It’s Love Week! How the TV holiday rom-com got so successful

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(Kaitlin Brito for NPR)

Kaitlin Brito for NPR

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Kaitlin Brito for NPR

(Kaitlin Brito for NPR)

Kaitlin Brito for NPR

Welcome to Love Week on the Indicator, our weeklong series exploring the business and economic side of romance. On today’s show, we fire up the gas logs and pour a mug of cocoa to discuss the made-for-TV rom-com machine, and how television executives learned to mass produce seasonal romance.

Special thanks to Grant-Lee Phillips for our Love Week theme song and Kaitlin Brito for episode artwork.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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