Heartland

Living where I am in Buffalo, New York I'm fortunate to get a few Canadian television shows from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation which is on my cable package. If I didn't I wouldn't be seeing Heartland which I'm informed is Canada's longest running television series.

Family patriarch is Shaun Johnston who is a man of the land and in his way of living land means you grow things and or you feed animals off the things you grow. He's a cowboy and still a working one at that. But he's smart enough to bend with the times and part of his land is now a dude ranch for dudes who want to pretend. Not thrilled with the idea, but it's an income and the family works at it as a family enterprise.

My favorite of the characters is Chris Potter who is best known for the role of Peter Caine in Kung Fu - The Legend Continues. He's Johnston's errant son-in-law, a former rodeo star who can't forget the roar of the crowd and hasn't quite matured. As this series is almost a decade old Potter and the rest have really honed their characters pretty good.

Heartland is a really nice product from Canada and we Americans who can see it should be grateful.

I read the books when I was little and never knew they had been made into a TV series until this year so I had some major catching up to do! I can't really remember too much of the books just the basic bits which is probably a good thing.

I found this show totally addictive. The characters were brilliant, there was not a single one I didn't like, which adds to its watchability. Jack what a man; so well acted and such a great character. I would say my one problem with the series so far is that they have not used Caleb as well as they could of. Especially in the last few series where he was pretty much forgotten about.

I am a horse person but I could quite easily watch the series without the horses, they are an added bonus. The plots, although at times very predictable, are incredibly heart warming and I challenge you to watch some episodes without crying.

My only niggles (apart from the Caleb thing) would be just general stuff you know from having horses... your finger nails never stay lovely and manicured for more than 5 minutes and if you manage to stay clean you obviously haven't done things properly!Other than that its a brilliant show and I look forward to the next series!

Sorry, that headline might make you think I hate the show, but actually I'm loving it, for all the same reasons others have mentioned. Heartwarming, wonderful acting, good stories. But honestly, Lou and Tim and just plain insufferable. They're both self-centered, passive-aggressive, and frequently bullies.

That said, the real reason I watch the show is the horses. I can't get enough of those beautiful horses. And the horsemanship. At first I thought there was some camera trickery going on or a stunt double for sure. So I looked up Amber Marshall's (Amy) bio and learned she's a bona fide equestrian. I love watching her ride.

I am late to the party on this show (I'm in season 5) and it's been really enjoyable. My only complaint is with Mallory and Lou. Mallory is way too annoying, and makes me want to hit "mute" when she's on. Lou often comes across as a diva. I know it seems like a negative review, but I love the other characters, the photography, scenery and of course, the horses. Will stick with it.

I confess this show is one of my clearly-no-longer secret pleasures. The stories of Heartland resonate with me in quite a different way then most of the pablum I watch on television. The travails of a multi-generational country family, the mix of urban experience and back to the horse-manure land operation, the western motif and the youthful tales of love, of coming of age, of environmental concern, well I find some comfort and a strong sense of just about lost values in the telling. Above all else, the story of the young horse whisperer is almost mystical. If it borders on trite from time to time, it is easy to forgive this creative slight. A very pleasant TV experience.