By Jim Hagarty
2018
I am addicted to a show on Netflix called When Calls the Heart. It is a western and rom com combined into one. After the first episode, I asked myself, “Why is this so good?” Then the credits rolled and I saw the name Michael Landon Jr. and knew that was my answer. His father, “Little Joe”, directed some episodes of Bonanza in its final years and of course, produced the marvelous Little House on the Prairie series as well as Highway to Heaven. When Calls the Heart seems to combine the best of all the shows Michael Landon Sr. was involved with. It is smarmy, hokey, simplistic and cartoonish – all the things I love. But the writing and acting is superb, the scenery is magnificent and the music wonderful. It is shot in Western Canada and is a fully Canadian show as far as I can see, although I do not know at this point the precise origin of the production or the nationality of the people involved in it. I can’t stay away from my TV and will be heartbroken when I get all caught up.