Hope Island

I am so excited about this show. I just started watching it a few weeks ago on Vision TV - in Canada. I absolutely love it! I find the characters interesting and the story line great. It is hard to find shows on TV that are free of swearing, adultery, drugs, etc. This is a great show for the whole family. It is funny, moving, and it has captured my attention. My 11 year old son even likes it. It is easy, relaxing, and a nice break from the other shows out there. Watching it I find I can almost enter their world and forget about all the stresses of my own life. When the show is over I always feel refreshed and uplifted. The acting by all the characters is great. Each character portrays different personalities.

I am not a big TV fan. And, I highly recommend Hope Island for anyone who is tired of the usual network programming. Hope Island is a refreshing alternative to shows that pass for programming on most networks. Hope Island makes up for it's lack of violence, gratuitous sex, mean spirited humor, and offensive scripts with a cast of lovable and believable characters.

I find myself rooting for the `good guys' who seem to struggle with the same questions in life that I struggle with. In a few short episodes, I have formed an attachment to and affection for the characters on Hope Island.

In addition, the show is especially well crafted. For those of you who find the sloppy production that is the norm offensive, Hope Island is a treat. I am especially impressed with the sound editing. I am constantly amazed by the subtle and effective use of sound in Hope Island to convey just the right mood for the scene.

Monday night was set aside to sit together as a family and watch Hope Island. A clean, warm, funny, thought-provoking show is a rare find in this day and age. My entire family misses it and that includes my parents, my 19 year-old sister, and grandma and grandpa! Will some other network please get a hold of this show and keep it going? We were avid watchers of Due South as well and it was a hit in Canada. This is done in Canada, so I'm hoping that they will do whatever revamping is necessary to re-air the show. Please, bring it back as soon as possible!

Even though I have taped Hope Island, I wish it was still on t.v. Every episode has a message and a sweetness about it. The characters all have strengths and flaws, they grow as the series progresses and the viewer learns more about them all the time. Daniel, the main character, may be a minister, but he deals with day-to-day living and his vocation in a positive, but not heavy-handed way and sometimes humorous or heartfelt manner. The religious tone of the show is not overpowering, but seems comfortable and somehow reassuring. The Widow's Walk, the local inn/pub is sentry of many of the stories and the location of one of the few phones on the island. The isolation and the beauty of the island setting are an integral part of the stories. The non-island world is always in the background....lottery tickets are bought off island and were the focus of one great episode. This is a show that I watch when I need a smile, and hope in people.

This is the Americanized version of "Ballykissangel" from Ireland (Just like "Three's Company" was based upon a British show). It was a very good series for the family, just like the Irish series. The characters were 3 dimensional and human and the acting was 8 out of 10. Too bad the series was cancelled by PAX-TV after only one season. The similarities between the Irish and the American versions were actually quite amusing. When they cast 'Kevin' the policeman in the American version, they found an actor who could be a brother of the actor in the Irish version.