My Christmas Cowboy, the new Hallmark Channel Christmas movie starring Amy Acker, Luke Macfarlane and Sara Canning, premieres tonight, Friday, November 13, at 8 p.m. ET during week five of Countdown to Christmas 2026, and it streams tomorrow on Hallmark+. Acker co-wrote this Texas Christmas story, and both stars play right to their strengths. Week five of Countdown to Christmas rolls on with My Christmas Cowboy, the first of three new movies this weekend, with The Nights Before Christmas on Saturday and Mistletoe and Mimosas on Sunday. We have not hit the halfway mark or Thanksgiving yet, but this has been a strong season so far.
What Happens in My Christmas Cowboy?
Acker plays Meg, who gave up on being a newscaster after a disastrous audition in college and has been happy as a news producer in her small town of Fern, Texas. Macfarlane plays Billy Kane, her college crush and audition partner, who is now a famous celebrity host in Hollywood about to lose his career over an on-camera mistake. His publicist tells him to lay low, so Billy heads home to Texas to spend the holidays with his sister, played by Canning, and her family. Billy is happy to see Meg, but she is a lot less happy to see him, because she is still upset that he used her failed audition to land the job himself. She keeps running into him anyway, since his nephew Graham, played by Isaiah Haegert, is in the horse therapy program her dad runs at their ranch. When her dad gets hurt right before the ranch’s annual Reindeer Roundup, he asks Billy to host, much to Meg’s dismay. With only days to go, Meg teaches Billy to ride and rope, and as they slowly reconnect, she sees there is more to him than Hollywood glitz. Each of them helps the other find the courage to step outside their comfort zone and find new joy, and maybe love.
If there is one thing Hallmark does well, it is playing to an actor’s strengths. Amy Acker is great in roles where she starts out unsure and reserved and then has to overcome that and grow, and Meg gives her exactly that. Luke Macfarlane plays comedy and sweet better than most, and he is usually the most likable guy on screen. That is true here too. Acker also filled the script with her own Texas roots, from tamales on Christmas Eve to a Christmas tree decorated with little neckerchiefs, as she shared in the Q&A we covered in our week five preview.
Now, I know cowboy culture is very popular right now. It is not something that appeals to me. I am not into cowboys or country music or fringe, and there is a lot of all of it in this movie. There is plenty of fringe and plenty of cowboy hats, and it even sounded like Reba singing in one scene. It works for a lot of the world, just not me, and that is okay. The beauty of Hallmark is that there is something for everyone, and if you love all things Texas, this one was made for you.
My Christmas Cowboy was written by Amy Acker and Emma Bates and directed by Peter Benson, one of Hallmark’s most prolific directors and a familiar face on screen too. Benson also directed Mr. & Mrs. Christmas earlier this season and the upcoming Snow Globe Town, which is inspired by Brad Paisley’s song and premieres December 12.
How to Watch My Christmas Cowboy
My Christmas Cowboy premieres Friday, November 13, at 8 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. CT on Hallmark Channel, and it streams Saturday, November 14, on Hallmark+. Hallmark Channel also has encores on Saturday, November 14, at 6 p.m. ET, Sunday, November 22, at 2 p.m. ET and Wednesday, November 25, at 8 p.m. ET. Find every review in our Countdown to Christmas 2026 hub
