While Hallmark Channel leans toward more inclusive storylines, Candace Cameron Bore and Great American Family seem to do the opposite. In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Burr, who left Hallmark earlier this year to join former CEO Bill Abbott at the new company, talked about her new role as chief creative officer. opened it.
“My heart wants to tell stories that have more meaning and purpose and depth,” she said of the change. “I knew the people behind Great American Family were Christians who loved the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment.”
Not only is Bored the star in her choice of films, but she also produces cult titles under the banner ‘Candice Cameron Bores Presents’. Still, the move has been met with major controversy, with her telling the WSJ that Hallmark is “basically a completely different network than it was when it started because of the change in leadership.” (The network, in turn, commented, “We want all viewers to see themselves in our program and everyone is welcome.”)
While Hallmark is making a strong push for more LGBTQ+ storylines — their first original holiday movie focuses on same-sex couples debuting next month — that’s not going to happen on The Great American Family, Burr said.
“I think the great American family will keep traditional marriage at its core,” she said. Abbott added, “It’s definitely 2022, so we’re aware of the trends. There’s no whiteboard saying, ‘Yes, this’ or ‘No, we’re never going to go here.’
In September, Abbott and Burr spoke kind of About their plans to grow the network. When asked about including more diverse storylines, Abbott explained, “Sometimes we don’t think of people who are really good in these storylines and so we have to look for them… In growing this business, it’s a lot heavier than I ever thought. I knew it would be hard, but not that hard. And so, we’ll get there, but it’s a night thing. is not
He also said that “in time” there will likely be opportunities to celebrate other faiths instead of just Christianity and Christmas. “We don’t have the luxury of having 30 people in development meeting with a lot of different people. We take as many as we can, but the time in the day is limited.”
“I think we know the core audience and what they love is what originally created the Hallmark Channel,” Burr said. “It was Christmas and those traditional holidays, so that’s what the focus is. You have to start somewhere. You can’t do everything at once.”
