Cedar Cove does it right
In the sun-dappled streets of a small seaside town, Andie MacDowell pedals a retro-styled bicycle. She’s wearing a pastel sweater and an air-blown scarf, and her hair is casually done up like that of someone who deserves the L’Oréal contract she’s had for 28 years.
There’s a fresh bouquet of flowers in hand and pleasant background music involved. Yes, we are in the land of a Hallmark Channel production.
This one, Cedar Cove, is based on the series of novels by Debbie Macomber, who’s earned a lifetime achievement award from Romance Writers of America.
She’s cozied up to Hallmark before — three of her novels have already morphed into movies for the channel: Mrs. Miracle, Miracle in Manhattan and Trading Christmas. Basically, she is to Hallmark Channel what Tyler Perry is to TBS, or what Seth MacFarlane is to Fox. Airing in Canada on W Network, and filmed in Vancouver, Cedar Cove seems tailormade for Hallmark viewers, who gobble up shows like The Golden Girls, Little House on the Prairie and Marie Osmond’s daytime talk show.
MacDowell plays whip-smart judge Olivia Lockhart, who is up for a federal appointment in Seattle and can rock a boot camp exercise class with the best of them.
Her love interest is Jack Griffith (Dylan Neal), the new editor of the town newspaper with a mysterious background. We can tell that by the greying stubble. Olivia has a grown daughter (Sarah Smyth), with whom she shares ice cream dates, and her mother (Paula Shaw) is inoffensively kooky.
The drama — complete with mild jokes, occasional teary scenes and picturesque scenery — was a boon for MacDowell, who was ending her run on the ABC Family series Jane by Design when Cedar Cove came along. At the time she was also emptying her nest of her youngest daughter and helping a friend deal with cancer.
“I worry enough as it is, and the world’s crazy,” MacDowell told The New York Times. “One of the reasons I was excited about doing the series was because when I went to work every day, I was going to be in a warm, fuzzy place. It’s very wholesome. There’s no profanity. It’s uplifting, and the fans are super nice and kind.”
Cedar Cove is Hallmark’s first original prime-time series, the latest incidence of a non-mainstream outlet building its own stable of original shows.
In February, online streaming service Netflix unveiled its first foray into scripted programming, House of Cards, followed by Hemlock Grove, the fourth season of Arrested Development, and Orange is the New Black. Before Netflix, cable network AMC found acclaim with Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. Cedar Cove isn’t like any of those series — the town holds an annual seagull calling contest, for goodness’ sake — but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a great example of a network finding an audience, knowing what it wants and building on it. NBC, I hope you’re taking notes. (W Network – 9 p.m.)