The latest abominable snowman from the Hallmark holiday rom-com machine is the San Francisco-set A Big Fat Family Christmas, which premieres on the Hallmark Channel Friday night.
I admit that I have never watched one of those Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, the ones that make you wonder “Are the straights alright?,” nor did I even look until today to see whether my cable TV package carries the Hallmark Channel. But this is suddenly a topic of interest, as we learn that a Hallmark Channel holiday movie set in San Francisco, A Big Fat Family Christmas, premieres tonight, Friday, December 2, at 8 p.m. PT.
The trailer for this nonsense can be seen above. According to IMDB, the “plot” here is “Liv gets an assignment to photograph the Chang family's annual holiday party for a front-page story--nobody at work knows that they are her family. She wants to confide in new co-worker Henry but doesn't want to jeopardize her big break."
Do they eventually fuck? Tune in and find out!
The San Francisco Chronicle is counting on these two to cover a Christmas Party. Will Liv (Shannon Chan-Kent) and Henry (@ShannonKook) get along? Tune in tonight at 8/7c to watch #ABigFatFamilyChristmas! pic.twitter.com/yqZOl3XfrI
— Hallmark Channel (@hallmarkchannel) December 2, 2022
And it’s getting some yuks that apparently in the movie, the two protagonists work at the San Francisco Chronicle. Hallmark Channel, don’t you ever make a movie about SFist.
Hallmark Channel holiday movie filming yesterday "My Big Fat Chinese Christmas" (and yes, you'll probably see me, unless they cut my scene!!) pic.twitter.com/6GJigEg4LE
— Val Lupiz (@VLupiz) September 10, 2022
Was A Big Fat Family Christmas filmed in San Francisco? As is generally the case, no it mostly was not, with just a few exterior shots done here (and apparently one involving the holiday cable car, as seen above.) According to Heavy.com, it was “was filmed in Vancouver, B.C., Canada like many other Christmas movies on Hallmark.” And apparently during it’s September shoot, the working title was A Big Fat Chinese Christmas.
they went to the christmas party at john's grill with all of the mayor's department heads and real estate industry donors, looking to find political corruption. what they didn't expect to find? love https://t.co/zcperG32LY
— chris arvin (@chrisarvinsf) December 2, 2022
Here on the West Coast, it premieres at 8 p.m. PT Friday night, and has a few more plays over the weekend. The tweet below is from the film’s director, so we’ll assume the information about streaming on Peacock is correct.
Thanks for previewing A BIG FAT FAMILY CHRISTMAS, @approximofnice! The movie premieres shortly on the East Coast and Central time zones on Hallmark (and Peacock, where you can watch it the next 3 days), and for those in Canada, Crave tomorrow and CTV Life on Dec 9 at 7pm ET. https://t.co/rl0wMrREA6
— Jennifer Liao (@averagejenn) December 3, 2022
And the folks at the Chronicle are planning on having a little fun with this, as they’re going to do a kind of Rifftrax-style wisecracking live tweeting of the 7 p.m. Sunday night showing.
Will this Hallmark movie accurately depict San Francisco, cable cars and the Chronicle?
— Heather Knight (@hknightsf) December 2, 2022
Let’s find out together. Join me, @peterhartlaub and @TonyBravoSF as we watch from home and live tweet. #BigFatChronicleChristmas
Press play at 7 pm Sunday! 🎄🎬🌁 https://t.co/Xw3hpMzJZN
Related: 90s Nostalgia Mousses Up as 'Nash Bridges’ Reboot Premieres Saturday [SFist]
Image: Hallmark Channel
