Heartland | |
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Genre | |
Based on | Heartland series by Lauren Brooke |
Developed by | Murray Shostak |
Starring | |
Opening theme | "Dreamer" by Jenn Grant |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 17 |
No. of episodes | 259 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Running time | 44 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | CBC Television (Canada) |
Release | October 14, 2007 – present |
Heartland is a Canadian family comedy-drama television series which debuted in Canada on CBC Television and originally in the United States on The CW Plus syndication on October 14, 2007. Since 2010, the series moved first-run to Up TV, but still continues to air in reruns on the latter channel as a part the service's weekend schedule.
The series is based on the Heartland book series by Lauren Brooke and follows Amy Fleming and her older sister Louise "Lou" Fleming on their Alberta-based family ranch, 'Heartland', where they live with their widowed grandfather Jack Bartlett, their father Tim Fleming and hired farmhand Ty Borden. While experiencing the highs and lows of life on the ranch, the family bonds and grows closer.
With the airing of its 139th episode on March 29, 2015, Heartland surpassed Street Legal as the longest-running one-hour scripted drama in Canadian television history.[ citation needed ]
On June 1, 2022, CBC renewed the series for a 15-episode sixteenth season, premiered in Canada on October 2, 2022. [1] In May 2023, the series was renewed for a 10-episode seventeenth season, which premiered in Canada on October 1, 2023. [2] In May 2024, the series was renewed for an eighteenth season, which immediately began filming thereafter. [3] It is set to premiere in Canada in the fall of 2024, and in the US later in 2025.
In the United States, the series has wide distribution through broadcast syndication on weekends, including as part of the default national schedule for Up TV and The CW Plus and new episodes become available as of 2021, on Up Faith & Family, the network's streaming service months after full seasons finish their runs in Canada and later premiere in the US linearly on the main network and all later seasons are exclusive to Up Faith & family first before they go up to available for syndication on other American networks and streaming services that aren't affiliated with UP tv or its sister networks. Reruns of older episodes air on Hulu, Pluto TV, Crackle, Tubi, BYUtv, Retro TV, COZI TV, and Heartland (which is not named for the series). It was also a part of the schedule on Light TV until it was rebranded as TheGrio TV on January 15, 2021. The show is also available on Netflix and various other streaming platforms in the US.
![]() | This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. Specifically, character descriptions are unnecessarily long.(May 2021) |
The protagonist of the series, Amy, practices natural horsemanship, the intuitive training and healing method used by her late mother, Marion. When Amy was fifteen, she was seriously injured in a car crash that killed Marion. They were living with Marion's father (Amy's grandfather), Jack, on his ranch, Heartland. While Amy recuperated, her estranged father, Tim, returned. Jack had banished Tim years earlier due to Tim's alcohol and drug use. Amy adjusts to her father re-entering her life, while older sister, Lou, who works in New York City, returns to Heartland after Marion's death. Jack begrudgingly accepts Tim, who tries to make amends for the past. Over time, Amy develops a close relationship with Ty Borden, a ranch hand working at Heartland as part of his probation. They fall in love, though the relationship is occasionally rocky. In the last episode of season 5, Ty plans to propose to Amy, but decides against it after overhearing her say she does not want to be tied down. They eventually marry, and, at the end of season 9, Amy is pregnant. At the end of Season 10, Amy gives birth to a girl, Lyndy Marion. In season 13, Amy and Ty become foster parents to Luke. Season 14 sees Amy dealing with Ty's accidental death and coping with being a single mother.
As the series opens, Lou returns home to help run Heartland, leaving behind her boyfriend and a lucrative business job in New York City. Upon discovering Heartland's poor financial situation, she crafts a financial plan to make the ranch profitable. After securing a bank loan, Lou takes over the business-end of Heartland, and later proposes creating the Heartland Equestrian Connection as a corporate retreat center. Family members derisively consider it as a "Dude Ranch". Lou rekindles a romance with local vet, Scott Cardinal. That relationship dissolves in season 2. She then meets Peter Morris, but their relationship is complicated by Peter's job in the oil industry. Lou and Peter marry at the end of season 3 and move to Dubai. Lou misses Heartland and her family and they move back. She gives birth to daughter Catherine Marion Minnie Fleming-Morris (“Katie”). Lou and Peter eventually buy Mr. Hanley's ranch. However, a fire demolishes the buildings and forces them to remain at Heartland. In Season 6, Lou and Peter adopt Georgina Crawley. In season 8, Peter's frequent long work absences stresses their marriage, and the couple separate. Lou is attracted to new stable hand, Mitch. Peter regularly visits his daughters, complicating Lou and Mitch's budding romance. In season 7, Lou buys Maggie's Diner and runs it with Tim, her supposedly "silent" business partner. Lou works on bringing Maggie's to New York City and spends much time commuting back and forth. Season 14 sees Lou become the Mayor of the town Hudson and the introduction of her side-kick and Chief Administrative Office Rick Adderly. Rick is the shows first openly gay character in the shows history and played by British actor Aidan Moreno.
Jack, the family patriarch, was Marion's father and is Amy and Lou's grandfather. A former rodeo star, he owns Heartland. When Marion took over Heartland, it became a horse ranch. After her death, Jack helps Amy and Ty maintain Heartland and its horses and also repairs broken equipment, fences, and the like. Early in the series, he has a strained relationship with ex-son-in-law Tim, stemming from Tim's troubled past with alcohol and prescription drug abuse, his acrimonious divorce from Marion, and neglecting Amy and Lou when they were younger. Jack barely tolerates Tim at times, and they frequently argue over the running of the ranch. Jack was initially judgmental towards the new ranch hand, Ty, but gradually considers him like a son. Jack gives his blessing to Ty and Amy marrying. Jack's stubbornness and resistance to change sometimes causes friction between him and others, particularly with his romantic interest, Lisa Stillman, and granddaughter, Lou. Jack and Lisa elope in the season 7 finale. Jack suffers a heart attack and collapses in the field. Tim finds and saves him. Jack dotes on his three great-granddaughters, Katie, Georgie, and Lyndy.
Tim is Amy's and Lou's father who left the family after he and Marion separated (Lou was fourteen, and Amy was five). After a rodeo accident, he struggled with prescription drug (painkiller) abuse and alcoholism. As a result, Jack kicked Tim out. After Amy and Lou's mother dies, he returns, moving to Big River Ranch, near Heartland. Tim has a relationship with the previous owner's daughter, who inherited the ranch. He later dates a jockey named Janice and nearly moves to California with her. However, in Season 4 Episode 18 ("Burning Down the House"), it is discovered that Tim has an 11-year-old son named Shane with Miranda Grenier, his ex-girlfriend. When he reveals this to Janice, she leaves for California without him. Shane stays with Tim at Heartland for a short period. After a brief custody battle, Shane returns to live with his mother, who later remarries. Tim starts a rodeo school, a horse-selling business, and begins a new relationship. After moving on, he has a long-term relationship with Casey. His star rodeo pupils are Jade Virani and Clay McMurtry, teenage bronc riders.
Georgie is Lou and Peter's adopted daughter who was orphaned at age 3. After the foster care system separated her and her brother, Jeff, Georgie developed serious behavioral problems, though her behavior gradually improves. Georgie, a natural equestrian and a tomboy, is fearless, talented, strong-minded, and clever. This initially makes Mallory, a young family friend, jealous. Georgie grows close to the family but occasionally misbehaves, even running away once. In later seasons, Georgie joins the Extreme Team, a trick riding group, replacing show jumping as Georgie's main equestrian activity. She develops romantic feelings for Adam Parker, her tutor. Georgie and Adam briefly date but break up when Adam thinks she has feelings for Clay McMurtry. By seasons 14 and 15, she is in a relationship with newcomer Quinn. He encourages Georgie to revive her dream of competing in the Olympics. She begins training at his family's Florida ranch. Although billed as "main cast" during this time, Georgie later becomes more of a "recurring character" due to her infrequent visits back to Heartland. She was absent for all of season 15 and much of 16 after Newton left the main cast for nearly two seasons to pursue other acting opportunities. She returned for the last two episodes of season 16. Early on in season 16, Georgie gets into a riding accident during one of the competitions off screen that lead her to be nearly paralyzed. She returned to the ranch on screen at the end of season 16, after her character made a physical recovery to deal with the trauma of her accident.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
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First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 13 | October 14, 2007 | February 24, 2008 | |
2 | 18 | October 5, 2008 | March 22, 2009 | |
3 | 18 | October 4, 2009 | March 28, 2010 | |
4 | 18 | September 26, 2010 | March 27, 2011 | |
Film | December 12, 2010 | |||
5 | 18 | September 18, 2011 | March 25, 2012 | |
6 | 18 | September 16, 2012 | April 7, 2013 | |
7 | 18 | October 6, 2013 | April 13, 2014 | |
8 | 18 | September 28, 2014 | March 29, 2015 | |
9 | 18 | October 4, 2015 | March 20, 2016 | |
10 | 18 | October 2, 2016 | March 26, 2017 | |
11 | 18 | September 24, 2017 | April 8, 2018 | |
12 | 11 | January 6, 2019 | April 7, 2019 | |
13 | 10 | September 22, 2019 | November 24, 2019 | |
14 | 10 | January 10, 2021 | March 21, 2021 | |
15 | 10 | October 17, 2021 | December 19, 2021 | |
16 | 15 | October 2, 2022 | February 5, 2023 | |
17 | 10 | October 1, 2023 | December 3, 2023 |
Much of the series is filmed on location in and around High River, Alberta, with additional filming in studio and on location in nearby Calgary. A June 2013 flood in High River [5] swamped the standing set for Maggie's Diner. [6] [7] [8] The main Heartland sets escaped damage, [9] and seventh season scripts were rewritten to move shooting locations for the fictional town of Hudson to Inglewood, a historic neighborhood in downtown Calgary. [10] A month after the flood, the show's Calgary studios offered behind-the-scenes tours to paying fans for a one-day "Heartlanders for High River" fundraiser, [11] providing $80,000 to help the town recover. [12]
Heartland filmed some of its interiors at an abandoned military base, Currie Barracks, [13] [14] scheduled for redevelopment. [15]
Entertainment One has released the first seven seasons of Heartland on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only). The standalone TV movie A Heartland Christmas was released on DVD in Canada on November 1, 2011 [16] and in the United States on October 29, 2013. [17] Season 8 was released in Canada on October 6, 2015. [18]
In Region 2, 4Digital Media has released the first 6 seasons on DVD in the UK.
In Region 4, Season 1 and Season 2 Parts 1 and 2 have been released by Roadshow Home Video.
Season | Ep# | Release dates | |||
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Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||
Season 1, Part 1 | 7 | September 15, 2009 [19] | — | — | |
Season 1, Part 2 | 6 | November 10, 2009 [20] | — | — | |
The Complete First Season | 13 | April 20, 2010 | April 26, 2010 | August 31, 2010 [21] | |
Season 2, Part 1 | — | — | December 2, 2010 [22] | ||
Season 2, Part 2 | — | — | March 3, 2011 [23] | ||
The Complete Second Season | 18 | May 4, 2010 [24] | June 27, 2011 | — | |
The Complete Third Season | 18 | March 22, 2011 [25] | February 13, 2012 | — | |
The Complete Fourth Season | 18 | November 1, 2011 [26] | February 27, 2012 | — | |
The Complete Fifth Season | 18 | September 18, 2012 [27] | November 19, 2012 | — | |
The Complete Sixth Season | 18 | October 15, 2013 [28] | August 12, 2013 | — | |
The Complete Seventh Season | 18 | September 28, 2014 [29] | September 21, 2015 | — | |
The Complete Eighth Season | 18 | October 6, 2015 [29] | November 16, 2015 | — | |
The Complete Ninth Season | 18 | November 1, 2016 | July 25, 2016 | — | |
The Complete Tenth Season | 18 | 2017 [29] | November 13, 2017 | — | |
The Complete Eleventh Season | 18 | 2018 | November 12, 2018 | unknown | |
The Complete Twelfth Season | 11 | 2019 | December 2, 2019 | — | |
The Complete Thirteenth Season | 10 | 2020 | November 30, 2020 | unknown | |
The Complete Fourteenth Season | 10 | May 22, 2021 | unknown | unknown |
Other releases | Release dates | ||
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Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |
A Heartland Christmas | November 1, 2011 [26] |
In its series premiere, Heartland beat Global's comedy Da Kink in My Hair with 513,000 viewers in a battle of two new series. [30] After four episodes, Heartland had an average viewership of 464,000. [31] In its first-season finale, Heartland attracted 625,000 viewers. [32] The third-season premiere brought in over one million viewers, a new record for the show. [33] The 100th episode "After All We've Been Through" was watched by 945,000 viewers. [34]
A six-part spin-off web series titled Hudson with Jade Virani as the protagonist was released on CBC Gem on March 31, 2019. It won the Best Web Series award at the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers's second annual Stinger Awards. [35] [36]
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Alberta communities, including Canmore, High River, Bragg Creek, in state of emergency
After months of repairs, Maggie's Diner is now open again.
The final tally is not in, but it looks like over $70,000 was raised, which will be given to High River in the near future.