Emily of New Moon

I have to say, that I have only recently begun to watch Emily and have fallen in love with all of the characters over again. Although the books are truly amazing pieces of literature, I must admit that the actors portraying the beloved characters are what drew me into watching the show. I am truly amazed at the raw talent coming from Canada and an glad to see that many of these great performers are being recognized. I would also like to say, that although the television show does take some liberties and has added story lines and details that were not in the novels the stories do draw you into the trials and tribulations of the community of Blair Water and the family, and extended family, of New Moon.

after the relatively lighthearted tales of life around the turn of the century in rural Prince Edward Island, brought to the viewer in Anne of Green Gables, and Road to Avonlea, it was almost hard to watch, to have to endure the dark depressing episodes in the life of young Emily Murray and her misbegotten family in this new and (thankfully) short-lived series from the works of E M Montgomery... a series filled with incidents covering madness, murder, treachery, ghosts, religious intolerance, betrayal, disease, lost unrequited love, such as hasn't been seen since the novels of Charles Dickens... The mood of most of the episodes being so intense, it seems to have been reflected in the performances themselves, with the result that it was so rare that any of their characters were allowed even a brief moment of happiness and when it came, you were left waiting, watching for the moment when that moment would be shattered by even more doom and gloom... Viewers obviously did not take to this series as happily as they did Avonlea and Green Gables...it may have reflected a much more realistic portrayal of a way of life in bygone rural Canada, but unrelenting misery is not a promising premise for family viewing...

after the relatively lighthearted tales of life around the turn of the century in rural Prince Edward Island, brought to the viewer in Anne of Green Gables, and Road to Avonlea, it was almost hard to watch, to have to endure the dark depressing episodes in the life of young Emily Murray and her misbegotten family in this new and (thankfully) short-lived series from the works of E M Montgomery...

a series filled with incidents covering madness, murder, treachery, ghosts, religous intolerance, betrayal, disease, lost unrequited love, such as hasn't been seen since the novels of Charles Dickens... The mood of most of the episodes being so intense, it seems to have been reflected in the performances themselves, with the result that it was so rare that any of their characters were allowed even a brief moment of happiness and when it came, you were left waiting, watching for the moment when that moment would be shattered by even more doom and gloom...

Viewers obviously did not take to this series as happily as they did Avonlea and Green Gables...it may have reflected a much more realistic portrayal of a way of life in bygone rural Canada, but unrelenting misery is not a promising premise for family viewing...

It's a shame that people will see the t.v series and think that what happened there, in the show, is what happened in the book. The sub-stories with-in the books (there were 3 books in total) and the characters are so different and so much better in the book trilogy. The makers of the show for some reason did the book a dishonesty by making the series trashy and more adult oriented than it was meant to be. Lucy M. Montgomery wrote those as children books. Yes, the books were somewhat darker than the Anne of Green Gables and Road to Avonlea but they were still well written and very enjoyable. Please don't follow the show, read the books instead.

Even though the episodes became pretty far-fetched as time went on, I really looked forward to Emily each week. To me Chris Dedrick's beautiful theme song alone, with the waves rolling in behind the credits, was worth watching. Every week I got a chuckle out of the caterer's name rolling by--Grilled Cheese, Etc. After the first few episodes I charged out and purchased the Emily paperbacks, to relive my girlhood. I never cared much for the Anne books, but Jane of Lantern Hill, Emily, and The Blue Castle (wish they'd make a series on that one!) were my favorites. Thought the actresses/actors were great and often wonder what some of those younger kids are doing now. This week I've been "rewatching" my Emily tapes in the evenings, as I can find very little worth watching on TV. I'm 72 years old. Thank you.