Jingle Binge

Why Some Hallmark Stars Are Leaving for GAC Family—and Why Some Aren’t

The holiday season is here, and you know what that means: a whole lot of rumors and speculation about a bubbling turf war between family-oriented cable channels over Christmas movies! Wait… what?

If you’re obsessed with Hallmark and Lifetime’s annual Christmas movie options, then you’ve probably heard a lot of talk about a new kid on the block named GAC Family. The network’s first foray into holiday movie territory has some viewers worried that all their Hallmark faves are going to jump to GAC Family and never take part in another Countdown to Christmas. Is that fear valid? And who has actually signed exclusive contracts with GAC Family? Let’s break it all down, starting with the big question…

What is GAC Family? What does GAC Family stand for?

GAC Family is a (sorta) new TV channel that’s getting into the holiday movie mood this year. The channel was previously known simply as GAC, which previously stood for Great American Country back when it was a country music channel. The network was acquired by new owners who relaunched GAC and another network, Ride TV, in September 2021. GAC became GAC Family and Ride TV became GAC Living. And now that there are two GACs, GAC stands for Great American Channels.

Is GAC Family part of Hallmark?

GAC Family is not part of Hallmark, but its launch is inextricably tied to Hallmark. One of the owners of GAC Family, and the overseer of the channels push into holiday movies, is former Crown Media CEO and Hallmark executive Bill Abbott.

One reason why you’re hearing a lot about GAC Family this year (aside from it being brand new) is probably because Abbott’s journey to GAC Family was headline news. It started back in December 2019 when the Hallmark Channel pulled four ads for the wedding planning site Zola from rotation because they included same-sex couples. Two Zola ads with solely straight couples were left on-air. The move came after pressure from conservative Christian groups One Million Moms and LifeSite who urged Hallmark to not “cave to the LGBT agenda” by airing a commercial featuring two women getting married. According to One Million Moms, they communicated with then-Crown Media CEO Abbott who said that those commercials aired “in error.”

A day later, after lots of controversy online, Hallmark Cards Inc. President and CEO Mike Perry apologized for pulling the commercials, calling it the “wrong decision” and reassuring everyone that Hallmark stands for diversity and inclusion in their workplace on on their channels. A month later in January 2020, it was announced that Bill Abbott was leaving Hallmark and Crown Media after 11 years with the company. In September 2020, Hallmark announced that Mean Girls star and out actor Jonathan Bennett would headline the network’s first holiday film with a gay couple in lead roles. That film, The Christmas House, debuted in November 2020—11 months after Hallmark pulled those Zola ads—and was a success. The Christmas House 2 is scheduled to premiere on Hallmark next month.

As for Abbott, he spent summer 2021 teaming up with Hicks Equity Partners in their acquisition of GAC from the network’s previous owner, Discovery Inc. Hicks Equity Partners was founded by sports team owner Tom Hicks—and Tom Hicks’s son, Thomas Hicks Jr., is co-chair of the Republican National Committee. GAC Family’s inaugural holiday movie lineup does not appear to have any LGBTQ leads.

Why are actors leaving Hallmark for GAC?

So—they aren’t. Of the hundreds of actors who appear in Hallmark movies and TV shows, so far only two have signed any kind of exclusive contract. Most notable is Danica McKellar, whose move to GAC Family came just as she starred in the first Hallmark holiday movie of 2021, You, Me & the Christmas Trees. The other actor is Trevor Donovan. Donovan will make his GAC Family debut in Jingle Bell Princess on December 4 alongside co-star Merritt Patterson.

And—funnily enough—both Trevor Donovan and Merritt Patterson have Hallmark movies airing this year too. Donovan will appear in Nantucket Noel on Hallmark on November 19, and Patterson will star in Gingerbread Miracle on Hallmark on November 5. Just like actors have bounced between Hallmark and Lifetime movies every year, sometimes making both a Hallmark and Lifetime movie the same season, some actors are also appearing in GAC Family movies this year. That doesn’t mean they’ve signed exclusive contracts.

As for why McKellar and Donovan broke their Hallmark streaks and signed exclusive deals with GAC Family—we don’t know why. It seems pretty obvious from the casts of the first dozen GAC Family movies that Abbott wants to work with talent he’s familiar with and, more importantly, who he knows audiences like. So, since he was at Hallmark for 11 years, of course those are going to be Hallmark stars. As for why? We can assume… money? Probably?

It is worth pointing out, however, that GAC Family’s apparent lack of LGBTQ inclusion could be a line in the sand for some Hallmark stars. Paul Campbell—who’s starred in a Hallmark holiday movie every year since 2018—had this to say about GAC Family:

Emilie Ullerup, star of Hallmark’s Chesapeake Shores and another Hallmark holiday movie veteran, showed her support for Campbell:

It’s too early to tell how this will shake out or even become an issue; after all, GAC Family has only aired one movie as of this writing and only two familiar Hallmark faces have signed exclusive contracts. The only thing we know for sure is that it means even more holiday movies on even more channels.