I think I* would try to distinguish between the "8 basic stories" and the use of a formula. A stranger coming into town, misunderstanding people, and leadning from their mistake to become a better person: that's at the basic story level. It doesn't matter whether the town is Lake Wobegon or New York's Five Points. The much more detailed repetition of the Hallmark Channel is definitely a formula. And you don't get that just by mixing genre romance with basic stories. And does anyone remember Crocodile Dundee? That's a stranger in town story, told twice, with elements of romance and adventure mixed in. You could do that with the Hallmark stories, and have both halves of the core romance have the chance to see the other's world. And that gives you more choices for the path the story can take to the inevitable conclusion. But no, they stick to a formula.