Heartland

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.

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 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.

Heartland is a heartwarming, and exciting family series. My daughters and I love the show - it has become a real mother - daughters time for us. We love horses and the "Healing Horses / Healing Hearts" theme is really inviting and enduring to us. We have a large number of friends and family that share our feelings and interest in the show - which makes watching it even more exciting because my daughters love going to school the next day to talk with all of their friends about what happened on the last episode. We just finished watching the season finale and my daughters begged me to go online to find out if the first season will be coming out on DVD and when the second season will possibly start. We find the show very well acted, and extremely well written - the story line is infuriatingly enticing (we can hardly wait to see what will happen to the characters next). The fact that it is based in the Canadian Rockies is just a bonus and certainly must make filming the beautiful landscapes easier. The camera angles and lighting certainly create the right mood for the moment and really make the characters and setting believable. It is hard to believe that a story based on such a tragedy can bring such feelings of love and happiness to the surface, but this show really pulls it off. There is just the right combination of action, drama, romance and comedy to make it enjoyable for everyone watching. We look forward to the next season (we are saddened that the first season is over already). We surely hope that the first season will be brought out on DVD very soon as it is the type of show that one can watch over and over again.

I discovered this series by accident on UP TV. The saga revolves around the multi-generational Fleming family on their Heartland ranch in Alberta. Grandfather Jack is a somewhat crusty individual who is the one everyone else turns to for advice and help in times of trouble. Amy is the central character, one of Jack's two granddaughters, who is, if you will excuse the expression, a horse whisperer. Lou is the other granddaughter, a good-hearted but often too aggressive take-charge person. Chris Potter plays Amy's and Lou's father, an x-rodeo cowboy always looking for a make-money scheme. His wife was killed in an accident, which plays heavily in the first seasons episodes. Ty Borden comes to Heartland on a temporary visit and stays on as his character grows in importance. These cast members, and all the other permanent or temporary cast members are fine actors. The scripts are well written and directed. Once you see a few episodes you will be hooked and look forward to the next and the next.