Hallmark at 25: more … and then some more

As the Hallmark Channel celebrates its 25th birthday, it’s planning a lot of the same. A lot.
The cable network started on April 5, 2001, as an unlikely merger of three H’s — Henson (Jim, the Muppet man), Halmi (Robert, a movie/mini-series guy) and Hallmark, the greeting-card folks.
The others soon departed, but Hallmark kept growing. It has Christmas movies — roughly a zillion of them — and more, sometimes with tie-ins.
It’s again linking with pro-football (the Bears, this year) and with the Biltmore estate. It has also set a movie linking with Disney … which makes historical sense: Long ago, we’re told, Hallmark was one of the first businesses to license Mickey Mouse.
There’s also has a streaming service, Hallmark+. We’ll start there:
— The streamer currently has “Paris Is Always a Good Idea,” with Lacey Chabert leaping between Paris, Ireland and Spain; it airs on six Thursdays, with the fourt episode Aug. 13.
— “Change of Heart” is a new series coming to Hallmark+ next year. A jaded divorce attorney has heart-transplant and a new approach. Now he’s fighting for love in all its forms.
— Two Halloween movies are set. “A Knight to Remember” (Oct. 3) has a museum-restorer fix up a suit-of-armor; then she accidentally brings it to life. “The Spirit of Halloween” (Oct. 10) is a fresh take on “A Christmas Carol”; it has Meghan Ory, who starred in Hallmark’s “Chesapeake Shores” series.
— Alison Sweeney and Ashley Williams will star in a movie, as mismatched strangers, desperate to get home for Christmas. Both might end up as friends; one might find a romance.
— That one doesn’t have a title yet, but other Christmas films have, at least, tentative ones. “Mistletoe and Mimosas” has a restaurant consultant (Tamera Mowry-Housley) in a contest with her competitor (Kristoffer Polaha). “Single at the Wedding” has Italia Ricci as someone no longer interested in romance … and Jonathan Bennett as someone who’s passionately interested.
— There will again be a time-travel movie filmed at the Biltmore estate. This one is “A Grand Biltmore Christmas,” set for Dec. 5.
— Chabert also stars in “A Disney World Wish Come True: Christmas Ever After,” filmed at Disney World; it airs Nov. 28.
— And “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story” is set for Oct. 17. It stars Lyndsy Fonseca (the daughter in the pre-filmed “How I Met Your Mother” scenes), Robert Buckley and four-time Oscar-nominee Marsha Mason.
It will have brief scenes with Connie Payton (the widow of Chicago Bears’ great Walter Payton), Bears coach Ben Johnson, current players Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet and past players Mike Singletary, Charles “Peanut” Tillman and Dan Hampton.
It will include bits from Mowry-Housley, Marilu Henner and the mascot, Staley Da Bear. And, of course, Hallmark will have a Chicago Bear Santa ornament for Christmas.