Lifetime
“Toying With the Holidays” is the next film in the holiday lineup for the 2021 “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” programming slate. It premieres Saturday, December 18 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Lifetime.
If you don’t have cable or don’t have Lifetime, here are some different ways you can watch “Toying With the Holidays” streaming online:
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Philo TV
You can watch a live stream of Lifetime and 60-plus other TV channels on Philo TV, which comes with a seven-day free trial:
Once signed up for Philo, you can watch “Toying With the Holidays” live on the Philo app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast (compatible on Android mobile), any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. You can also watch on your computer on the Philo website.
If you can’t watch live, Philo allows you to DVR programs and watch them up to 30 days later. And even if you forget to DVR something, Philo also comes with a 72-hour rewind feature, which lets you to watch most shows on-demand if they have aired in the last three days.
Sling TV
You can watch a live stream of Lifetime and 30-plus other TV channels via Sling TV’s “Sling Orange” or “Sling Blue” bundle. This option doesn’t include a free trial, but it’s the cheapest streaming service with Lifetime, and you can get your first month for just $10:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch “Toying With the Holidays” live on the Sling TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Sling TV website.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 50 hours of cloud DVR.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream (formerly AT&T TV) has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” Lifetime is included in every one, but you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free 14-day trial.
Note that the free trial isn’t advertised as such, but your “due today” amount will be $0 when signing up. If you watch on your computer, phone or tablet, you won’t be charged for 14 days. If you watch on a streaming device on your TV (Roku, Fire Stick, Apple TV, etc.), you will be charged for the first month, but you can get still get a full refund if you cancel before 14 days:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch “Toying With the Holidays” live on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the DirecTV Stream website.
If you can’t watch live, DirecTV Stream also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to unlimited hours).
Vidgo
You can watch a live stream of Lifetime and 65+ other TV channels on Vidgo, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Vidgo, you can watch “Toying With the Holidays” live on the Vidgo app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Vidgo website.
Hulu With Live TV
You can watch a live stream of Lifetime and 65+ other TV channels via Hulu With Live TV, which you can try out for free with a seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch “Toying With the Holidays” live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, PlayStation 4 or 5, Nintendo Switch, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu with Live TV comes with both its extensive on-demand library (which includes most shows after they air) and 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
‘Toying With the Holidays’ Preview
In this latest Lifetime holiday film, Chad Michael Murray stars as a ferroequinologist (thanks, “Psych”!), aka a train enthusiast who must help save the North Pole Express.
The Lifetime description reads:
Workaholic designer Danielle (Cindy Busby) returns to her hometown of Holly Pines for the holidays with her young son Paul with hopes to introduce him to some beloved holiday traditions, in particular the town’s North Pole Express train. Once home, she discovers that the North Pole Express has been sidelined.
Determined to help, Danielle reconnects with her former high school classmate Kevin (Murray), now a hobbyist and model train enthusiast himself. Together, Danielle and Kevin attempt to pull off a Christmas miracle that would get the old North Pole Express running — and quite possibly give Danielle many reasons, one of them romantic, to consider staying in Holly Pines for good…
In an interview with the Dear Hallmark YouTube channel, Busby said that doing holiday TV movies is such a blast — and getting her foot in the door with holiday films has helped her book other Lifetime movies.
“I feel really grateful, it’s honestly the gift that keeps on giving. I’ve also been able to do some pretty bad characters on Lifetime too through this process. I’ve been able to do a little bit of everything,” said Busby.
As for the film itself, Busby said “Toying With the Holidays” is a cute film with an emotional twist.
“Basically, I’m workin’ hard, I’m in the city, my dad passed away and one of the joys that we had together is we would go to this Christmas festival every year and he would be the conductor of this little kid train that would bring a lot of joy to this community … he had a huge love and passion for trains in general, which was then passed down to me,” Busby teased.
She continued, “I decide to go home for the holidays and spend time with my mom and I bring my son and I decide I’m gonna show him what Christmas is really mad of the way that my dad showed me, except… the train is no longer in service. It isn’t even available anymore! So I am on a mission to get this train back and running and who is going to save the day with me? Chad Michael Murray.”
The rest of the “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” holiday slate includes:
December 19: “Under the Christmas Tree”
December 20: “Candy Cane Candidate”
December 21: “The Christmas Ball”
December 22: “It Takes a Christmas Village”
December 23: “Rebuilding A Dream Christmas”
December 24: “Hot Chocolate Holiday”
December 25: “Writing Around the Christmas Tree”
“Toying With the Holiday” premieres Saturday, December 18 at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on Lifetime.