Heavy/Getty Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert at Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas celebration in L.A. on November 15, 2023.
More than 23 years after Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf last appeared together as siblings on the hit drama “Party of Five,” fans were so excited to see them reunite that the duo’s new Hallmark movie broke ratings records, according to the network.
Hallmark just released data that shows Chabert and Wolf’s onscreen reunion in “A Merry Scottish Christmas,” which premiered on November 18, 2023, has already become the most-watched cable movie of 2023.
Here’s what you need to know:
‘A Merry Scottish Christmas’ is Part of Another Successful Holiday Season for Hallmark
Hallmark“A Merry Scottish Christmas”
On November 22, Hallmark Media reported that “A Merry Scottish Christmas” had achieved “record-breaking cable ratings…industrywide.”
The movie, which was filmed in Scotland, not only became Hallmark’s most-watched original movie premiere of the year, according to Nielsen ratings data released by the network, but it also beat out all other cable and broadcast TV programs in key demographics on its premiere day. In fact, it quickly became the most-watched cable movie of 2023.
Thus far, Hallmark has crushed the competition with its original holiday movie premieres in 2023, which began airing in late October. A press release from the network revealed that Hallmark Channel and its sister channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, has already been watched by 28.4 million unduplicated viewers during the first month of holiday programming.
In fact, on the weekend that “A Merry Scottish Christmas” debuted, the other Hallmark holiday movies that premiered generated stellar ratings, too. Two days earlier, on November 16, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ “A World Record Christmas” was the most-watched cable program of the day. Hallmark Channel’s two other original movies that debuted that weekend, “Navigating Christmas” and “Holiday Hotline,” also achieved that top distinction on the days they premiered.
On November 21, holiday programming trend tracker Ho! Ho! Holiday Viewing tweeted, “Hallmark has had year-over-year ratings growth on roughly 80% of their holiday movies so far in 2023, all in a dwindling cable environment where ANY ratings growth almost unheard of.”
It remains to be seen whether “A Merry Scottish Christmas” will remain the most-watched cable movie of 2023, especially given that Hallmark still has dozens of movie premieres to come, including “A Biltmore Christmas” on November 26.
In fact, Chabert could knock her own movie out of the top spot, since her highly-anticipated second film of the season — the comedy “Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up” — premieres on November 25.
Lacey Chabert & Scott Wolf Said They ‘Jumped at the Chance’ to Work Together Again
Wolf, 55, and Chabert, 41, played siblings Bailey and Claudia Salinger on “Party of Five” from 1993 to 2000, alongside Neve Campbell and Matthew Fox. Since Chabert was only 11 when the show started, Wolf told Fox News that he always “felt very protective of her.”
Both found success after the hit series. Chabert was part of the iconic “Mean Girls” cast and has become one of Hallmark’s biggest stars, while Wolf has starred in popular network TV series like “Everwood” and “Nancy Drew.”
“Since we wrapped ‘Party of Five’ 23 years ago, I’ve hoped that we’d have a chance to do this,” Chabert told Daily Blast Live.
She explained that once Wolf made his first Hallmark movie, 2019 “A Christmas Love Story,” people started suggesting that the two of them should team up for a film.
“Hallmark was so kind to find this beautiful story and let us be involved in the development of it,” she said, looking over at Wolf sitting next to her. “I couldn’t believe it, the first day that we were on set it was very surreal to be standing there playing your sister again.”
“Scott is my favorite person and there’s no one better in the world,” Chabert shared. “It was just a joy.”
Wolf said they had “jumped at the chance” to film together, mirroring Chabert’s compliment by saying, “She’s my favorite person.”