Bob Schwartz

People reports  that there are 144 new Christmas movies scheduled this season on Netflix, Hallmark, Lifetime, etc.

When the Christmas TV movie phenomenon began years ago, it was an occasional holiday thing. Once Hallmark established that it was a crowd pleaser and audience magnet, it expanded its roster and then other channels jumped in.

Like any genre TV, conventional themes and plots are acted by familiar faces. The most extraordinary version combines royalty with the holiday. Often a prince—maybe responsible and a widower, maybe a playboy—falls in love with a commoner in unlikely circumstances.

The line above, “What do you know about the royal family of Aldovia?”, is asked of an aspiring reporter in A Christmas Prince on Netflix. She is flown to Aldovia to cover the possible abdication of the heir to the throne. If you’ve seen this or any of its type, you know the rest.

Do not try to book a flight to Aldovia or Cordinia or Calpurnia or Madelvia. None of these kingdoms exist on real maps. They exist in the sweet world of small obstacles, comfortable lives, whirlwind romanc, and happy endings, all wrapped in the warmth of Christmas.

I won’t say that we need these, that I need these, these few hours away from media that serve up some pretty disagreeable programming, both in the news and in the dark dramas (and in the very dark dramas in the news). But I want these hours away in Aldovia or Cordinia or Calpurnia or Madelvia. You might too.