Evan Williams, Sadie Laflamme-Snow, Chyler Leigh, and Andie MacDowell star in the Hallmark series ... [+]
This series doesn’t exactly fit into the formula that Hallmark is known for, but it’s not that far outside the box, says Laurie Ferneau, SVP of Development at Hallmark Media
She explains that, “It’s definitely an expansion and a broadening of what we’ve done in our content programming in the past. This show has time travel, but at the core of it, it’s still about love and family and friendship and connection.”
Ferneau is talking about the series The Way Home, which is about three generations of strong and independent women living together in the small farm town who embark on a surprising journey that none of them could have ever imagined as they learn how to find their way back to each other. The series stars Andie MacDowell, Chyler Leigh, Evan Williams, and Sadie Laflamme-Snow.
Adding just a bit more, Ferneau says, “We do feel like it fits the DNA of what Hallmark is — it’s about hope, it’s feel-good content, but we’ll take you on an emotional journey before we get to that place.”
MacDowell feels that, “One of the great beauties of this show is the multigenerational three-women dynamics, and I'm really impressed that my character, in particular — because I represent women of a certain age — the opportunity to show that I'm not a cliché character. I'm not your typical older woman, that I'm multifaceted and strong and interesting and dynamic.”
Regarding the time travel element, Williams feels that, “One of the really cool things about shooting a show that has a narrative device that allows you to tell the story from the present and the past at the same time is that we can be bread crumbing things for our other younger selves or older selves in our performances.”
To craft the narrative co-creator, co-showrunner and executive producer Alexandra Clarke reveals that, “Day one in our writers room [in] Season 1, we started to build this rulebook [about the time travel], because the minute you stray from those rules, you lose your audience. And so, it was literally the most important thing to us across the board that we do not stray from the rules that we've created.”
But, says Williams, the series isn’t all drama. “It’s fun to have a little comedy in a show that also deals with deeper themes, and we like to have it be rewarding in that way that you know that it’s going to cover all the different bases and it’s not going to be just a one-note thing.”
He adds that, “As the show continues, it, it is just getting twistier and twistier.”
Clarke, however, feels that the main message of The Way Home is that, “you can learn from the mistakes you’ve made.”
‘The Way Home’ airs Sundays at 9/8c on the Hallmark Channel and is available for streaming on Hallmark Movies Now (day after premiere), DirecTV Stream, Frndly, Fubo, Hulu Live TV, Peacock, Philo, Sling and YouTube TV.
