The Best & Battiest Moments From This Past Weekend's Holiday Movies

Once again it's the season to be merry and watch every new holiday movie as it debuts! Each Monday, we'll take a look back at the previous weekend's premieres to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with a new list of superlatives.

Bravo to Paul Campbell appearing as himself, one of North Star Training Academy's latest recruits, in Hallmark Channel's The Santa Class. He was researching the role of Santa for a movie (that ultimately went to Andrew Walker instead). His vision for a "Handsome Santa" that's svelte, suave and approachable was hilarious, but we also laughed at him: showing heavage while donning the traditional garb; helping his team name the most Christmas movies ("I starred in like 35 of these!"); noting that he was called "The King of Christmas Romance by US Weekly in 2022"; happily holding a framed photo of himself during the group's Secret Santa gift exchange; and introducing himself as "television's Paul Campbell" (like Moira Rose) and performing Shakespeare. Our one question: Why didn't he participate in the hands-on mall Santa exercise?

Early in The Holiday Junkie, Andie told Mason that when she was young and having a bad day, her mother would hang Christmas lights in her room to cheer her up. Later, after Andie decided that the Holly Hill Holiday Hop was probably going to have to be cancelled, she returned to her guest room to find that Mason had decorated it for her. (It's even sweeter when you learn Hewitt's late mother did that for her in real life when Jennifer was a brokenhearted teen.)

As we stated when we named Lifetime's The Holiday Junkie our pick of the week, Jennifer Love Hewitt's full-service Christmas planner Andie tears up more than anyone ever has in a holiday movie in an honest portrayal of grief. All those voicemails she left for her late mother made it all the more poignant when a cover of John Waite's "Missing You" (performed by Hewitt) played while Andie sobbed alone after jilted house manager Mason (Brian Hallisay, Hewitt's real-life husband) briefly ended their budding romance.

We'd like to acknowledge that Jennifer Love Hewitt directed The Holiday Junkie and gave her husband a classic walking-with-the-T-shirt-I-didn't-pause-to-put-on shirtless scene. [Insert slow clap.]

In Hallmark Mystery's All I Need For Christmas, music app developer Archer (Dan Jeannotte) told singer/songwriter Maggie (Mallory Jansen) how his wealthy father had pitted him and his sister Piper (Emily Tennant) against each other since they were old enough to earn money. To teach them the value of winning at all costs, the kids' annual earnings were tracked to the penny. Whoever earned the most by 12:01 am on Dec. 25 each year got huge Christmas presents while the loser received nothing. Horrible!

After a blow-up with his sister in All I Need For Christmas, Archer came to Maggie's parents' house for a fireside heart-to-heart. It's rare for a Hallmark leading man to express vulnerability so willingly — a credit to Archer's years of therapy. When he leaned back on the sofa and asked Maggie to tell him something good, and she played with his shirt collar as she shared that she'd written a new Christmas song, it was an intimacy and comfort we don't typically get to see. After she lightened the mood further, he turned to face her: "Don't make me laugh, Maggie McKenzie," he said. "I'm trying to be sad right now. You're kinda ruining it." She looked in eyes, then briefly down at his lips. Just wonderful acting by Dan Jeannotte and Mallory Jansen.

In Hallmark Channel's Hanukkah on the Rocks, the dive bar Rocky's hosted a night of "Menorah Matchmaking" in which singletons wrote down answers to a series of questions and were matched by the compatibility of their responses. Questions covered essential topics, from how often you go to temple to the TV character you most resemble. We'd love to see a spinoff film next December called Menorah Matchmaking. Since the older folks decide the matches for the younger crowd and vice versa, lots of meddling awaits!

The bride in Hallmark+'s Happy Holidays From Cherry Lane gave her sister only 12 hours to move the wedding to her backyard (and wanted to paint her home's exterior!). But we're going with Rosemary (Asha James) in OWN's Mistletoe & Matrimony. She asked her wedding planner sister Olivia (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) to orchestrate an elaborate Christmas Eve wedding in two weeks, complete with a horse drawn carriage, then abruptly announced at the rehearsal party that she was going to elope in the Bahamas on New Year's Eve instead. Luckily, Rosemary came to her senses.

BET+'s Too Many Christmases follows newlyweds Jerome and Kayla (Denzel Whitaker and Porscha Coleman) as they try to spend Christmas Day with both of their families without their loved ones realizing it. Meanwhile, Jerome's himbo cousin Lavar (Juhahn Jones) hides out in the bathroom all day to avoid an awkward confrontation with another guest at the table. Jerome's mother (Adele Givens) was tired of the food getting cold — and pulled a tiny gun out of her bra: "Let's play a game. It's called watch me pop a cap in Lavar's ass if he don't get out here right now." He came running.

Does anyone really deck their office walls (and computer!) as much as publisher Heather (Tonjha Richardson) in UPtv's A Novel Christmas?

In Great American Family's Get Him Back For Christmas, up-and-coming singer Bella (Alexa PenaVega) arranged for her high school songwriting partner Jack (Carlos PenaVega) to play a private show on the 50-yard line of an empty Cowboys' AT&T Stadium. Jack sang "Hey Bella," the song she never listened to years ago when he'd put it on a road trip mix to confess his feelings. In the end, Bella rewrote the lyrics to serenade Jack (while unknowingly live on Access Hollywood, thanks to a sneaky Mario Lopez — we didn't see that coming!).

Hallmark Channel's Following Yonder Star was picture-perfect when Vermont innkeeper/science teacher Tom (John Brotherton) took TV actress Abby (Brooke D'Orsay) on a horse-drawn sleigh ride to a quaint clearing of hay bales and waiting hot chocolate for stargazing.

We're dying to feel how soft this cardigan is that travel photographer Isaiah (Etienne Maurice) wore to cookie decorating in Mistletoe & Matrimony.