Christmas lights are mostly not up yet, and still holiday programming is already available before anyone has had the chance to carve up a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.

You can count on the Hallmark Channel to fill their schedule with a surfeit of Christmas movies. It happens every year, and this one is no exception.

Hallmark didn’t even wait for Halloween before launching “Scouting for Christmas,” in which Tamera Mowry-Housley’s Angela is a busy realtor since her amicable divorce a couple of years ago to Dakota (James Paladino), a paleontologist whose adventures kept him anywhere but home.

Now, she is a devoted, if often harried, single mom to smart and loving 10-year-old girl Brooklyn (Audrey Wise Alvarez). Angela’s busy schedule makes it hard for her to find time for much of anything, or anyone else.

Angela can barely get Brooklyn to her scout meetings on time, much to the disapproval of other mothers. Brooklyn gets the idea to have William (Carlo Marks), the owner of her favorite bakery, cater her scout troop’s annual holiday event, and asks Angela to work on pitching the idea to the other moms.

Despite sensing that her daughter might be trying to play cupid, Angela agrees to help and finds herself enjoying time with William, but is reluctant to open her heart and life to someone new.

When Dakota enters the picture again, after missing his ex-wife, Angela must decide what is best for her daughter and best for her heart. “Scouting for Christmas” presents a holiday dilemma.

Oddly enough, Hallmark’s all-new, six-episode holiday series “Mistletoe Murders,” was launched on Halloween, in what can be some sort of counter-programming on the eve of an ancient Celtic festival when the souls of the dead returned to their homes.

Sarah Drew headlines as Emily Lane, a small-town shop owner with a secret. The series also stars Peter Mooney as local detective Sam Wilner and newcomer Sierra Marilyn Riley as his teenaged daughter Violet.

“Mistletoe Murders” follows Emily, the outwardly friendly proprietor of a charming year-round Christmas-themed store, Under the Mistletoe. However, her inner voice reveals a sardonic sense of humor, cunning intellect, and keen eye for details most people would miss because she has a big secret.

Residing in the quaint tourist town of Fletcher’s Grove, Emily finds herself compelled to investigate a crime when her friend is accused of murder. Emily had tried to fit in without letting anyone get too close, but the murder case changes everything.

And when she begins her sleuthing, Detective Wilmer, a smart local cop, with a crush on Emily that is not completely unrequited, begins to wonder if there’s more to Emily than meets the eye.

Of course, it’s only a matter of time before Emily’s secret past catches up with her. Other than the fact that Emily runs a holiday-themed gift, “Mistletoe Murders” makes for an interesting choice for a Christmas-related program.

A sequel to Hallmark’s “Three Wise Men and a Baby” returns in a story that begins five years later with the Brenner brothers preparing for another memorable Christmas in “Three Wiser Men and a Boy.”

In a crazy turn of events, the director of Luke’s (Andrew Walker) son Thomas’ (Miles Marthaller) school holiday musical steps down. Luke is desperate to make his son’s stage dreams come true.

Luke enlists the help of his brothers Taylor (Tyler Hynes) and Stephan (Paul Campbell). Meanwhile, the trio navigates meeting their mom Barbara’s (Margaret Colin) new boyfriend.

The brothers grapple with their own feelings about this relationship. In true Brenner brother fashion, they are all in for a Christmas they will never forget. Maybe they will end up being wiser men.

Earlier in the year, Great American Family announced that Danica McKellar (“The Wonder Years”) and Oliver Rice (“Firefly Lane”) were set to star in “A Royal Christmas Ball,” which was acknowledged as a working title.

With a premiere date of this television film set for Friday, November 29th, the title is now “A Cinderella Christmas Ball.” This change may be owing to the fact that the working title was taken for a TV movie seven years ago.

McKellar’s Chelsea Jones is a dance instructor and studio owner in Chicago who inspires kids to find themselves through dance. Just before Christmas, Chelsea discovers a photo she’s never seen before.

Chelsea thinks the young woman is her birth mother who passed away when she was only five years old. The woman is in a wedding dress tugging on the hand of a man wearing a wedding ring, but all that is all than can be seen of the man Chelsea believes may be her father.

The photo’s handwritten inscription reads, “Our place, Havenshire, December 23, 1984.” With only the internet, a plane ticket, and lifelong determination to go on, Chelsea now has four days in Havenshire to solve the mystery of her birth family.

Along the way, she’ll sneak into a castle, teach stubborn Prince Phillip (Oliver Rice) how to dance, and be in just the right place on Christmas Eve when the bells toll.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

‘THE LINCOLN LAWYER: Season 3’ on NETFLIX

Michael Connelly, the prolific author of crime fiction and detective novels, is arguably at the top ranks of writers whose books are worthy of being adapted as screenplays for television or movies.

His most notable characters are LAPD detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller, the central persons, respectively, for the Amazon series “Bosch” and the Netflix incipient franchise “The Lincoln Lawyer,” now streaming for its third season.

Before Netflix launched “The Lincoln Lawyer” series in 2022, Connelly’s eponymous 2005 novel was first made into the 2011 film of the same title, starring Matthew McConaughey as the Los Angeles defense lawyer who operates out of the back seat of a Lincoln Town Car.

The Ford Motor Company’s Lincoln division produced the 1986 Town Car that was featured in the McConaughey film, whereas the streaming series on Netflix features a classic 1963 four-door Lincoln Convertible as the lawyer’s car of choice when he’s mostly driving for leisure.

The third season picks up where the previous one left off with Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) showing up at the West Hollywood jail for Julian LaCosse (Devon Graye), arrested as the suspect in the murder of sex worker Gloria Dayton (Fiona Rene).

Julian has only known Gloria as Giselle Dallinger, who operates under multiple aliases and could not be identified at the County morgue until Haller showed up, noting that she mostly went by Glory Days.

The evidence against Julian, as happens to be the case for many that Haller represents, may be circumstantial but enough threads connect to his culpability with at least a degree of credibility.

On the night of the homicide, Julian is found on a surveillance camera to have arrived and departed from Gloria’s apartment building within the timeframe of the murder and the testimony of a neighbor that a loud argument had ensued gave credence to foul play.

It turns out that Gloria was being serviced by Julian’s website that allowed sex workers to have prospective clients vetted for safety reasons, leading to Julian insisting that he’s not a pimp but acknowledging that he takes twenty percent off the top as commission.

While a few side issues intrude, the ten-episode season is primarily focused on a single compelling case even though a budding odd couple romance blossoms when Haller gets involved with prosecutor Andrea Freeman (Yaya DaCosta), a frequent adversary in the courtroom.

In the second episode, Haller is representing a Hispanic male with shaved head and several face tattoos on an armed robbery charge. After testimony proves to be damning, the defendant viciously assaults Haller.

The prosecutor and Haller approach the bench when requested by the judge, who believes the attack has prejudiced the case in the eyes of the jury. The prosecutor asserts that the assault was staged so Haller could manipulate the court to declare a mistrial.

Detractors of the defense attorney, and there are many who pop up here, including the District Attorney’s investigator and former LAPD detective Neil Bishop (Holt McCallany) holding a grudge for being destroyed as a witness, would perhaps justifiably take the view that Haller is calculating.

Those who work for Haller are faithfully loyal. His second ex-wife Lorna Crane (Becki Newton), a hard-working assistant, is preparing for the bar exam which understandably causes anxiety at work.

Lorna is now married to former motorcycle gang member Cisco (Angus Sampson), who now works for Haller as an intrepid investigator willing to ride his bike all the way to Las Vegas to track down a potential witness.

Office worker Izzy Letts (Jazz Raycole), who previously chauffeured Haller in his Lincoln Navigator, is busy on the side trying to make a go of her own dance studio that’s suddenly threatened by a competitor.

One new member of Haller & Associates is Eddie Rojas (Allyn Moriyon), taking over driving for the boss, after the attorney defended him at trial on a charge of joyriding in an expensive sports car.

On the other side of the ledger, Haller must deal with plenty of unsavory characters. Prison inmate Sly Funaro Sr. (Paul Ben-Victor), a disgraced attorney, and his moron son (Christian Antidormi), are key to Haller connecting with an imprisoned cartel leader (Arturo Del Puerto).

Even sleazier is how shady DEA agent James de Marco (Michael Irby), who has ties to former police officer Neil Bishop, possibly figures into the death of prostitute Glory Days.

For anyone who enjoyed the first two seasons of “The Lincoln Lawyer,” the third season exceeds expectations such that the cliffhanger at the last episode will have you hoping no time is wasted for production to start on the next installment.

Without giving away anything that is shocking about the finale, it would be a disservice to the fan base to not have a new chapter, but given the popularity of the series so far, we should feel confident that Mickey Haller is not hanging up his shingle.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

'SATURDAY NIGHT' Rated R

For a column that writes about film and television, it would be almost indefensible to forgo a critical look at the film “Saturday Night,” the story of the tumultuous start to a late-night television show now just a year shy of reaching the half-century mark.

The sketch comedy variety show “Saturday Night Live,” now in its fiftieth season, has had its own turbulent history over the years as cast members, some shooting up to considerable stardom and success in films and television, would sometimes run afoul of NBC’s corporate culture.

Even Lorne Michaels, creator and producer and occasionally appearing on his own show, stepped away early on for five seasons, but remains a force behind the scenes to this day as executive producer.

The original title for the late-night program, which debuted on Oct. 11, 1975, was “NBC’s Saturday Night,” a reference overlooked in “Saturday Night” because that is a piece of trivia irrelevant to the premise of the movie.

The film, at a running time approximating the time frame of a dress rehearsal, centers on the madcap countdown to the premiere episode going live from Studio 8H at New York’s Rockefeller Center.

All eyes are on the 11:30 p.m. launch, as studio executives and other honchos, most notably an anxious Dave Tebet (Willem Dafoe) telling Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) “your crew is in open rebellion,” indicate that the ninety minutes preceding the broadcast looms as a potential disaster of epic proportions.

The very same NBC executive is only inches away from pulling the plug, and the angry voice of Johnny Carson, host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” on a phone call to Michaels, is upset that a bunch of nobodies could sabotage his late-night show, even though he would benefit from their failure.

The staging of the chaotic buildup to showtime is likely exaggerated for the purpose of dramatization, and in the compressed period leading up to the show going live, the enterprise becomes a mix of fact, fiction and myth rolled into a big ball of irreverent, wacky moments.

With a rather large cast of characters, from actors and network executives to the production crew and security, even some of the notable cast members get short-shrift, but above all the focus is truly on Michaels trying to corral his counter-culture performers.

Alternately appearing energetic and at times flummoxed, Michaels is performing a juggling act, getting help from his then-wife Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott), a contributor to many of the sketches.

Looming over the fast-approaching launch time, Michaels has his challenges in dealing with comedians and inexperienced actors, particularly with an erratic John Belushi (Matt Wood) who avoids signing his contract until right up to the moment that the putative curtain rises.

Bad enough having to wrangle the crew, Michaels and Shuster are not only scrambling for rewrites on the fly, but also have to deal with mechanical failures, power outages, and the set catching fire, while trying to maintain a sense of sanity and calm.

An on-the-set NBC censor struggles with some objectionable material, leading to the acerbic staff writer Michael O’Donoghue (Tommy Dewey) uttering profane contempt that might have easily come from George Carlin (Matthew Rhys) who appears as a host and drops a few F-bombs.

Even a scorecard on the cast members may not prove helpful because, unless you are familiar with the original performers, not everyone is immediately recognizable in filling a certain role.

However, Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) stands out, if for no other reason than famously uttering the “Live from New York, It’s Saturday Night” opening line, even though the actor bears enough to the genuine article along with the delivery of his signature pratfall.

Lamorne Morris does such a great job of being the only Black cast member as Garret Morris that you might wonder if he’s the actual offspring of the actor who later created the fictional character of Dominican baseball player Chico Escuela, speaking only in broken English.

In this large ensemble cast, there are plenty of characters reduced to cameo roles, some of them expanded. J.K. Simmons does a great turn as veteran comedian Milton Berle paying a visit to the set and unable to contain his antipathy to anarchic comedy.

While the character of Andy Kaufman (Nicholas Braun) is immediately recognizable for his unique style, the notable female cast members Jane Curtin (Kim Matula), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), and Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn) are regrettably underused.

One thought about “Saturday Night” is what did the filmmakers believe would be the target audience for this film? It would appear tailored to those who remember the early years, rather than a younger generation not even knowing the genesis of the “Blues Brothers” created by Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

The selling point for “Saturday Night” is the sheer lunacy of a revolutionary turn in television history where the satirical skewering of culture and politics was a novel concept. More than anything, it’s a trip down memory lane and plenty of messy, unruly fun.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — The Middletown Art Center, or MAC, welcomes the community to join a vibrant celebration of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, on the evenings of Nov. 1 and 2 at the MAC rain or shine.

Both nights are free to the public and include a Community Ofrenda, music, dancing, craft-making with food and beverages for purchase.

Adults, teens and families with children are cordially invited to come together in a joyful and respectful commemoration of ancestors, and sharing of traditions.

“Día de los Muertos is a day of celebration because we wait with joy for the return of our loved ones who are no longer physically with us,” explained Middletown area resident Irene Martinez. “We believe that on this day all souls return. We honor them in our homes with an ofrenda, or altar, with cempasuchil – marigold flowers. We cook our loved ones’ favorite foods that they enjoyed here on earth and place them on the ofrenda. The cempasuchil flowers guide them to their ofrenda.”

On Nov. 1 from 5:30 to 9 p.m., the festivities begin at MAC with a Community Ofrenda and a special Día de los Muertos First Friday Drum Circle and Open Mic.

The public is invited to bring offerings, photographs of departed loved ones, and meaningful tokens — flowers, food and other mementos — for a shared community ofrenda.

Attendees are welcome to join the drum circle from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and/or express themselves through music, poetry and spoken word, or engage in cultural art-making activities.

Maker vendors and delicious food by Goddess of the Mountain will also be onsite. Middletown’s popular Farmers Market and “trunk or treat” Halloween fun will also be happening this Friday evening. It’s a great night to come out to Middletown.

On Saturday, Nov. 2, from 6 to 10 p.m., the celebration continues with a Día de los Muertos Fiesta.

The evening’s activities include a performance by Middletown High School’s folklórico dancers and DJ Smooth with traditional and contemporary Latinx music. Enjoy music, dancing, face painting, and crafts for children and adults. Traditional Mexican food and beverages will be available for purchase from La-Mixteca and Rosales Market, allowing attendees to savor authentic flavors while partaking in the festivities.

The Día de los Muertos en Middletown celebration offers a unique opportunity for community members to come together, share cultural heritage, and foster connections across generations and backgrounds. Attendees can experience firsthand how honoring the past enriches our present.

The event is supported in part by Lake County Behavioral Health Services through community based mini grant funding, by Lake County Tribal Health, and by Middletown Art Center.

Middletown Art Center is a nonprofit dedicated to engaging the public in art making, art education and art appreciation and providing a platform for diverse voices and perspectives, striving to create an inclusive and accessible space for all.

To learn more and donate to support this or other MAC arts and cultural programs visit middletownartcenter.org.

For inquiries or further information, please contact the Middletown Art Center at 707-355-4465 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The MAC is located at 21456 State Highway 175 in Middletown.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Mendo-Lake Singers chorus invites women who like to sing to join them for their holiday show.

No experience is necessary.

Rehearsals are held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. every Tuesday at 1125 Martin St. in Lakeport.

The holiday show will be on Tuesday, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m. at the above location.

Community members are invited to attend free of charge, though donations are welcome.

Mendo-Lake Singers is a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, the world’s largest women’s a cappella barbershop-style singing organization.

For more information or to hire the Mendo-Lake Singers to sing at a holiday event, contact Director Pam Klier, 707-400-8380, or President Donna Bowen, 707-350-0644.

Halloween programming offers cable and streaming services an opportunity to load up the month of October with a plethora of thrills and chills.

While Peak Screaming at Paramount+ and AMC Networks’ “FearFest” deliver in a big way, there’s much to absorb even with other platforms.

Maybe not in the same league, FX Network is not to be left out as its “American Horror Stories,” co-created by horror genre maven Ryan Murphy, has its own “Huluween” five-episode event which will run on Hulu.

“American Horror Stories” is a spin-off of Murphy’s and Brad Falchuk’s award-winning hit anthology series “American Horror Story,” where the differentiation is that the derivative series features a different horror story each episode.

Leading up to Halloween is the sixth season debut of FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows,” a popular comedic series that documents the nightly exploits of vampire roommates.

Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) navigate the modern world of Staten Island with the help of human friend Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) as well as the vampire bureaucrat, The Guide (Kirsten Schaal).

The vampires are reconsidering their lives when a former roommate reappears after a 50-year nap, and realize they’ve accomplished little in a half-century. This could be a show to watch if you prefer laughs to frights.

AMC’s “FearFest,” the long-running annual horror and genre event features over 700 hours of iconic horror films, new series, specials and more. Anyone watching all 700 hours might just become a certifiable couch potato.

Artist, musician and horror enthusiast Janell Monae, as the official host of “FearFest,” has curated a list of her favorite horror films to stream, which include “An American Werewolf in London,” “The Fly,” Killer Klowns From Outer Space,” and “Carrie.”

AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is a familiar franchise, and now a highlight for “FearFest” is the original series “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol,” picking up where season one left off.

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) confront old demons while she fights to find her friend and he struggles with his decision to stay in France, which apparently has some ramifications for the future of this European nation.

Within the AMC universe, Shudder presents the original series “Horror’s Greatest,” a deep dive into everything we love about horror. From fresh looks at classics to unearthing scores of hidden gems, this series has something for every fright film enthusiast.

What are the must-see films in horror’s many sub-genres? What’s the appeal of horror tropes, and how do today’s filmmakers subvert our expectations? What shape does horror take in countries outside of our own? “Horror’s Greatest” is looking for answers.

Shudder original film “Daddy’s Head” finds a young boy left in eerie solitude of a sprawling country estate with his newly widowed stepmother. The stepmother grows distant, and amidst growing family tension the boy begins to hear unsettling sounds echoing through corridors.

The boy becomes haunted by the presence of a grotesque creature bearing a disturbingly familiar resemblance to his late father. But as the boy’s warnings are dismissed as the imagination of a grieving child, the sinister entity tightens its grip on their crumbling lives.

To this day, writer, director, and actor Roman Polanski remains a fugitive from our justice system, but he’s the undeniable creative force behind great films like “Chinatown” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” the latter a classic psychological horror film.

Paramount+ has an all-new thriller film in “Apartment 7A,” which is set in 1965 New York City to tell the story prior to the legendary “Rosemary’s Baby,” exploring what happened in the infamous Bramford building before Rosemary (Mia Farrow) moved in.

An ambitious young dancer Terry (Julia Garner) dreams of fame and fortune in the Big Apple, but after suffering a devastating injury, an older, wealthy couple (Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally) welcomes her into their home in the luxury Bramford apartment building.

When a fellow resident and influential Broadway producer (Jim Sturgess) offers her another chance at fame, it seems that all her dreams are finally coming true.

However, after an evening she can’t fully remember, disturbing circumstances soon have her second-guessing the sacrifices she’s willing to make for her career as she realizes that something evil is living not only in Apartment 7A but in the Bramford itself.

In the closing days of Halloween week, ABC delivers “Halloween Nightmares” episode on Dancing with the Stars, as the remaining couples get into the Halloween spirit with hair-raising transformations and spine-tingling routines.

Even the ABC game show “Press Your Luck” gets in on the act with its “Halloween Spooktacular” episode where the cartoon creature the Whammy delivers a few more tricks than treats as host Elizabeth Banks and the contestants scare up some big bucks.

ABC’s new series “Doctor Odyssey” episode “Halloween Week” features a high-stakes costume contest, but when a zombie-like illness plagues select passengers on the cruise ship, the festivities take a dark turn. This episode is a curtain call on Halloween night.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.