By Rick Gables
Chad Michael Murray and Aly Michalka star in Hallmark Channel’s new original movie, Sand Dollar Cove, premiering Saturday, June 26, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Real estate development project manager Elli (Michalka) is sent by her company to the quaint, seaside Connecticut town of Sand Dollar Cove to acquire the beachfront property chosen as the site of their new resort. Design is her passion, and her boss has agreed to let Elli take on a project if she is able to secure the land. Brody (Murray), the charming local who holds the deed, wants to make sure the town’s beloved pier where many memories have been made over the years remains intact. Elli and Brody spend time together while she tries to figure out a way to make the deal work and the undeniable connection between them grows. As Elli becomes more invested in the town of Sand Dollar Cove and its people, she is inspired to create a design that could make everyone happy, both in business and in love. The movie is based on the book of the same name by Nancy Naigle.
A&E Network is celebrating man’s best friend this summer with the return of competition series America’s Top Dog. The two-hour season premiere will air Tuesday, June 29, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, taking the competition to the next level with a new course and more breeds than ever before. Hosted by Curt Menefee and David Koechner, the winners of each of the three classes face-off head-to-head to determine who is that week’s Top Dog. Each week, the winning team will receive a $10,000 cash prize as well as an additional $5,000 to donate to the animal charity of their choice. In the final week of competition, the winning teams return for the ultimate face off for the title of America’s Top Dog and an additional $25,000.
Bravo’s newest culinary competition, Top Chef Amateurs, hosted by Gail Simmons, premieres Thursday, July 1, at 9 p.m. ET/PT with back-to-back episodes. In each 30-minute episode, two amateur chefs will compete head-to-head in some of the most iconic challenges from the Top Chef archives including the mis-en-place race, blind taste test and they’ll even try to break the curse of Top Chef’s most dreaded dish — risotto. Putting their kitchen skills to the test are a wide variety of amateur chefs ranging from an ex-CIA agent to a dental hygienist-turned-food-blogger as well as an architect. The winner of each episode will receive $5,000. The All-Stars will rotate in as guest judges alongside Gail to decide each episode’s winner.