Hallmark is bringing real NFL star power to its Countdown to Christmas lineup. Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story, premiering Saturday, October 17, will feature cameo appearances from a lineup of current and former Chicago Bears players and personalities, alongside its cast.
The film stars Lyndsy Fonseca and Robert Buckley, with Marsha Mason, Barbara Alyn Woods, and Khary Payton rounding out the main cast with Tamera Mowry-Housley, Dyon “Mojo” Brooks, Marilu Henner, and Jake Connelly also starring.
Joining them in cameo roles are Bears head coach Ben Johnson, quarterback Caleb Williams, tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet, and Bears alumni Mike Singletary, Charles “Peanut” Tillman, and Dan Hampton. Also appearing are Connie Payton, wife of the late Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton and team mascot Staley Da Bear.
The film follows ambitious freelance reporter Avery Clark (Fonseca), who returns to Chicago for Christmas hoping for some downtime with her mom (Woods) and stepdad (Payton) before her next assignment. Instead, she’s assigned a story profiling Darlene Donnelly (Mason), a Bears superfan about to attend her 500th game. With little knowledge of football or the city, Avery gets help navigating Bears Nation from Darlene’s grandson Matt (Buckley), a Chicago firefighter and die-hard fan. As Avery follows Darlene’s story through game-day traditions and a decades-long love story that began at a stadium, she starts falling for both the city and Matt.
The film is part of Hallmark’s supersized 17th annual Countdown to Christmas, which kicks off October 16 with 34 original movies, the network’s largest slate yet. This year’s lineup includes Lori Loughlin, Janel Parrish, Rachael Leigh Cook, Daniella Monet, Lacey Chabert, Christy Carlson Romano, Richard Kind, Andie MacDowell, Ian Harding, and Jonathan Bennett, among others. Season 3 of the network’s original series Mistletoe Murders premieres November 5 and will air new episodes weekly on Thursdays. Hallmark will also air a special, The Hallmark Christmas Experience: A Hometown Holiday, hosted by Bennett and Melissa Peterman on December 5, offering a preview of what’s coming to the network in the new year.
“As we celebrated Hallmark Channel’s 25th birthday last month I can’t help but reflect on the way Countdown to Christmas has evolved since its first year,” said Michelle Vicary, head of programming at Hallmark Media, in a statement. “We’ve progressed from a schedule of daily Christmas movie marathons and four original movies to our robust 24/7 holiday programming across 10 weeks, featuring 34 original movie premieres and one original series with our hit ‘Mistletoe Murders,’ now in its third season. We have our wonderful fans to thank for this longevity and are so grateful to them for joining us on this journey.”