Why do Hallmark and Lifetime movies so cheap-looking?

You answered your own question.

They're low-budget.

Part of the problem is they film those movies in 2 or 3 weeks. There have been threads on reddit where people who have worked Hallmark movie crews have posted. Everything is rushed and crew members have said that the sets are toxic environments.

They're feature length soap operas, of course they're cheap.

R1 But the cameras they use are the same ones used for expensive Hollywood films, like Zoolander, Oscar films, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

This is the cute town in Eastern Ontario where they film a ton of them -especially the Xmas ones.

I think they use the “Gilmore Girls” set, too.

fraus are more more invested in shit. If it ain't broke...

"But the cameras they use are the same ones used for expensive Hollywood films, like Zoolander, Oscar films, and Pirates of the Caribbean."

No.

R4. I assume a lot of the quality also comes in post.

Which I'm guessing is about 5 minutes on MS Paint for some Hallmark movies.

r1 I'd argue it's more the problem of generic writers and nobody directors that couldn't even come up with a flipbook.,.. frankly, they throw all their cash at the leads, then fill up the rest of the cast and crew with random people they've dragged off the streets.

The writing on TV movies these days sucks. There were some TV movies back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s that were well written.

I loved this cut for time SNL sketch that dragged Hallmark.

I remember in the '90s their movies had great production values and featured actual stars.

For example, Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh in THE LOVE LETTER.

Or Glenn Close and Christopher Walken in the SARA, PLAIN AND TALL trilogy.

Even in the 2000s, there was Keri Russell and Skeet Ulrich in THE MAGIC OF ORDINARY DAYS.

WTF happened?

I was referring to Hallmark movies.

Yes, why do they?

It's obvious they use limited-focus shots for most of the character scenes. That way, no one can focus on details in the background. So all we see is a slightly blurred background, Christmas decorations etc. That saves a lot of money on finishes, details, set decor.

Does Lifetime still use the tagline “Television For Women”?

R17 They stopped a long time ago with tagline.

Speaking of Lifetime, I will admit I miss the days when they used to air TV movies that originally on the broadcast networks.

And every other week they featured a movie starring Meredith Baxter.