I know who Jen Lilley is, which means I know far too much about Hallmark Channel movies

My wife enjoys watching movies on the Hallmark Channel. Many people do, and most of them happen to be women.

Working from home this past year, I've been exposed to far more of these movies than I had been in the past. As I sit in the kitchen on my laptop, for example, Terry will have one playing on our living room TV, which is only 25 feet or so from me, so I can't help but hear it.

My first reaction was to make fun of these films, usually something along the lines of, "Hey, do you think those two will get together by the end? I can't wait to see how it turns out."

You will note that the leading characters in every Hallmark movie get together. Every time. There is always some sort of conflict, but in the end, they get together. And of course they kiss, but only right at the end of the film. That's a pretty strict rule.

After a while I started folding laundry in the living room while Hallmark movies were playing, and I was actually following many of the plots.

Then I graduated to plopping down on the couch next to Terry while she watched, and in some cases I was there for half a movie or more.

Now it's to the point that I've started seeing some of the same actors and actresses appearing in movie after movie. Hallmark has a stable of maybe 10-15 attractive men and women whom they mix and match to crank these flicks out.

One is Jen Lilley, who is pictured above. I don't remember why I know her name, but she's in a lot of these things. I mentioned her recently to Terry, who had no idea who I was talking about.

So there we had it: It had gotten to the point that I knew more about some of these actors and movies than she did. How did we get here?

Well, for one thing, I have to admit: As predictable as they are, these are entertaining movies. They switch up the settings and the essential romantic dilemmas well enough to continually engage you, as long as your expectations for great cinema aren't too high.

And really, who doesn't like a happy ending? You will always get a happy ending with Hallmark. This is what the audience wants, and this is what the production company delivers.

Fun fact about Jen Lilley: She is also a regular on "Days of Our Lives," the only soap opera I've ever watched with any regularity (and this was back in the 90s), and only because my wife got me into it.

That woman clearly has too much influence on my taste in TV and film. And by "this woman," I'm not sure whether I mean Jen or Terry.