Janette Oke: Die Coal Valley Saga

The Hallmark team, with Michael Landon,Jr and Janette Oke have a winner here.

A seemingly period piece with contemporary issues , from overbearing parent' s expectations, and complaints about homework and disinterested students and let us not forget the mayor's wife dropping the founder's day play on the teacher; to the cooperative set up of the classroom with its many distractions and interruptions which really to do occur in today's public classroom. Being a public school teacher I could relate and thought the teacher anxiety over the play was portrayed nicely. Loved the scene when Elizabeth trips and Jack catches her.

Episode 7, dealing dyslexia. and the conflict with the parents was again portrayed well. Parents and teachers both meaning well, yet not sure what is really best for the child.

Episode 8, simply the best most moving, of the season a "wounded warrior" (recovering coal miner) from a life changing experience(lost of a leg)- how the individual,the family, and community responded to a person who is different in body and spirit now. Beautiful scene between Jack and Adam around the campfire about a child's perspective when a parent(father)- is injured- being male made it even more meaningful for- since fathers are often children's first heroes.

Episode 10 Had the more of western feel with the bank robbers and Jack in the saddle and alone so much and the camera picking up the landscape and scenery, was beautiful. The camera shots the morning after, when the characters were returning to town just stunning.

Please do not stop with just one season. Nice to have a family drama and meaningful stories for all family members to watch and relate to.

Absolutely love the program and all of the characters. Fairly certain however, that Crest White Strips and braces were not available in this time period. It's extremely distracting when every single character has blinding white, perfect teeth, and perfect makeup.

It is so refreshing to see a wholesome, quality show on the air. This show is reminiscent of the "Little House On The Prairie" days - not surprising given who's involved in bringing it to us!

This is one of those shows that appeals to all age groups; it's one that the family can sit down and watch together. It's great to finally have one of those again.

The cast and crew of this show is superb. The show is very well done and is set in a gorgeous location.

I cannot recommend this show enough and hope that its success in Season One means that more Seasons are coming.

This is one of those shows that I will be purchasing when it comes out on DVD/Blueray. It's one that I want in my collection.

I am officially a When Calls the Heart addict! I can't get enough. I watch nearly everything on the Hallmark Channel, so last fall when they showed the movie that starred Stephen Amell and Maggie Grace I, of course, watched it & fell in love! I then got all of the books by Janette Oke & read them practically without putting them down! (Yes, I do work & it really interfered! LOL) I eagerly anticipated the series as they advertised it for what seemed like forever. This is a series that has struck a chord in my heart that's long been unfulfilled. I have always been a fan of Little House on the Prairie, The Walton's and the Love Comes Softly series. I wish I lived in those times when life was much more simple and people really did love their neighbor. This new series, When Calls the Heart, is what I've been wanting for a long time - good family programming that I don't have to censor or watch it when others aren't around because I'm ashamed of it's content. This is a time when men were chivalrous, women were strong and children did as they were told out of respect for their elders. It's such a nice change from what we see on other programs that are on right now. I'm praying that Hallmark & other channels realize that there are people out there longing for this kind of programming. I'll be so heartbroken if this doesn't get a second season. So, for now, I'm loving me some clean romance between the pretty schoolteacher Elizabeth & the handsome gentleman, Jack. Love that smile & the red Mountie jacket! Loving Lori Laughlin too - she's always been great!

I really loved the first season of this show. It was very atmospheric, costumes were great and all the faces were naturally beautiful. Then suddenly all the women look like they're just out of a beauty salon. Lots of makeup, crispy clean and new clothes, fancy Hollywood hairstyles. There's no way pioneer women looked like that. It's so disappointing they ruined the atmosphere of the frontier town.