discovery+ to Air Holiday Movies Starring Food Network, HGTV Stars Bobby Flay, Duff Goldman, the Napiers, More
It might be the dog days of summer for most of the country, but things are getting downright festive over at discovery+, as on Wednesday, the Warner Bros. Discovery streamer announced that it would premiere four holiday movies this year featuring stars from sibling linear channels the Food Network and HGTV, according to a Variety report.
After the Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond appeared in the streamer’s “Candy Coated Christmas” last year, the service is upping its corporate synergy holiday game in 2022. The four films will all launch on Friday, Nov. 11 and will feature “Home Town” stars Ben and Erin Napier, “Love It or List It” designer Hilary Farr, and Food Network icons Bobby Flay and Duff Goldman.
The Napiers will appear in “A Christmas Open House” as characters who seem very similar to their real-life selves. The movie’s description says that the Napiers will play “a unique couple … who are gifted at small town home restoration and appreciate the legacy of a family home.”
The film will star Katie Stevens as an ambitious property stager in Atlanta who teams with her high school crush (played by Victor Rasuk) to sell her mother’s house.
In “Designing Christmas,” Jessica Szohr and Marco Grazzini play interior designers who host a popular home renovation show. The team is forced to take on a project very personal to Szohr’s Stella that puts jobs, relationships, and homes on the line. Of course, Stella turns to her mentor Freddy — played by Farr — for advice.
The Ace of Cakes himself Duff Goldman will appear in “A Gingerbread Christmas” as a celebrity chef offering a $100,000 prize in a baking competition. Architect Hazel (played by Tiya Sircar) needs to win that competition in order to save her family’s struggling bakery. Sparks inevitably fly when Hazel begins working with contractor James (Marc Bendavid) on the project.
Vanessa Marano will play a restaurant and inn owner in “One Delicious Christmas” who is overwhelmed by keeping up with the job left to her by her parents. Flay will play a food critic integral to Marano’s Abby getting the funding and guidance needed to rescue her family business. Chef Preston Weaver (played by Alex Mallari, Jr.) is eventually brought in to shake up the traditional holiday offerings at the inn.
As new WBD CEO David Zaslav continues to make major changes at HBO Max, his strategy of low-cost, synergistic content across brands and platforms is on full display with these holiday titles.
By leveraging beloved, established stars to draw attention to films obviously modeled off of the Hallmark Channel formula, this seems like a new — but not ultimately surprising — venture for the lifestyle streamer.
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discovery+ is a video streaming service that offers more than 70,000 episodes of 2,500+ current and classic shows from several popular TV brands including Discovery, Investigation Discovery, HGTV, TLC, Food Network, A&E, Lifetime, and History.