delilah unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep – literally – Kate and Mac's life and holiday season get upended. Meanwhile, Mac may be embarking on his own romance with local Evelyn (Seymour), a widow who slowly helps him step outside the confines of his house and open his heart.
As Kate wends her way through the 12 dates, she takes a circuitous route to romance while also making some important discoveries about herself.
Production on The Twelve Dates of Christmas is currently underway in Ireland. The six-hour event will air as part of the cable network's annual 'Countdown to Christmas' event later this year (premiere date TBD), and episodes will stream next day on Hallmark+. Will you be tuning in?
An A-to-Z List of 300+ Scripted Series
View List
Best of TVLine
Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?)
The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More
'Missing' Shows, Found! The Latest on Severance, Holey Moley, Poker Face, YOU, Primo, Transplant and 25+ Others
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
As Epic Universe draws hype, what's next for Tampa's hometown park?
As Universal Orlando put the finishing touches on its $7 billion new gate, Epic Universe, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay had an announcement too. The Tampa theme park and Adventure Island, its accompanying water park, will spend $40 million to fund a new attraction and restaurant, as well as improvements to other eateries, shade, pathways, restrooms and more. That's an impressive sum of money — until you compare it to what's being spent across Interstate 4, said Robert Niles, founder of Theme Park Insider, an industry publication. Busch Gardens, he said, is going to have to provide what Disney and Universal are not: great deals for locals, who are becoming an increasingly important customer niche. 'It's honestly ridiculous in this industry when you think about it sometimes,' he said. 'Because $40 million is a lot of money. It's just that in the Central Florida theme park industry, $40 million ain't anything anymore. ... If you're in this business and you're saying 'I've got $40 million,' that's like, meh. They found that in the lint trap over at Disney.' Niles said it was easier 10 years ago for Busch Gardens to lure Central Florida visitors. Families might spend a few days at Disney and Universal, then head west for the beach and a pit stop at Busch Gardens, which boasted larger, more thrilling coasters than its Orlando counterparts. But with Epic Universe, Universal aims to become a weeklong destination for tourists, set designers and producers said before its opening last month. Universal is catching up in the coaster department, with new entries Jurassic World VelociCoaster and Stardust Racers. On-site hotel deals and cheaper multi-day tickets are keeping tourists rooted in the park they chose as their primary destination. 'A decade ago, people were saying, 'We're going on vacation to Florida,'' Niles said. 'Now Disney and Universal want a Disney and Universal trip. That's making it really tough on a lot of other attractions around the state that used to be able to ride the coattails.' United Parks & Resorts, Busch Gardens' parent company, also owns SeaWorld Orlando. The company posted a net loss that has deepened since the same time last year in its most recent earnings report. Still, there are reasons to remain optimistic about Busch Gardens, experts said. The park has a new president, Jeff Davis, who wants to tout recent investments and offerings. Wild Oasis, a massive, netted kids' play area that rivals Universal's Islands of Adventure's Camp Jurassic, is expected to open soon. Busch Gardens initially set an opening day of Friday, June 6 for Wild Oasis — just two weeks after Epic Universe launched. But on Thursday, a spokesperson said the opening timeline has been shifted back. It's now unclear when visitors will see the new attraction. Among regional competitors like Six Flags and Dollywood, Busch Gardens looms large, said Carrissa Baker, an attractions and theme parks professor at University of Central Florida. In 2023, Busch Gardens was one of the top 20 most-visited theme parks in the United States, according to the global attractions attendance report, which estimates annual metrics. The parks do not release their own numbers. Busch Gardens netted about 4 million visitors, ranking 13 out of 20, according to the report, just behind SeaWorld Orlando, Knott's Berry Farm in California and Cedar Point in Ohio. Disney and Universal properties in California and Florida dominated the first nine spots. Busch Gardens fulfills an important role in the industry, Baker said. Most can't afford annual visits to Disney or Universal, where one-day tickets can cost more than $200 per person. A one-day ticket for a weekend day in June would run a Busch Gardens visitor about $75. Locals can buy a 'fun card,' which offers unlimited visits through 2025, for the same price. Sweet deals for locals are common among regional parks, Baker said. The goal with those kinds of discounts is to get more money out of local attendees for parking, merchandise and food, Niles said. The strategy works when locals are willing to pull out their wallets each visit — but it falters if residents bring food from home or park off-site. Higher admission prices at Disney and Universal help them avoid relying on in-park spending. Davis, the new park president, said he's not agonizing over the parks owned by corporate behemoths down the road. 'There's always competition,' Davis said, noting that it's not just from other theme parks but from attractions like the beaches. 'I think the parks that are successful are focusing on themselves.' But regional parks are locked in a vicious battle over Universal's and Disney's scraps, Niles said. Cedar Point merged with Six Flags last year, and the company is cutting costs by eliminating individual park presidents. Last week, Herschend, owner of Tennessee's Dollywood, acquired Palace Entertainment, upping its portfolio to 49 parks. Universal and Disney properties all attract at least twice as many visitors as the country's smaller parks. As international travel dips amid global economic uncertainty, the two giants may more aggressively target domestic visitors who would otherwise stick with regional parks, Niles said. 'What we're really heading toward is a further widening of the split between the winners and everybody else,' he said. 'Disney and Universal are gonna get theirs. They're investing huge amounts of money. ... It's everybody else that is now fighting, more viciously than I've seen in a generation, over the rest of the industry.' So what can Busch Gardens do to stay ahead of the curve? Wild Oasis is a good start. New attractions tend to inflate attendance numbers for at least six months, Baker said. And enticing the family demographic is key, she said. Busch Gardens' zoo component, plus new additions this summer of capybaras, a giant anteater and squirrel monkeys, already give it a leg up. Families 'spend more money,' Baker said. 'They form relationships with the park. That means generationally, they come back again and again.' Counter-marketing the hype surrounding Epic Universe could also help, Niles said. Busch Gardens could try playing into the sibling rivalry between Tampa and Orlando. What some forget, Visit Tampa Bay CEO Santiago Corrada said, is that Busch Gardens predates Universal and Disney. Twelve years ago, Busch Gardens was Tampa's premier attraction. Now downtown developments like Water Street and the Tampa Riverwalk give visitors more options. But Tampa owes a debt to its theme park, which put a once sleepy city on the map, Corrada said. 'I assure you, I will be at Wild Oasis before I go to Epic Universe,' he said.
Buzz Feed
2 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
21 Nostalgic Sounds Younger Generations Will Never Hear
Recently, Reddit user u/Repulsive-Pitch2555 asked an extremely nostalgic question, "People over 30: What's a sound from your childhood that younger generations will never hear?" Here are the top-voted nostalgic sounds that millennials and Gen-Xers can hear just like it was yesterday: "The clink of those heavy metal seat belt buckles. Bonus points if it branded the GM logo into your leg because it was 9,000 degrees." —KillerKowalski1 "For me, it's the screeching dial-up internet sound. I can still hear it in my soul." —Repulsive-Pitch2555"EEEEEEEEEerrrrrrrrrrbimbahmbindahmeeeeeeee."—BonerTurds"Poing-Poing-whap-PSSSSHHHHHHHHHH."—nmezib "That squeaky sound of the AIM chat door opening when your friend logged on." —ParcOSP"Or when it slammed shut and it was your crush who logged off 😭😂"—peacelovetacos247 "Static from the TV on the wrong channel or when the antenna wasn't adjusted properly." —StringSlinging "The opening of a VHS case. Also, the rewinding of a VHS tape." —leafer91 "The sound of someone slamming the phone when hanging up." —Rivas-al-Yehuda"And the satisfaction."—ladydrybones "The Windows 95 start-up sounds have been BURNED INTO MY SOUL." —Xeroxitosis "If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again. If you need help, hang up and then dial your operator." —cheesechimp"And the three weird little discordant tones that preceded it."—onlymemes-plz "The cassette rewinding faster and faster and faster until that final thump, and then a whine as it tries to keep rewinding and can't." —ledow"Alternatively, the horrifying sound of the cassette player devouring your tape before you can run across the room to stop it. Followed by the sad sounds of twisting and twisting the little wheel thingie with your finger as you attempt to respool the tape into the cassette."—shugersugar"I always kept a ✏️ nearby for just that that section of tape was forever garbled."—Sweet-Competition-15 "The cha-chunk of a manual credit card machine thingy." —Edward_the_Dog "This is so silly, but the squeak of the crank windows on cars takes me back." —Rockelle_Americano"Also, the sound old-fashioned analog blinkers made. New cars try to imitate it, but they don't quite hit the spot. And then the way old windshield wiper motors sounded — they were so loud that they drowned out the noise of the rain."—Me66 "Disney movie trailers voiced by Mark Elliott. If you don't know his name, you've definitely heard his voice in Disney trailers from the '90s and 2000s. He died in 2021, so younger generations will never hear him promote a new Disney thing." —PurpleDreamer28"Omg yes — 'Coming soon to own on video and DVD…' was literally a genre of trailer on its own. RIP to the voice of childhood."—Repulsive-Pitch2555 "The staticky sound from those grey computer speakers when a call was coming in." —will2165"Ditadit ditadit ditadit diiiiiiiiii...."—Pigheaded40something "N-Ni-Nic-Nick-N-Nic-Nick-Nick-NICKELODEONNNN." —Key-Cap3156"There's a documentary called The Orange Years that's all about Nickelodeon from the early '80s until about 2000. It's a really nostalgic trip for anyone who grew up in that timeframe."—Seahearn4 "You've got mail." —StagWants2Party"The AOL voice! That 'welcome' still lives rent-free in my brain. 😅"—Repulsive-Pitch2555 "After these messages, we'll be right back." —NBAccount "Downloading a corrupted file on Limewire and getting the good old 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman.'" —DueSink728 "The sound of someone blowing into a Nintendo cartridge." —DesignerCampaign2567 "Waking up at 3 a.m. on the couch to, 'How will I ever live without you! ULTIMATE LOVE SONG COLLECTION OF THE '80s." —zRustyShackleford "The sound of clapping out the chalkboard erasers." —Hikikomori_Otaku "Opening a glass bottle of Snapple. That popping sound." —MrCrix What other nostalgic sounds from your childhood do you miss? Let us know in the comments!
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Meghan shares video of family trip to Disneyland for Lili's fourth birthday
The Duchess of Sussex has shared another intimate video of the family celebrating Princess Lilibet's fourth birthday at Disneyland. The post on Instagram showed the family enjoying rides at the California attraction, drawing comparisons with Harry's childhood trip to Florida's Walt Disney World with Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1993. The montage also features a clip of Archie, six, and Lili meeting Disney princess Elsa, from the film Frozen. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (@meghan) Meghan wears a Minnie Mouse hat in some of the snaps featured in the video, while another image shows a two-tier Little Mermaid-themed birthday cake for Lili. The duchess captioned the video: 'Thank you @disneyland for giving our family two days of pure joy!' The footage was reminiscent of photos taken of the duke when he was eight and his mother Diana took him and William to Walt Disney World. At the time, the royal siblings were photographed sitting at the front of a log on the Splash Mountain ride, with adults from their mother's entourage behind them and Diana seated at the back. Meghan's post follows a number of family shots over recent days to mark Lili's birthday. In one, she posted a throwback video of herself twerking in a bid to bring on labour while pregnant with the princess, while another post featured a black and white snap of herself cuddling Lili. In another post, she described how Lili's relationship with Harry was 'the sweetest bond to watch unfold'. She shared two photos of the princess with her father the duke, adding: 'Daddy's little girl and favorite adventurer. Happy birthday Lili!' Lili – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's youngest child – was born on June 4 2021 and was named Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. Lilibet is named after her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.
