Paul Campbell is getting real about a joke he couldn’t say in a Hallmark movie. The actor co-wrote and co-starred in 2022’s Three Wise Men and a Baby, appearing alongside Andrew Walker and Tyler Hynes. The film centers on three brothers who are forced to work together and care for a baby over the holidays. Being a writer on the Countdown to Christmas movie, Campbell learned what he’s able to include and can’t include. He recalled to Vulture the one joke he couldn’t use, and it would’ve been great.
“I wrote a joke about marrying a cat in a recent script,” Campbell shared. “There was a joke where my character went, ‘Marriage is different for everybody. Love is different. I love my cat, but I wouldn’t marry my cat.’ And then another character goes, ‘Yeah, because of the legal red tape.’ Hallmark told me, ‘We can’t tell a joke about the only reason he’s not marrying his cat is because legally he can’t marry his cat. They walked that one back. That was a good joke, though.”
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Despite Hallmark starting to branch out when it comes to its content, they don’t seem to be very fond of certain jokes. It would definitely be a hilarious one, and it’s a shame that the network didn’t want to include it. It’s unknown what movie the joke would have been for, but either way, it was missing something. Why exactly Hallmark didn’t want to include may never be known, as there have been similar jokes in other movies and shows. Hallmark is not one to take many risks, so it’s not so surprising that it wouldn’t want to make a joke about marrying a cat.
Hopefully, later down the line, Hallmark will include riskier jokes. The network is expanding its content and growing beyond the usual love stories. You never know what could happen in the distant future. In the meantime, there are plenty of films and shows in Hallmark’s repertoire that are worth watching, even if it doesn’t have the greatest jokes. Maybe the next film Paul Campbell is part of he’s able to sneak one in there, but that would be kind of hard. 2024 will be here in a matter of days, and it’s possible it could all change in the new year. Fans will just have to keep an eye out and watch extra careful on Hallmark.
