PEOPLE's new special issue celebrates Christmas movies on TV

As the holidays approach, we find ourselves thinking about traditions again. And by “holiday season,” we mean the crisp days when Halloween candy shares space with the first Santas of the season in stores. Break out the heirloom ornaments and matching flannel pajamas. Seek out that reliably effective eggnog recipe and tried-and-true reindeer cookie cutters. During these times, the lure of familiar comforts is stronger than ever. For many, that means gathering around the glow of television sets to watch Lifetime's barrage of Christmas movies.

This year, PEOPLE is celebrating the channel’s Christmas films with a new special edition, It's a wonderful Christmas. Hear from the stars of this year's program, including Reba McEntire, Tia Mowry, Mario Lopez and Melissa Joan Hart. Hart, who has played eight roles on the holiday season (including leading actress and director), is the Christmas Queen. She has played characters named Eve, Kate Holiday and now in the 2021 holiday show “The Christmas Queen.” Mistletoe in Montanaa rancher named Merry. “We always want to make everything Christmassy,” notes Hart, 45.

Her new film is based on the true story of Hart's cousin, who fell in love with a cowboy in Wyoming. Since Hart, also a producer, was making a romantic comedy rather than a documentary, she decided to switch the genders. “I said, I want to be the cowboy!”

They shot in Montana during the summer, often enduring 100-degree heat while bundled up in flannel to reflect the film's winter holiday setting. Between takes, Hart says, “I was half-naked on set” trying to cool off. “My goal now is to get Lifetime to let me do a summery Christmas movie near the beach!”

Courtesy of Lifetime Melissa Joan Hart

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In her first Lifetime Christmas film, 66-year-old McEntire plays the lead role in Christmas in harmonyis set in Nashville. “I think it's very important to bring more films to the state of Tennessee,” says the star, who told Dukes of Hazzard Alumnus John Schneider, 61. The two play ex-spouses who are brought together when they are persuaded to perform at a concert organized by their daughter Belle. (Yes, like Silver Bells, another Christmas name; everyone takes a sip of eggnog!)

Courtesy of Lifetime

Lopez, 48, a veteran of the Lifetime holiday season, makes headlines Holidays in Santa Fefilmed on location in New Mexico. Lopez, who has played a toy store owner in the past, plays a Christmas decoration salesman this time, while his real-life daughter Gia, 11, plays his niece. “She steals the show,” says the proud father of three.

Mowry, who describes herself as a “huge Christmas movie fanatic,” appears in her third, Miracles in Motor Cityfor which she also served as executive producer. In the Detroit-set film, 43-year-old Mowry is a social worker who accidentally promises to get Smokey Robinson to appear in her church's Christmas play. No major spoiler alert: The legendary hitmaker does indeed show up.

Courtesy of Lifetime Tia Mowry and Smokey Robinson (with Markeda McKay) in “Miracle in Motor City”.

RELATED: Check out Lifetime's 35-movie Christmas list featuring Reba McEntire, Jana Kramer, Tia Mowry and more

“We have Smokey Robinson!” says an excited Mowry, who once attended the same church as Robinson. And when Smokey sings, can romance be far away? Like so many Lifetime Christmas movies, this one really is a Valentine's Day movie. “What I love about this movie,” says Mowry, “is that we're shining a spotlight on the one thing you really need, which is love.”

The new special edition of PEOPLE It's a wonderful Christmas is now available in all newsagents.