Heartland

First off, I'm a 32 year old man living in Upstate New York. I drive a truck and have seen a horse up close maybe 3 times. I love this show. The acting is great and the script is written very well. Every now and then, you can predict something, but very rarely can you be specific. Everyone talks about the horses and the heartwarming tales. I agree with all of that. I'm writing this as of the completion of the 8th season. Ty's character was my favorite. I loved Amy as well, but Ty is the kid with the troubled past. I enjoyed how his past became relevant more than once. It's not like he moved and everyone back home forgot about him. He grew as a person and a man. Great things were portrayed in this show.

Also the message Heartland and nature portrays. There is more to live than city living. There's more out there. And it's a richer life.

I strongly recommend this show.

Heartland is a true family show grounded in the values of times past but in a present context, leaving the viewer with a light and happy feeling at the end of each episode. It is a true delight to watch and the characters are incredibly genuine, making it easy to empathise with their lives and dilemmas. My son is 15 years old and as with other children his age, addicted to modern technology, yet since I discovered Heartland, we enjoy nothing more than sitting down in the evening and watching a few episodes as a family, something that I doubt no other PG-rated show could have achieved. I would recommend Heartland to everyone of all ages who wants to watch a heartwarming television show that brings its stories to life.

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 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.

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.