August 2026 Hallmark Preview Show

[00:00:03] is a Bramble Jam Podcast. Hi, I'm Bran. I love preview shows. I'm Brian. I like preview shows. I'm Dan and we're doing it. We're doing a preview show. This is the Deck The Hallmark Podcast. Deck The Hallmark. It's his podcast. My friend's host is podcast.

[00:00:36] Well, hello, everybody. Happy Saturday to you. Hopefully you're doing well. Thrilled to be here, Brandon. I thought you might be, Dan. Yeah, dude. This is a preview show. August. August, five movies apart of two separate themes. Tuesday you teased there were two themes here. Now, I don't know what those are, but you then did, I believe, accidentally let the cat out of the bag that one of them is fall? Yes, one of them is fall. So we're starting the fall movies in August? Yeah.

[00:01:07] What are we doing? I believe so, at least. Why don't we just do a fall preview on August 20th? What? No. That's silly. That's the stupidest thing. Let me ask you this. You've seen the title of the first movie that we were going to do on August 1st, which is today. I don't know it yet. Is it going to be a classic Bran's in the Doldrums? Hard Shift, Fifth Gear Christmas, First Gear Nothing? It is. Yeah. It is. Can I give five stars and a cream on that?

[00:01:35] Looking forward to Bran in that regard? Being sad. Just like the reality hitting you that you've got other things to do aside from Christmas. It's always fun. Not for me. What are the two seasons, Bran? We have fall, of course, which I think are fourth and fifth movie are a part of. But then we have, to start off the month, three movies that are going to be a part of, what is this called again? Hallmark Channel's 21st birthday. 25th birthday.

[00:02:05] No, 25th's not a number. 25th. Happy birthday? Hallmark Channel's 25th birthday. You said, you combined third and first trying to say fifth. Yeah. First. Hallmark Channel's 25th birthday. Celebrate Hallmark Channel's. We're not ready to move on yet. He was like, 21st. He was like, 25th. You're going to have to bleep that out? He was like, 25th. What if I combined third and first?

[00:02:34] They'll never see it coming. I'm trying a new thing. Okay? I thought it was third. 23rd. 23rd. No, it's 25th. It's Hallmark Channel's 23rd birthday. They can rent a car. Hallmark Channel's 25th birthday. 25 years old. Can you believe that? Oh, my gosh. I don't know. I guess so. I mean, now that you said it, I guess I can. Celebrate Hallmark Channel's 25th. I did it again.

[00:03:01] Celebrate Hallmark Channel's 25th birthday with beloved original movies and romantic comedies this August 1st through the 15th. So it is normal. The theme is birthday? The theme is birthday. The 21st. Hallmark Channel has created a unique place in American pop culture, bringing audiences stories of connection, hope, and joy for 25 years. So three very special birthday-themed movies. Okay.

[00:03:31] This sounds like something somebody suggested as a joke and somebody ran with it. What do you mean? It's three movies to celebrate your 25th birthday. Like, what do you mean? Birthday movies? Are the movies all birthday-related? I would assume so. Anniversary-related? Yeah. I don't know. You got a big birthday month. Let's find out. Yeah. My birthday is coming up in 6 days. I'm going to read you guys these movies, and we can try to figure out if there is a theme. Okay, great. Okay. How about that?

[00:04:00] A birthday cake decorator. What are we doing for the things? Well, we can do birthday cakes. For three of them, and then we're doing fall leaves for two? 100%. How about fall cakes? Fall cakes. Because that does both. Pumpkin cakes. Pumpkin cakes. I love it. Pumpkin cakes. Because that's both- Five movies, one cream still, right? Getting stingy. We're not going to- No, we can't be reckless. The budget the way it is, I don't know. We can't just be- Let's pull it to- Throw cream. Dan, update. Has anybody sent $10,000 for-

[00:04:29] No one has sent $10,000. Any thousand. No one has sent a single thousand dollars. It's like they don't want us to watch- If you want us to watch- Do a Marathon of the Groucho Mysteries. It's $10,000 is the asking price. Yes. And go to you. And you'll get your name shot. You'll get- It'll be your- You'll have a title sponsor on that bad boy. Big deal. We'll eat whatever you- Tell us to. Anything? What? Dan will eat whatever you have. You'll get to pick one- We'll eat whatever you have. You'll get to pick one thing for each of us to eat. Wow. Doctor is $10,000. Doctor?

[00:04:59] As long as it's food. Okay. That used to be food. We're not- Dog food? You know what I mean. Dog food? Dog food would count. Oh, gosh. Get called Jackson. But $10,000. And they get to pick out one thing for each of us to eat, and they get a title sponsor. Wow. And then we'll do it as a fundraiser, and then we'll bring everybody down for the marathon. What if the food costs $10,000? What if they do like a really expensive caviar? No. Do they gotta pay for the food? I think at that point, they would have to pay for the food. There's a fine print that I didn't read, but yeah. Yeah, yeah. That you didn't read if you wrote. No, no, no.

[00:05:29] I read it. I didn't read it out loud. Donate first. First movie does sound party-themed. 23th. First movie. Okay. First movie is Toast to Italy. Toast to Italy. Got it. Toast to Italy. It is starring two Hallmark staples. We have Tori DeVito, or DeVetto. Yep. It's DeVito. Okay. We've talked to him. And Will Kemp. Okay. Oh, yeah. Or Kemp. The Kempers. Yeah, the Kempers. That's right. Kemp us. Where's my Will Kemp shirt? Hold on.

[00:05:58] Let me get my Will Kemp shirt. You don't have to do that right now. I don't. I think you just stepped on his headphones. 24th. Where are they all? You don't know where your shirt is? Yeah, we had to clean the room. You took your shirt off and everything. Stay there. We've got Will Kemp shirts that we will be wearing for this. Really? Yeah. That's exciting. Jenny from the block travels to Italy for a special bottle of wine for her sister's wedding. Okay.

[00:06:26] So really relatable stuff. You know? How you travel to Italy for a bottle of wine for your sister's wedding? Single bottle. Single bottle. She meets Arrigo. Nope. He doesn't. Arrigo. Okay. A-double-R-I-G-O. Arrigo? Arrigo? Arrigo? Arrigo. Arrigo. Arrigo. Arrigo. You guys both went Speedy Gonzalez. And if anybody wants to send us anything in, you can. No, no, no. I don't actually know what you're talking about. Both of you acted like you didn't go Speedy Gonzalez.

[00:06:56] And you both went. You saw an Italian name. And you both went. You look at it and try not to do it. You both went. You look at it and try not to do it. I already did. You both went full. You did it in your head. You both went full. He's doing it. He's doing it. He's doing it more than one. But I'll say this. But I'll say this. Unadulterated Speedy Gonzalez. I'll say this. You both did it. I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, okay. Okay. On the other hand, I know exactly what you're talking about. You looked at it and did it too. Anyone looking at it would do it. They want us to do that. They did it on purpose. You didn't even get a Rego.

[00:07:26] It's a 21st. You're asking for us to do Speedy Gonzalez. 21st edition. She meets a Rego. Arrigo. Also, looking for the famous Love Wine. And together. Love Wine is a little old grape. Where grape was really good. I got me a bottle. It's a bitch away. And together their search leads to Love of Their Own. I missed a lot of that. You want me to redo it real quick? No, we got it. Jenny travels to Italy for a special bottle of wine for her sister's wedding.

[00:07:55] She meets a Rego. Arrigo. Also, looking for the famous Love Wine. And together, their search leads to Love of Their Own. I'm glad you reread that. So they're both going for the same bottle. Both going for the same bottle. But that doesn't stop them from there. How many pumpkin cakes, Brian? All right. I'm going to be reasonable here. I'm going to start off with two pumpkin cakes. Two? Two pumpkin cakes. What did this movie do to you? I'm easing into fall. Easier. Because it's not fall. It's happy anniversary. This is a birthday. Can I finish?

[00:08:25] I'm going to ease into fall. And I'm going to start at birthdays. I'm going to ease into birthdays. Two pumpkin cakes. Two pumpkin cakes. All right, Brian. I really want a pumpkin cake. I'll say that much. Sounds great. I'm doing one for myself. A smidge disappointed by the lack of Christmas. I can't believe you're giving this three. But I'm going three. I'm intrigued by this idea. Two people going for the same bottle of wine. We're traveling to Italy. We've got our ego. I'm going three right now.

[00:08:55] I don't know. Dano? I want my cream. Will Kemp is playing an Italian man. Oh, right. Yeah. Oh, no. I made a huge mistake. Yeah. This is zero for me. Hey, remember the pumpkin cheesecake you made with that chocolate? Oh, you mean a chocolate pumpkin pie? Oh, yeah. I just came to mind. Dude, that pie was so good. I'm making it again. I might make it again today. Thank you for this episode. You made a mini one for me for Thanksgiving. I had too much because the pie crust was a different size. You made me a mini one and I just ate that one right in bed.

[00:09:25] You can eat it like a pizza slice, dude. Right in bed. You can eat that mini one? Yeah. You can eat it like a pizza slice and it was amazing. Well, I was eating it as bad, so. Yeah. So I had that. And nothing's secret. Nothing. All right. Movie number two. Movie number two. Absolutely devoted to you. Oh, my gosh. We have, this is August 8th.

[00:09:48] We have Kim Sustat in the return of the bad boy of Hallmark himself, Jesse Metcalf. Yeah. There he is. Bad boy, Jesse. Blue steel, Jesse Metcalf. That's exactly right. There he is. Kim Sustat, Jesse Metcalf. Here we go. An ambitious TV producer devises a brilliant plan to reunite a 90s boy band for an annual summer beach bash. Fun. What's a bash? It's a party. Is it like a bunk? Or two for two.

[00:10:17] But her idea is derailed when she falls for the band's reluctant lead singer. Is he reluctantly falling in love or is he reluctant about- He's a reluctant lead singer. He's his whole, throughout the boy band's career, it's like in sync Justin Timberlake was like, don't make me sing. I think what they mean there is he's reluctant to get the band back together. Got it. I get that. It was just poorly written. I get that. Well, it is this. Yes. So it's a preview show. Yep. We do that. Crunch on that chip.

[00:10:47] Dude, there are still chips in that bag? That is the most- This lasted two episodes. That is a miracle. You have been eating that single size bag of chips for over an hour. Bottomless bag. It's unbelievable. Right. How many? His nickname in high school. I'm going, this sounds very cool to me. Four pumpkin cakes and my cream. Whoa. Cream that cake. Cream that cake. I won't say put it in my mouth. Cream that. No. Cream that cake. Cream that cake. Go sit in Bran's bed.

[00:11:16] Give me that cake. Cream the cake. You can eat in my bed. Anybody can eat in my bed. Anybody. You're inviting anyone to eat in your bed? 100%. That's gross. Dude, you're so weird. Come on over. Come on over. Bring those ribs on over here. Dude, you want me to go to your house, sit in your bed, and eat food? Feed up. Yeah. Shoes on. We'll put on a movie. We'll have fun. You double downing is just the best. You're just like, I'm- Yeah. I'm here for it. That's what I said.

[00:11:43] So this movie is going to be fully reliant on how many 90s flashbacks we get of Jesse Metcalf in like 90s Garb. Right? Yeah. I think that's going to be key here. If we don't get any 90s Garb, I think that's going to be the key here. I have a girl. Hey, you're a rapper. I'm using my top guy. Auto time? Credit card. You got it.

[00:12:14] I like this idea, though. I'm going hard. I'm going five. Yeah. But I'm holding my cream. So I traditionally hate the fall movies, and this movie sounds different. This is a birthday movie. This movie sounds different. I know. I'm saying I hate the fall movies because that means I need to give my cream in the summer movies. Oh, I see. That we're calling birthday movies. Ah, it's birthday movies. Give me two and a half right down the middle in a cream. Whoa! Big get for this movie. Wah, wah, wah. I'll do it. Yeah, good.

[00:12:44] It's good. It's in there somewhere. All right. I pressed the wrong one. They're sticky. You want to go take a break, Brandon? No, let's do the party movies all together. Oh, sure. Yeah, no. Let's keep them together. Aussie at Hot. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Oh, boy. Oh, no. Oh, my gosh. Dan, we've made a huge mistake. I caught a close. Oh, my gosh. Oh, boy. We should have taken a break. This is August 15th. This is August 15th. Watch out. And this is... Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansk. Almost.

[00:13:11] This is Daniel Lissing, Aussie himself, and our favorite. Robert Aussie. Rhiannon Fish. Are you kidding me right now? Oh, no. This is what I'm saying. This is what I'm saying. I just creamed a Jesse Metcalf movie? We both did. In Brand's Bed. You guys both creamed this movie? You guys both creamed the same movie? Yes. We both creamed the Jesse Metcalf movie. The 90s of it got us. Yeah. What are we going to do? What are we going to do? Yeah. All right. This is Aussie at Heart. This is Saturday. I'm giving him whatever's left, you know? Yeah. Come and get it.

[00:13:40] Daniel Lissing, Rhiannon Fish. Samara. Not Samara. No. We're getting another Samara? Are you kidding me? We are. We're getting another Samara. This name is not this common. It can't be. Well, look this up. What movie was the Samara movie? Tamara. Tamara. Yes. Who wrote that movie? Who wrote that movie? Starring Tamara. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Did the person who wrote the Samara Samara movie also write this movie? Are they writing Samara? I feel like we've gotten another Samara, too.

[00:14:09] Samara, a former lawyer, now event planner. And what is an event? What is an event? A special occasion? A party. That's exactly right. What's the name of this movie again, please? Aussie at Heart. Samara, a former lawyer, now event planner, reunites with Nate, her ex-co-worker and rival, to plan a couple's anniversary. What's an anniversary? Party. That's exactly right.

[00:14:36] In Queensland, and begin to confront their past and fall for each other. Wow. Wow. Yep. That's good TV. Right, guys. Points don't matter. Do you think, guys, do you think they're both going to, are they both going full Aussie in this? 100%. Dude, if those two get to use their Australian accents. One of them has to, right? And they are in this movie and on screen together, it's TV 14.

[00:15:04] Dude, awesome out all over the place. It is TV, PG at least, probably TV 14. Yeah. There is no way Hallmark can contain that. Yep. That's crazy. Yep. A lot of B-roll getting used here. Yeah. Instead of cutting loss. A lot of drone shots. Yeah, there's not enough cakes in the world for them. I mean, this is a five cakes wish I had more cream. Five cakes wish I had more cream. Man. Yeah. So this is an obvious five caker. Brent, you know what you have to do. I understand what I have.

[00:15:34] None of us cream this movie. I understand, but you also know that I really start coming in my own fall. Right? Don't do it, Brent. This is what I'm kind of wrestling with in my mind. This is the obvious cream, right? Obvious. But I don't want to get to fall and kick myself for not holding on to it. You should have done two creams. Hey, buddy, it's five and cream. That's what this is. We should have done two creams. Yep. This is really tough. It isn't.

[00:16:04] It's one of the worst situations we've ever been in. I will. I'll use my cream. Yes. Yeah, of course. All right. I can't believe that we did what we did. I'm going to go four, which is maybe the highest ranking. You've done a five before, right? Not outside of Christmas. You've maybe done the plus two with the cream. No, I don't do that. That's your nonsense. I've given five and a cream to movies in the Christmas preview episode. I don't think I've ever given – I could be wrong.

[00:16:33] I don't think I've ever given a movie outside of the holidays. That's one for the books. We'll have to look at the archives. Five. So I'm going four. Four and if I had it. Man, boy, oh, boy. Jessaline Berry wrote Girlfriendship where she was Samara. Jessaline Berry. Is there any chance that she wrote Ozzy Heart? There's no way. Hit that and then go to her filmography. Yeah, then switch. We're going to take a break. We'll do this live. We'll do this live. I don't – Go back up and release. Oh, yeah, yeah. All right. We'll be right back.

[00:17:07] Glad we did that. What'd you find out, Brian? Yeah, we found out she is not the same writer, basically. All right, very good. Multiple Samaras out there. All right. Are we ready to head into Fall Into Love? Yeah, man. Born ready. Let's do it. Our first of what I believe is eight Fall Into Love movies. Wow. No way it's going to be Fall for these movies. Oh, my gosh. All right. Oh, no. This is worth his act of. Dude, I'm just telling you right now.

[00:17:37] If it gets worse than what we just did, which is listening and fish in an Australian movie, and I cream Jesse Metcalf in a boy band movie, I'm going to be so pissed. Both did. All right. This is Love Finds You. Okay? Love Finds You. August 22nd. Obviously, the start of fall. Duh. And this is starring Chris McNally. And it's tea time, y'all. Woo. Amy T. Garden. Okay. Returning to the network. Okay. After an undisclosed amount of time. All right.

[00:18:05] A mislabeled package convinces jewelry designer Alex she's found her ideal man. Sydney, I'm going to redo it, and I need not the laughter from the peanut gallery here. You don't need it for him. She's fine. Sound. That last thing was the sound like a slinky makes if you throw it. She's fine.

[00:18:31] A mislabeled package convinces jewelry designer Alex she's found her ideal man, sending her and delivery driver Jack on a citywide search that helps them discover what they truly want. At fall. I added the last part. Yeah, the fall part wasn't there. I will say McNally is wearing shorts in this. It's a summer movie. Yeah. She looks a little festive. Yeah, a little autumn.

[00:19:01] That's a color-corrected summer movie. That's a tumnal. Brageye? Oh, boy. Yeah, I feel like we're coming down a little bit from the high of birthday month, it feels like. But this, I don't know. I feel like three right down the middle. Birth? Yeah, birth. 21st birthday. Three right down the middle for me to kick off fall. That's what I'm going to go with. All right. Listen, you guys know that I love tea time. It's tea time. Y'all. I like this pairing. It's my catchphrase.

[00:19:30] You guys, please stay with me. Please clap. Yeah. I am going to go with four. Four cakes. Restraint. This movie sounds real bad with two really good leads. Give me one. One cake for me. Thank you very much. Welcome. Yeah. Wow. Are you in for this one? I'm glad I creamed the Metcalf. So far, I'm feeling, well, I mean, take the fish out of it all. Yeah, awesome and hard. That's the first one. Brutal. This, next, this last one for this month of August. Next, last one. Yeah.

[00:19:59] Is coming out August 29th. It is much about love. Let me just... Much about love? Yeah. It's not confirmed. Not much ado about love? No. No, not yet. Can't do that. Although one of the writers on this movie, according to IMDB, is William Shakespeare. Okay, are you ready? Oh, this is starring... What a pairing. Ashley Williams. Billy Shakes? The Queen of Fall. Yeah. And Niall Mater. Wow. They've been in a movie before. It wasn't very good.

[00:20:29] Thanks for saying it. Never Kiss a Millionaire with Chris Water. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A TV director returns to... But that was before he was on his heater. Yeah. That is true. It was before he was on his heater. Heater right now, folks. Niall Mater is on a heater. Niall Mater is hot. Red hot. I am pre-creaming Niall Mater's Biltmore movie. Yeah, the Iceman, we call him. He's just... He's just... But he's on a heater. Ice water in his veins. It's so hot, it's cold. He's on a heater.

[00:20:59] The Iceman's on a heater. Yeah. A TV director returns to her theater roots for a Shakespeare festival and runs into an old flame, rekindling a merry war of wits in this modern retelling of Much Ado About Nothing. Okay. All right. Okay. Brageye? Yeah. I mean, the Ashley and Niall bump here, so I'm starting at two. Of course. A theater, sure, three. I'll go three and a half and then fall strong. Sort of. Three and a half. Yeah, three and a half.

[00:21:29] It is offensive. William Shakespeare has a writing credit on this movie. Like, I know that they're borrowing his story. It is as fate needs it. But I mean, this is... It's offensive. Like, we should not... Okay, well, go ahead. I think he deserves... This is actually going to be his finest credit. I'll go four. I'll go four fall cakes on this one, too. Four fall cakes. This sounds like kind of a downer, guys. I love the two leads. This does not sound like a good movie. We're trying to get the drama department or the play thing up and running.

[00:21:58] I don't know, man. One. We'll go one. We'll go one. Yeah, we'll go one. Is that for Niall or Ashley? Actually, it's for Lindora, who I just saw is in this movie. Okay. Now we're talking. And Lindora's awesome. Heck yeah. I love Niall. I love Ashley, but... Lindora gets it. Yeah. It's the Lindora bump. All right. Yeah. Very good. I like that. Well, we did it, everybody. Congratulations to us. We will be back on Tuesday with our review of the first party movie.

[00:22:28] I've already forgotten the title of it. It premieres tonight, so watch it tonight. Come back on Tuesday. We'll be here to review it. Of course. Until then, maybe the first to wish you a... Merry Christmas! Deck the Hallmark's a Bramble Jam podcast produced by Brandon Gray. And you have that Greenville, South Carolina. For more information on the show, go to deckthehallmark.com. Follow us on the socials at Deck the Hallmark. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Podcasts, five stars. If you please help others find the show. And if you want to help the show up financially, become a double-decker and join the best corner

[00:22:55] of the internet with ad-free podcasting, live video watch-alongs, movie chats, and so much more. Where are you going to find that? Bramblejamplus.com. You're about to hear some ads that help keep the lights on here in the old studio. Thanks for listening. Or don't listen. It's really up to you at this point. It's at the end of the show. I mean, you're listening to me. Hi. But here they come. I promise they're coming. Yep. Here they are.

[00:23:25] Happy day.