Candace Cameron Bure is best known for her portrayal of DJ Tanner on “Full House,” a popular 90s sitcom. However, over the years she’s become something of a conservative icon thanks to how she’s proudly living out her Christian faith.
The mother-of-three is still involved in Hollywood projects, including the massively popular “Aurora Teagarden” mystery series on The Hallmark Channel. However, Bure recently announced that she’d be leaving the network to join Great American Country (GAC) along with several other prominent former Hallmark stars.
Many fans – especially viewers who loved seeing the actress portray a librarian with a knack for solving murders – were disappointed to hear that Bure was leaving. They speculated it had something to do with Hallmark pushing a progressive agenda in recent years. However, the reality of why Bure quit Hallmark could be something simpler.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, the 46-year-old star said in a statement, “I’m very excited to develop heartwarming family and faith-filled programming and make the kind of stories my family and I love to watch.”
“GAC fits my brand perfectly,” she continued. “[We] share a vision of creating compelling wholesome content for an audience who wants to watch programming for and with the whole family.”
The use of words like “wholesome” and “faith-filled” seem to have factored into Bure’s decision to leave Hallmark. Especially since she re-joined previous Crown Media Family Networks CEO Bill Abbott, who left the Hallmark network just one month after controversy involving a commercial featuring a same-sex lesbian couple.
First the network pulled two out of the four Zola ads in December 2019 when viewers complained about the same-sex marriage content, per NBC News. Then Hallmark CEO Mike Perry apologized the next day for pulling the ads and promptly put them back on air.
Abbott resigned in January 2021 and immediately went on to acquire GAC, which fans can assume will not promote the LGBT agenda. Bure, meanwhile, made some interesting comments on the Hallmark network’s intentional move toward more diverse programming.
“Hallmark has definitely made changes in that direction, which we are all very, very happy to see,” the “Fuller House” star told Insider, speaking about the 2021 film “The Christmas Contest.” The actress plays a woman who reunited with her ex to raise money for charity.
“It’s very important to me in all the casting that we do for the films, and it’s important to represent all people and all of their journeys and their family dynamics,” she continued, noting that everyone’s family looks “so different.”
The publication tried to make it seem like Bure was speaking about films like “The Christmas House” (2020), which features a lesbian couple. Her comments were vague, however, and could have applied to any number of unique family situations.
“I’ve been with this brand for a very long time and I understand what it’s all about and who the audience is and what they’re looking for, because as a producer, as well as an actress, it’s what I’m looking for in the films. So I have taken that very seriously,” Bure told the publication.
The Hollywood star moved to GAC and left behind a legacy at Hallmark in a decision that appeared to be, at least in part, motivated by money. Newsweek reported that GAC made Bure “an offer she cannot refuse—or that Crown Media (who own Hallmark) could not match.”
Bure will be producing, developing and starring in movies and TV shows across both GAC Family and GAC Living in addition to taking on a “prominent executive role” at the company. While specific financial details weren’t revealed, it appears this move will provide the mom of three with more money and more opportunities to flex her creative muscles and influence the content.
She will also be in charge of creating “year-round seasonal celebration content for the networks” and play a huge role in “the company’s annual Great American Christmas franchise,” a press release said.
Meanwhile, Abbott’s intentions for GAC are crystal clear. The former Hallmark exec says he aims for the cable network to become the “leader in family television” and to release content that is counter to what is currently available.
During an interview on “Up Next With John Contratti,” Abbott said, “We want to be relentlessly family-friendly.”
The exec claimed to be “passionate” about wholesome family-focused content. “There’s so much need for family content and the market in this space,” he said. “It’s pretty scary, quite frankly, the amount of content that’s out there … the vast majority of content is salacious and is not appropriate for any member of the family, really.”
“There isn’t a lot of family content out there,” he continued. “If you look in the last 20 years, it’d be real hard to find a show that you can watch in its entirety with your family and not have some point that would make you uncomfortable if you’re with a 10-year-old.”
Abbott said acquiring talent like Bure was essential to GAC’s success. “We want to be the leader in family television,” the TV industry expert said. “… We think that we’ve got assembled a terrific team not only at our networks, but also [on] the talent side – people who are well-known to the audience and who the audience loves.”
Not everyone is thrilled with Bure, Abbott or the potential for GAC to eclipse Hallmark as a place for families to watch TV together. Actor Paul Campbell, who starred in several Hallmark movies, replied to a fan who begged him not to abandon Hallmark for GAC like so many others had already.
“I, like everyone else, will be keeping a close eye on the GAC content rollout. If there’s a noticeable lack of meaningful inclusion then, no, I will not be working for that company,” Campbell tweeted.
He immediately followed up with, “And FWIW – I will not be quiet about it either.”
The actor is not the only one watching GAC to see what happens next. Bure’s fans are thrilled to see the actress join such an exciting project that could become the next big thing.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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