Review: Disney’s Hulu’s Family Guy’s Hallmark Channel’s Lifetime Familiar Holiday Movie

Overview:

Getting fans into the holiday season, Family Guy returns with a brand new Christmas special, “Disney’s Hulu’s Family Guy’s Hallmark Channel’s Lifetime Familiar Holiday Movie” has dropped on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. Helping to start off the Christmas season, the special dropped on November 28, the day after Thanksgiving 2025. This year’s seasonal special pokes fun at the various rom-com TV movies that come out towards the end of the year, that have become a staple for Hallmark and Lifetime.

Our Take:

It’s a story Hallmark lovers know all too well. Lois is a workaholic in “Cityopolis” who doesn’t have time for men, or non-protein bar breakfasts, because she’s putting her career first. Her boss, played by her father, Carter, has a little job for her that will get in the way of celebrating Christmas: stealing a small town pie recipe. However, as he reminds her, she’s always putting her career before everything else, and that should include the holidays.

The special naturally takes every opportunity to poke fun at the classic tropes fans have come to expect of Hallmark projects, from the blatantly Canadian cast and setting to how Peter claims he and Lois have already starred in three previous Christmas specials. There’s even a joke thrown towards American Greetings’ way.

That said, the special, only lasting a half-hour, doesn’t really have the time to fully take on the Christmas rom-com. For example, Bonnie is set up as the parody of the typical disposable fiancée these stories tend to have. Fans probably expected there to be a joke on how viewers aren’t supposed to question the lead cheating on someone they’ve been in a committed relationship with. Aside from a joke about her not liking dogs, like a stereotypical Hallmark villainess, she just disappears from the story after randomly getting sick.

Some of the Hallmark-related jokes are clever, while others kind of miss the mark. A lot of jokes poke fun at Townsville being a stereotypical  Southern hick-town in spite of the cheery trappings. This makes little sense since, as the special itself points out, these holiday specials usually film in Canada.

Peter and Lois really take up the majority of the story, with Stewie mostly there to add commentary on things. Chris and Brian only appear for a cameo and Meg doesn’t appear in the story at all. Fans probably would’ve liked to see how they would’ve reacted to getting a chance to be in a Hallmark story, but Meg’s absence could at least be chalked up to her treatment in the show’s Star Wars specials.

There is another thing that helps “Disney’s Hulu’s Family Guy’s Hallmark Channel’s Lifetime Familiar Holiday Movie” stand apart from other Family Guy stories. Interestingly, the story is also low on the show’s staple cutaway gags. That said, one could argue the special is itself just one giant cutaway gag.

If all else, at least the special avoids the typical “what if Hallmark did movies for other holidays” joke other Hallmark parodies usually make, as if The Good Witch franchise isn’t a thing for the spooky season. In fact, they even allude to a Valentine’s Day festival, suggesting a fictional special exists for the holiday.

Similarly, while Hallmark gets the brunt of the jokes, it’s nice to see the special throw Lifetime in the title, acknowledging that Hallmark isn’t the only ones making these movies. Things like this show that someone working on the special looked into what these holiday movies are actually like.

All in all, the special probably isn’t going to supplant the show’s previous Christmas celebrations. Granted, it’s hard to top that time Kiss saved Santa. Still, it’s always nice to get an early gift on Black Friday.