Joust Getting Started: Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas Calendar and A Knight to Remember

This week on Predictably Unexpected, we review our Predictability Scorecard results for Hallmark’s Who’s Coming for Christmas? Did we nail the guest list, or did the holiday houseguests show up uninvited and ruin our season? Then we move on to Hallmark’s Holiday Unplugged, a movie we’re predicting using nothing but the title, since we haven’t seen a single frame. The title has us curious. Is someone trading their phone for a digital detox? Or is this a holiday concert with acoustic guitars, a cozy stool, and a lumberjack with a banjo? We have our guesses, and we’re excited to see how they hold up. So grab a mug of cocoa, tune in, and join the fun.Subscribe and leave a 5-star review, or we’ll unplug your router and make you watch Holiday Unplugged with a lumberjack who won’t stop tuning his banjo until you admit we called the ending.Send us Fan MailDownload on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comFollow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/predictablyunexpectedpodcast/

Like bundling up for a snowy small town Christmas market, this episode has layers and we are not apologizing for any of them. This week we are finally putting the tiebreaker to rest after last week delivered an outcome so unexpected it almost broke the show. We break down the results of Hallmark’s ’Tis the Season for Setups, compare our Predictability Scorecards, and figure out who owns the tiebreak for the rest of the season. We also revisit our scorecard results from Hallmark’s Mr. & Mrs. Christmas and see how our predictions stacked up against the actual movie. The movie, as usual, did not ask for our input.Then we turn to Hallmark’s Who’s Coming for Christmas? and do what we do best. We read the title, build an entire movie in our heads, and commit to it completely. Is someone bringing home a surprise guest? A reformed workaholic? A suspiciously handsome stranger with a soft spot for Christmas trees and unresolved feelings? We have guesses. We have zero facts. We are fully on board.Hit subscribe and leave a review, or we’ll show up uninvited to your holiday gathering with a Predictability Scorecard and a lot of opinions about your decorating choices.Send us Fan MailDownload on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comFollow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/predictablyunexpectedpodcast/

The Countdown to Christmas has officially begun, which means it’s time to put on a cozy sweater and ignore all of our responsibilities. We’re kicking off the season the way every Hallmark couple starts a movie: stuck in a situation we did not plan for. Our tiebreaker ended in an actual tie, a twist so unexpected it would get cut from a Hallmark script for being too dramatic.To settle it, we pulled in Hallmark’s ’Tis the Season for Setups and re-predicted from scratch, then compared our Predictability Scorecards to see who may own the tiebreak for the entire season. Expect bragging rights, shaky logic, and at least one person insisting their scorecard was “technically correct.”Then we predict Hallmark’s Mr. & Mrs. Christmas using only the title. Our predictions are sealed, our confidence is unearned, and the title gives us just enough to be dangerously wrong. Will we nail the plot or embarrass ourselves in front of the whole town? Press play to find out.Hit subscribe and leave a review, or we’ll set you up on a blind date with a small town tree farmer who has “complicated feelings” about the holidays and a mysterious big city past.Send us Fan MailDownload on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comFollow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/predictablyunexpectedpodcast/

It's a mega episode, and yes, we're calling it that because the Countdown to Christmas calendar is enormous and our scheduling spreadsheet has filed a formal complaint. First, we break down the full release calendar and try to figure out how Hallmark expects anyone to finish dinner between now and December. Then it's the Season 2 tiebreaker, where the Predictability Scorecard faces its toughest test yet: A Knight to Remember. Will there be a castle? A charming stranger with suspiciously good hair? A small town that desperately needs saving? We make our predictions based on the title alone, because that is how we live.Fair warning: Holly has some thoughts about this title, and they involve a very different kind of night. Armor is not involved. Neither, apparently, is the dictionary.Hit subscribe, or we'll have you knighted against your will. Sir or Dame, you'll be sworn to leave a five star review, share the show with a fellow Hallmark loyalist, and honor the chivalrous code of never spoiling the ending. Kneel responsibly.Send us Fan MailDownload on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comFollow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/predictablyunexpectedpodcast/

Season 2 is officially preseason, and love found us exactly where we expected it to. This episode is dropping a little later than planned, but in true Hallmark fashion, we knew it would find you eventually anyway. This week we break down Hallmark's Love Finds You, giving our full unfiltered opinions on whether the plot surprised us even once (spoiler: it did not). We're also taking a first look at what's coming next with Hallmark’s Much About Love, setting the stage for our Predictability Scorecard as the season heats up.Plus, Holly debuts her first attempt to “paint the picture” with the poster art, and let's just say the brush had more confidence than the technique. We're calling it "abstract" so nobody's feelings get hurt.Grab your pumpkin spice something and settle in, because Fall Into Love is warming us up for the main event: Countdown to Christmas.Rate, review, and subscribe: or risk finding out the hard way that "much about love" also means much about loneliness, questionable decisions, and a third act redemption you saw coming from the first scene.Send us Fan MailDownload on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comFollow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/predictablyunexpectedpodcast/

We're back! After a long winter's nap since the last Countdown to Christmas wrapped, Season 2 is finally here, and we're easing back in with a preseason special before the real competition begins.This week, there's no Predictability Scorecard on the line and no official predictions to defend. Instead, we're taking a first look at Hallmark's 2026 "Fall Into Love" lineup, sizing up the titles, and getting our punny muscles warmed back up after months off the mic.Think of it as our offseason training montage: low stakes, high snark, and just enough foreshadowing to get you excited for what's coming when the Christmas countdown officially kicks off.Rate, review, and subscribe, unless you'd rather wander into fall alone, with nothing but a pumpkin spice latte to guide you.Download on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comSend us Fan MailDownload on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comFollow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/predictablyunexpectedpodcast/

After a full season of predictions, scorecards, and extremely scientific math, the moment has finally arrived. This week, we break down the final Predictability Scorecard results for Hallmark’s A Make or Break Holiday and The Christmas Baby, reviewing how our predictions actually stacked up once the movies aired.With those last scores locked in, we tally the season-long results and officially crown the Predictability Champion. Bragging rights are claimed, egos are bruised, and the host-vs-host rivalry reaches its inevitable conclusion. One crown. One winner. Let the coronation begin.By not rating, reviewing, and subscribing, you agree to spend the holidays trapped in a make-or-break scenario featuring a conveniently timed Christmas baby and zero plot surprises. Terms and conditions apply…Download on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comSend us Fan MailDownload on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comFollow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/predictablyunexpectedpodcast/

This week, we’re holding ourselves accountable — briefly — before confidently predicting the future all over again. We kick things off by reviewing last week’s Hallmark offerings, A Suite Holiday Romance and Oy to the World!, and putting our Predictability Scorecard to the test. Which tropes showed up right on cue? Which emotional beats hit exactly when we said they would? And did Hallmark surprise us even a little… or absolutely not at all?After checking the receipts, we turn our attention to the upcoming Hallmark movies: A Make or Break Holiday and The Christmas Baby! Armed with nothing but the titles, years of Hallmark-viewing experience, and a deeply trusted formula, we predict plots, character arcs, conflicts, and Christmas miracles before a single ornament is hung on screen.Will careers be on the line? Will family secrets surface at the worst possible festive moment? Will a baby fundamentally change everything just in time for Christmas? Using our Predictability Scorecard, we place our bets, embrace the tropes, and prepare to be proven right (again).Whether you’re a devoted Hallmark fan, a loving skeptic, or just here for the cozy chaos, this episode is your guide to Christmas movie déjà vu — with spreadsheets. Rate, review, and subscribe — or risk being handed a Christmas baby that teaches you the true meaning of the holidays whether you’re emotionally prepared or not.Send us Fan MailDownload on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comFollow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/predictablyunexpectedpodcast/

In this week’s episode, we savor the festive flavors of Hallmark’s latest entries in the holiday movie canon. We start with a results recap from last week—She’s Making a List and Single on the 25th—where we compare what we predicted based solely on the titles to what actually unfolded on screen. Were we holiday-prophets? Were we misled by the promise of yuletide puns? Or did the movies deliver classic Hallmark charm exactly where we expected it?After crunching the numbers and awarding this week’s bragging rights, we look ahead to two brand-new titles: A Suite Holiday Romance and Oy to the World!. With no trailers, synopses, or clues—just the names—we construct our best guesses about the plots, the character journeys, the romantic beats, and the inevitable holiday life lessons. Whether it’s a meet-cute in a hotel lobby or a multicultural holiday mash-up filled with comedy and heart, we break it down, build it up, and score the predictability at every turn. Expect spirited conversation, a dash of skepticism, generous helpings of cozy holiday cheer, and plenty of laughter as we continue our mission to predict Hallmark movies with absurd confidence. If you love Hallmark, love to lovingly tease Hallmark, or just enjoy listening to people confidently guess things they can’t possibly know, this episode is a gift wrapped in twinkle lights.Rate, review, and subscribe — or you might end up caught between a Suite Holiday Romance meet-cute and an Oy to the World! meltdown, forced to resolve emotional baggage in a festively decorated lobby while a precocious child insists you believe in miracles.Download on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comSend us Fan MailDownload on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comFollow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/predictablyunexpectedpodcast/

Welcome back to another tinsel-covered episode of our Hallmark holiday deep dive, where we take festive movie titles far too seriously and use our Predictability Scorecard like it’s a scientifically validated diagnostic tool. (Maybe one day.)We kick things off by revisiting last week’s trifecta of holiday cheer: We Met in December, The Snow Must Go On, and An Alpine Holiday. Did our predictions melt under the pressure, or did we snowball a perfect score? We break down the meet-cutes, the misunderstandings, the mountains, and the mandatory small-town charm to see just how accurate our festive forecasting really was. Spoiler: someone’s prediction ego might grow three sizes this episode.Then we shift our gaze to the upcoming week’s Hallmark gems: She’s Making a List and Single on the 25th. One sounds like a woman with a spreadsheet and a dream; the other sounds like the world’s most specific relationship status update. Naturally, we dissect both titles with extreme confidence and absolutely no inside information. What kind of list is she making? Who’s single on the 25th? And more importantly, will any of this stop us from wildly guessing the plot? Absolutely not.So grab your cocoa, your candy canes, and your willingness to suspend disbelief. It's time to analyze, predict, revisit, and mildly roast Hallmark’s latest seasonal offerings—because if we don’t, who will?Rate, review, and subscribe—or you might wake up on the 25th single, with a list of life lessons longer than your Christmas shopping list.Download on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comSend us Fan MailDownload on your favorite podcast platform or find us here:https://predictablyunexpected.buzzsprout.comFollow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/predictablyunexpectedpodcast/