Do You Know What a Witty Retort Is? You Can Learn from Hallmark Movies Apparently

Summary

• Hallmark is often ridiculed for its seemingly superficial productions.
• Ted Lasso poked fun at the network's Christmas movies in the show's third season.
• The channel's new festive movie took a rather clever dig at Ted Lasso.

In its impressive forty-year history, the Hallmark Channel has had many names – ACTS, Faith & Values Channel, Odyssey Network – before finally adopting its current moniker. One thing that has never changed about the network's operation, however, is its content. Described as a family-oriented channel, Hallmark broadcasts shows and movies that are so similar to one another in their fairytale-like premises that it is constantly ridiculed for this very reason.

While there's nothing wrong with Hallmark movies and series, they are cloyingly sweet and unrealistic, which is why many people can't stand them. More often than not, the network's projects revolve around a big city woman who travels back to her small hometown, runs into an old crush or even a prince, and they miraculously fall in love and live happily ever after (i.e. Meghan Markle's Dater's Handbook and every single Vanessa Hudgens film), so it's no wonder the network is often made fun of in other productions.

Ted Lasso Mocks Hallmark Movies

Apple TV+'s most popular comedy show, which wrapped in the spring after a highly successful three-season run, is famous for its use of pop culture references. Following the titular American football coach as he travels to the UK to train a professional soccer team, Ted Lasso features many jokes that work because of the clash of cultures. For example, Ted refers to a lot of American things in his conversations with his British team, and they rarely have a clue what he's talking about.

In the second episode of Season 3, Ted tried to inspire his team to perform better by comparing them to a sloppy, festive Hallmark movie. Since they had no idea what a Hallmark Christmas movie was, Ted had to explain it to them, ridiculing the whole thing along the way.

Hallmark's Witty Retort

Apparently, the joke didn't go unnoticed by the channel, as their latest Christmas movie pokes fun at the beloved Apple TV+ show. Christmas in Notting Hill follows a fictional soccer star who meets and falls in love with an American woman. They decide to celebrate Christmas together and her family flies in for the occasion. When the woman's father is introduced to the soccer star, he refers to his daughter's new boyfriend as 'the Roy Kent of Newborn'.

When it's revealed that the father watched Ted Lasso during the flight, the soccer star admits that his professional life is very similar to the show, and his girlfriend asks him if his coach is also an American football coach who knows nothing about soccer, bakes biscuits, and gives reassuring speeches. As the athlete jokes, he is – minus the mustache, clearly mocking TL. So apparently Hallmark Christmas movies can be pretty clever, too.

Christmas in Notting Hill is set to air on Hallmark on December 3.