Candace Cameron Bure Hallmark Movies That Didn't Land With Fans

Previously best known for playing D.J. Tanner in one of the most saccharine sitcoms of the '90s, "Full House," and its Netflix spin-off, "Fuller House," Candace Cameron Bure kicked off a new chapter in her career in 2008 when she appeared in her first-ever Hallmark Channel original, "Moonlight and Mistletoe." After appearing intermittently on the network over the next seven years, the former child star eventually became one of its most prominent faces thanks to a string of other festive tales and a long-running crime series, "Aurora Teagarden Mysteries," which spawned 18 films.

Of course, the former Queen of Hallmark, who controversially moved to rival Great American Media in 2022 to serve as both its behind-the-scenes chief content officer and on-screen leading lady, didn't always hit it out of the park. Here's a look at a dozen entries that, according to IMDb users, Bure should scrub from her resume.

Candace Cameron Bure appeared in at least 18 chapters of the "Aurora Teagarden Mysteries" series, playing the titular crime-solving librarian in the adaptation of Charlaine Harris' novels. Of course, the franchise has never been renowned for its gritty realism. Still, for many viewers, the sixth installment stretched credulity a little too far.

In "A Bundle of Trouble," Aurora and her boyfriend, Martin, return home from a night out to discover that the latter's visiting niece has disappeared, her baby is in the bathtub, and her husband is dead in the closet. However, instead of calling the cops, the amateur sleuth — as usual — takes it upon herself to play the heroine, becoming embroiled in a far-fetched tale of illegal adoptions, abductions, and gun-toting villains who can't quite work out whether they want to kill or show off their first aid skills.

"This low-budget movie displays a glorious convergence of terrible acting, plot holes, curious facial expressions, overly simplistic dialogue, inexplicable animosities and attractions, unrealistic and hilarious reactions to what should be traumatic events," noted one unimpressed IMDb user. "This is a crock, and Candace Cameron Bure should have reimbursed Hallmark for all production costs," remarked another.

The ninth installment of the "Aurora Teagarden Mysteries" series, "The Disappearing Game," also didn't impress viewers much. Here, Candace Cameron Bure's amateur sleuth hits the investigative trail once again when her nephew, Phillip, and his roommate suddenly go missing soon after the latter's girlfriend dies.

Again, several viewers struggled with Aurora's sense of entitlement as she wades into another case without any authority. "She is surprised and sour every time she is called out — by the police, her mother, friends, and every person she accuses in the show, as if she is some kind of Sherlock Holmes," remarked one IMDb user. Another begged the scriptwriters "to use your intelligence and put together a movie that actually makes me want to believe in the main character instead of hoping she's arrested."

"The Disappearing Game" also introduces yet another love interest into Aurora's life: Niall Matter's college-professor neighbor, Nick Miller. Unfortunately, their chemistry was also notably absent, with many longtime fans arguing that the newbie was no match for Yannick Bisson's ex-CIA agent Martin.

"This movie features Aurora stumbling around town, jumping to conclusions, making wrong guesses, being nosy, and getting in the way of actual detective work," remarked one Letterboxd user about the very first Aurora Teagarden Mysteries film. Not exactly the most glowing review, but it shows the franchise's makers are at least consistent.

In "A Bone to Pick," Candace Cameron Bure's amateur sleuth must figure out why a late one-time member of the Real Murders Club left her a significant amount of cash and, more importantly, a two-bedroom property with a sofa hiding a skull. Was this a message from beyond the grave? Or had the elderly lady simply forgotten, or was completely unaware, that she'd been literally sitting on human remains?

Over on IMDb, viewers also had more to say about Aurora Teagarden than the mystery. "On a personal front, Aurora is rude, pushy, and inconsiderate to the people around her, and she is more than a little conceited. Any success she has is mostly luck, but also a lot of persistence." Still, with another 17 Bure-fronted films around the corner, someone must have liked it.

Of course, the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries series isn't solely responsible for the oft-tragic Candace Cameron Bure's list of stinkers. 2019's "Christmas Town," one of several seasonal films she starred in during her reign as Hallmark's queen, also went down like a lead weight.

Here, Bure plays a teacher who meets Tim Rozon's handyman while visiting the picture-perfect fictional town of Grandon Falls. In a remarkably short time, they not only fall head over heels for each other, but also decide to become parents together, adopting the child the latter was already fostering. 

"Isn't life in small towns just wonderful?" one Letterboxd user asked sarcastically. "You can adopt a child in a matter of days without any extensive background check, people will prematurely retire so you can have their job, and if you happen to be single, small towns also provide ruggedly handsome single guys owning beautifully decorated houses." Viewers also expressed their disdain for its overtly Christian sentiments, blatantly fake snow, and the fact that the young foster child appears to live on a diet of nothing but Christmas cookies.

Even Jean Smart couldn't save "A Shoe Addict's Christmas" from landing in Candace Cameron Bure's hall of shame. Yes, a few years before landing her Emmy Award-winning role in "Hacks," the veteran actor appeared in her first, and presumably last, festive Hallmark movie. 

Smart plays a guardian-angel-style character who shows Bure's Scrooge-like department-store merchandiser the error of her ways, with a little help from various magical pairs of shoes, in a loose adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Not everyone was impressed by its sense of style, though. "Not a single good shoe in sight, and you cannot call yourself a shoe addict when there's only one dinky shoe rack," commented one Letterboxd user.

Another detractor focused their criticism on the actor playing the shoe addict. "In conclusion, seeing this bigoted woman having to act like she is falling in love with an openly homosexual man is the only redeeming factor of this badly acted, already-been-told-a-thousand-times tale," they wrote, referencing the fact that Bure — who's often been accused of voicing opinions that could be regarded as anti-LGBTQ — had to play opposite the out-and-proud actor Luke Macfarlane. Here's a further look at Bure's shady side.

Hallmark Channel viewers got two Candace Cameron Bures for the price of one in 2017's "Switched for Christmas," where the star plays identical twin sisters who switch places for the holidays. But for many viewers, this just meant double the agony.

Bure herself seemed excited about the film, in which she also plays the love interests of both Eion Bailey and Mark Deklin, telling All Mom Does, "It was such a challenge to play multiple roles and act against myself. It was sometimes incredibly difficult but fun nevertheless." Not everyone was so enthused, though.

"A large part of me felt that she was over-parted and stretched herself too much," noted one IMDb user. "Both her characters are sketchy, and she doesn't bring enough variety or nuance to either of them." Another referred to the scene in which both sisters talk at great length about how beautiful the other one is, adding, "I'm thinking this is what it must feel like to become so famous that not one person on the film set has the guts to tell you that you have lipstick on your ego."

In 2015, Candace Cameron Bure, who's undergone quite a transformation, added to her arsenal of Hallmark festive films. Unfortunately, "A Christmas Detour," in which she played a bride-to-be who ditches her fiancé for a guy she meets during a shared ride to New York, left many viewers feeling like she'd taken a wrong turn.

"The main character, Paige, might possibly be the most obnoxious, self-absorbed, entitled character ever written," one IMDb user remarked about Bure's leading lady. "The world is full of entitled Karens, and I certainly don't need to relax and watch a Christmas movie starring the mother of all Karens." There was also questioning of how an actor who, in real life, is so vocal about family values could star in a film that appears to promote and celebrate the act of cheating.

Perhaps the most novel review came from someone on Letterboxd, who described "A Christmas Detour" as "'Planes, Trains, and Automobiles' but as a not-good rom-com where Steve Martin and John Candy fall deeply in love with each other at the end."

"I actually got sick to my stomach on this last Christmas movie that aired in November because I've created an anxiety for myself," the oft-controversial Candace Cameron Bure admitted to "The Call to Mystery" podcast about 2020's "If I Only Had Christmas." "Because my movies have been the top-performing movie seven years in a row, and you know, one day you're going to slide off that pedestal." Given the scathing viewer response, she was right to worry.

The 2020 original, in which Bure plays a happy-go-lucky publicist who joins forces with Warren Christie's slightly more pessimistic vice president all in the name of charity, was dismissed as one of Hallmark's worst that year, with one IMDb user writing, "No story, no conflict, no realism, strained dialogue, embarrassingly awful dancing ... I watched it wincing or twitching most of the time."

Interestingly, "If I Only Had Christmas" tried to stand out from other cookie-cutter yuletide films by throwing in multiple references to "The Wizard of Oz." For example, the charity was named the Emerald Educational Trust. But even this went largely unappreciated, with one viewer commenting, "In an attempt to parallel some elements of the great film, the storyline became disjointed and too awkward for the viewer to re-assemble."

In 2014, Candace Cameron Bure played Lauren Burnell, a wannabe surgeon who, after being rejected for a big city fellowship, accepts a general practitioner position in a small town. Did anyone say "Hart of Dixie?" Of course, "Christmas Under Wraps" differentiates itself from the Rachel Bilson vehicle with its Alaskan setting and a reindeer-owning, cookie-eating factory owner purported to be the very real Santa Claus.

As it turns out, that was the most believable part of the whole thing. Indeed, many viewers took umbrage at how the fictional town of Garland bore no resemblance to anywhere in Alaska, especially given its climate. "Every morning, Miss Bure awakens at 6:30 to a sun high in the sky in an Alaska December," one IMDb user pointed out. "The grass is bright green, and you can see some weedy young maples wearing their summer leaves in town."

Others questioned casting David O'Donnell as the romantic lead, noting that he looked significantly older than Bure. (In real life, he's actually only two years older.) Others also criticized how Lauren, like so many Hallmark women before and after, gave up her career aspirations on a whim for a man she barely knew.

They say never work with animals or children. Yet Candace Cameron Bure, who lives quite a lavish life, did both in a Hallmark film many consider one of her worst. In "Puppy Love," she plays a professor and single mother who, to cheer up her young daughter after a cross-country move, agrees to adopt a dog. Unfortunately, the chaos-causing sheepdog they choose already has an owner. And wouldn't you know it? He happens to be a dashing Major League Baseball player — played by heartthrob Victor Webster — who's also single and ready to mingle.

While many viewers applauded the 2012 film for promoting animal adoption and the cuteness of its four-legged star, some still criticized how the characters didn't always seem to have the canine's best interests at heart. "They pit the dog against each other by teaching the dog to act out whilst in the other person's custody, and the tussle leads to heartbreaking scenes of goodbyes with the dog over and over again," noted one IMDb user.

And there weren't many kind words for Bure, either. "I find [her] one of the worst actresses out there," another commenter remarked. "She overemotes every scene that I have a headache from rolling my eyes so much."

When asked by Suzee Behind the Scenes about her favorite Hallmark movie, Candace Cameron Bure revealed it was 2015's "Just the Way You Are," adding, "It's from a while back, not very well-known. But I just love it because it's soooo romantic. It's about a couple that rekindles their relationship. It's just such a good movie." However, that doesn't appear to be a viewpoint shared with the network's viewers.

Perhaps this is because "Just the Way You Are" is a little different from the Bure norm. Instead of watching her fall head over heels for a complete stranger, we see her trying to reconnect with her husband of 15 years — played by Ty Olsson — by pretending they've only just met. "I understand the premise that the woman feels like the romance is missing from her life, but the idea that she is supposedly making her husband go through the process of trying to date her again is nuts," remarked one IMDb user.

Even those who could buy the premise found it hard to relate to their struggles. "Perhaps if the characters weren't so successful and perfect, I might have cared more about them and their ONE problem," another viewer commented. "I mean, really, I rolled my eyes at these two so much while watching. 'Oh no, my life is only 85% perfect instead of 100. Woe is me.'"

"The Christmas Contest" was Candace Cameron Bure's final festive film for Hallmark, and her penultimate film for the network. But viewers say she didn't save the best for last. In fact, viewers widely consider the 2021 picture her worst.

Here, Bure stars opposite John Brotherton as two ex-partners who battle each other in a yuletide competition to raise funds for their respective charities. No prizes for guessing that by the end of the film, the couple has also won back each other's hearts. Due to their immaturity, however, few were cheering them on. "The constant bickering between the two of them was childish and petty," one IMDb user complained. "Not the way [two] adults would behave in public. This was preschool behavior and painful to watch."

On Reddit, a longtime Bure fan started to realize the actor was coasting. "They have to be competitive, high strung, athletic, etc., and there always has to be a dance number," they said about the string of similar characters she'd recently played. "It always has seemed like she churns out Christmas movies ... just to hold onto her Queen of Christmas title, and the quality suffers." Perhaps the time was right, therefore, for Bure to seek pastures new.