The Good Witch | |
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Written by | Rod Spence |
Directed by | Craig Pryce |
Starring | |
Composer | Jack Lenz |
Country of origin | Canada United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Ian McDougall |
Cinematography | Gerald Packer |
Editor | George Roulston |
Running time | 89 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Hallmark Channel |
Release | January 19, 2008 |
Related | |
The Good Witch's Garden Good Witch |
The Good Witch is a television film that aired on the Hallmark Channel on January 19, 2008. It stars Catherine Bell as Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale and Chris Potter as chief of police Jake Russell. The film has spawned a franchise of six followup television films and the television series Good Witch.
The town of Middleton is shaken up the arrival of the mysterious, beautiful Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale, who has moved into Grey House—an old, abandoned building supposedly haunted by its former owner and Cassie's ancestor Elizabeth Merriwick, known as "The Grey Lady." Martha Tinsdale, wife of Middleton's mayor, demands that Police Chief Jake Russell investigate reports of a woman occupying the house; together, they meet Cassie, who answers questions evasively but makes clear she is the home's owner and resident. Later, a dog, Attila, chases Jake's children Brandon and Lori on their way home from school. They end up at Grey House, where Lori falls and scrapes her knee. Cassie appears and Attila leaves in response to her verbal admonishment. Cassie invites the children inside and tends to Lori's knee with an herbal poultice. Attila's owner Rusty complains to Jake that his guard dog has become completely docile, so Jake meets with Cassie, quickly establishing that the entire incident occurred on Cassie's property, negating Rusty's complaint. He is surprised to learn that she has met his children. She invites him to visit her at Grey House or the shop she plans to open on Main Street. Meanwhile, Brandon's classmate Kyle threatens Brandon and Lori, demanding Brandon's lunch money. Jake's wife died three years earlier; Brandon has become surly and withdrawn, while Lori has nightmares. Lori asks Cassie about stopping the nightmares; Cassie gives her a dreamcatcher and uses reverse psychology to get her to dream about bunnies instead.
Cassie opens her shop, "Bell, Book, & Candle," specializing in herbs and curiosities. She sells an aphrodisiac essential oil to a woman named Nancy; Nancy and her husband, who had experienced infertility, successfully conceive. Martha believes Cassie's wares are associated with witchcraft. After Martha falls over a display while recoiling from the merchandise, she accuses Cassie of assault. Jake goes to see Cassie and learns she has hired Walter Cobb, a homeless alcoholic, to assist in renovations while living onsite. Jake declines to file charges, concluding Martha's fall was accidental, displeasing Martha's husband, Mayor Tom Tinsdale, who demands Jake run a background check on Cassie. When Jake finds no record of a "Cassandra Nightingale," she admits that she ran away from foster care after her parents died in a car crash. He asks her to dinner and she accepts.
Brandon and Lori are now convinced Cassie is a "good witch" who can perform magic. Brandon asks Cassie for help with Kyle, and she agrees to turn him into "something less threatening," but sets conditions that require Brandon to spend time with Kyle. Brandon learns Kyle steals money to placate his abusive father; Brandon confides the situation to Jake, who promises to help; Kyle goes to live with his grandmother, out of town, where Jake believes Kyle will be "all right." Jake's father-in-law, George, introduces himself to Cassie due to her increasing involvement with his family. She quickly befriends him and convinces him to fulfil his lifelong ambition of visiting his ancestral homeland of Ireland. Martha rouses a group of townspeople against Cassie, for her supposed practice of "dark arts" and her association with Walter Cobb. Martha gathers signatures to revoke Cassie's business license, and Cassie cancels the dinner to avoid any conflict of interest for Jake. But at George's urging, Jake goes to see her and finds she has already prepared an intimate dinner for them to enjoy at Grey House. She reveals her given name, "Sue Ellen Brock," and Jake acknowledges that her chosen name suits her better.
Cassie hosts a Halloween party, but most of the townspeople stay away. Jake's family attend, as do Walter, Nancy and her husband, and Kyle. Cassie believes Martha will succeed in driving her out of town, but Jake urges her to change her mindset of "running away." Jake's deputy, Derrick, catches Martha's sons Michael and Dylan vandalizing Cassie's shop. Cassie refuses to press charges, and Tom demands Martha drop her destructive vendetta. Tom orders his sons to work off their debt to Cassie. Jake and Cassie tease each other over a broom that inexplicably appears in the shop.
Although set in Middleton, USA, it was filmed in Hamilton, Cambridge [1] and Niagara-on-the-Lake, in Ontario, Canada. In the sequel, The Good Witch's Charm , the map on the wall in the police station shows Middleton located northwest of Chicago, in the vicinity of DeKalb County. The names of the suburbs and interstates that are northwest of Chicago can be clearly seen.
In S2E8 of the original series, Sam’s friend Doug refers to Middleton as “up this far North of Chicago.”
On January 15, 2008, Hallmark Channel and Limbo, the mobile entertainment community, teamed up to create and launch the cable network's first-ever mobile interactive initiative. The campaign "enhanced viewers' experience of the premiere of the network's original movie ... through 'Limbo Unique' – a game played via cell phone or online". The grand prize was $2,000 and a portrait of the "Grey Lady" that was featured in the movie. [2]
The Good Witch (Region 1) DVD was released on January 5, 2010. The Good Witch Collection (Region 1) DVD was released October 14, 2014. [3]
The movie had great success on Hallmark Channel on the night of its premiere, making it the second-highest-rated original movie to that date. It premiered with a 3.8 HH (household) rating and was in nearly 3.2 million homes. [4] It also was #1 in its time period, propelling the channel to the #4 spot in weekly ranking. [5]
In addition to the original television movie, the Hallmark Channel has aired six followup television films.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
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1 | "The Good Witch" | Craig Pryce | Rod Spence | January 19, 2008 |
2 | " The Good Witch's Garden " | Craig Pryce | G. Ross Parker, Rod Spence | February 7, 2009 [6] [7] |
3 | " The Good Witch's Gift " | Craig Pryce | G. Ross Parker, Rod Spence | November 13, 2010 [8] |
4 | " The Good Witch's Family " | Craig Pryce | G. Ross Parker, Rod Spence | October 29, 2011 |
5 | " The Good Witch's Charm " | Craig Pryce | G. Ross Parker, Rod Spence | October 27, 2012 |
6 | " The Good Witch's Destiny " | Craig Pryce | Annie Young Frisbie, Rod Spence | October 26, 2013 |
7 | " The Good Witch's Wonder " | Craig Pryce | Rod Spence | October 25, 2014 [9] |
In February 2014, the Hallmark Channel announced that Good Witch had been green-lighted for a ten-episode series, starring Catherine Bell, to premiere on February 28, 2015. [10] [11] Production for the first season began on October 29, 2014, in Toronto, [12] with Sue Tenney as showrunner. Bailee Madison and James Denton also star. [12] [13] The series ran for seven seasons, concluding on July 25, 2021. [14]
Catherine Lisa Bell is a British-American actress and model known for her roles as Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie in the television series JAG from 1997 to 2005, Denise Sherwood in the series Army Wives from 2007 to 2013, and Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale in Hallmark's The Good Witch films and television series from 2008 to 2021.
Rachel Boston is an American actress. She has had leading roles in a number of independent films, and was a regular cast member in several television series. She starred in the NBC drama series, American Dreams as Beth Mason from 2002 to 2005, in the short-lived CBS sitcom The Ex List in 2008, and on the USA Network series In Plain Sight from 2011 to 2012. From 2013 to 2014, Boston starred as Ingrid Beauchamp in the Lifetime fantasy-drama series, Witches of East End.
Cassandra "Cassie" Lang is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie and John Byrne, the character first appeared in Marvel Premiere #47. Cassandra Lang is the daughter of the superhero Scott Lang / Ant-Man. She has also been known as Stature, Stinger, and Ant-Girl at various points in her history.
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Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End is a 1999 Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-television drama film and is the third of three television films based on the series of children's books by Patricia MacLachlan: Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991) and its sequel Skylark (1993). Though they do not share a title, the events in the film Winter's End are taken from MacLachlan's book Caleb's Story, though in order to appeal to a more adult audience than the children's books the events are expanded and the tone made slightly more serious. The film premiered on CBS on November 21, 1999.
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The Good Witch's Garden is a Hallmark Channel television film, the sequel to The Good Witch. It premiered on Hallmark Channel on February 7, 2009.
Daniel's Daughter is a 2008 Canadian television film directed by Neill Fearnley. The film is about a magazine editor who returns to her small hometown to fulfill a request from her estranged father.
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The Good Witch's Destiny is a 2013 Canadian-American television film and Hallmark Channel original movie written by Annie Young Frisbie and directed by Craig Pryce. The film stars Catherine Bell, Chris Potter, Hannah Endicott-Douglas, Matthew Knight, Peter MacNeill, Catherine Disher, Robin Dunne, and Elizabeth Lennie. Destiny is the sixth film in the Good Witch film series. The film premiered on Hallmark Channel October 26, 2013.
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