The Good Witch (franchise)
The Good Witch is a Hallmark franchise that is centered on a series of films and a television series. The franchise is centered upon Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale, the titular "Good Witch" who uses her abilities to bring positive change in the lives of those around her.
| The Good Witch | |
|---|---|
| Original work |
|
| Owner | Hallmark Channel |
| Years | 2008–present |
| Films and television | |
| Television series | Good Witch (2015–21) |
| Television special(s) | 5 (list of specials) |
| Television film(s) | 7 (list of films) |
The franchise was launched with the 2008 film The Good Witch, which aired on the Hallmark Channel on January 19, 2008. It has since been followed with six additional movies and a television series that has run for seven seasons.
Cast
- A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film or the series season/special.
| Character | Title | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Good Witch | Garden | Gift | Family | Charm | Destiny | Wonder | Season 1 | Halloween | Season 2 | Secrets of Grey House | Season 3 | Spellbound | Season 4 | A Tale of Two Hearts | Season 5 | Curse From A Rose | Season 6 | Season 7 | |
| Cassie Nightingale | Catherine Bell | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jake Russell | Chris Potter | ||||||||||||||||||
| Martha Tinsdale | Catherine Disher | ||||||||||||||||||
| George | Peter MacNeill | Peter MacNeill | |||||||||||||||||
| Brandon Russell | Matthew Knight | Dan Jeannotte | Dan Jeannotte | Dan Jeannotte | Dan Jeannotte | ||||||||||||||
| Lori Russell | Hannah Endicott-Douglas | ||||||||||||||||||
| Derek | Noah Cappe | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tom Tinsdale | Paul Miller | Paul Miller | Paul Miller | Paul Miller | Paul Miller | Paul Miller | |||||||||||||
| Dylan Tinsdale | Alexander De Jordy | JD Smith | |||||||||||||||||
| Michael Tinsdale | Nathan McLeod | Edward Ruttle | Edward Ruttle | ||||||||||||||||
| Gwen | Elizabeth Lennie | Elizabeth Lennie | |||||||||||||||||
| Abigail Pershing | Sarah Power | Sarah Power | |||||||||||||||||
| Tara | Ashley Leggat | Rebecca Dalton | Rebecca Dalton | Rebecca Dalton | Rebecca Dalton | ||||||||||||||
| Grace Russell | uncredited | uncredited | Lily-Fay Mowbray | Bailee Madison | Bailee Madison | ||||||||||||||
| Jarod | Randal Edwards | Randal Edwards | Randal Edwards | ||||||||||||||||
| Sam | James Denton | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ryan | Anthony Lemke | Anthony Lemke | |||||||||||||||||
| Stephanie | Kylee Evans | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nick | Rhys Matthew Bond | ||||||||||||||||||
| Anthony | Shane Harte | ||||||||||||||||||
| Linda | Gabrielle Miller | Gabrielle Miller | |||||||||||||||||
| Ben | Jefferson Brown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Eve | Kate Corbett | ||||||||||||||||||
| John Dover | Dan Payne | ||||||||||||||||||
| Courtney | Alanna Bale | Alanna Bale | |||||||||||||||||
| Liam | Seann Gallagher | ||||||||||||||||||
| Noah | James Swalm[1] | James Rittinger | |||||||||||||||||
| Nurse Arrington | JaNae Armogan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Vincent | Gianpaolo Ventua | Gianpaolo Ventua | |||||||||||||||||
| Adam | Scott Cavalheiro | ||||||||||||||||||
| Donavan Davenport | Marc Bendavid | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dottie Davenport | Paula Boudreau | Paula Boudreau | |||||||||||||||||
| Joy Harper | Katherine Barrell | ||||||||||||||||||
| Claire Tinsdale | Nicole Wilson | ||||||||||||||||||
| Grant Collins | Lindsey Owen Pierre | ||||||||||||||||||
Films
The Good Witch films are composed of seven films spanning from 2008 through 2014, after which Hallmark opted to continue the storyline via a television series.
The Good Witch
The Good Witch premiered on the Hallmark Channel on January 19, 2008 and starred Catherine Bell as Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale and Chris Potter as Chief of Police Jake Russell.
The movie centers upon Cassie, a new arrival to the town of Middleton. She immediately catches the attention of the people around her, particularly Jake, who becomes enamored with her. Cassie also attracts negative attention from Martha Tinsdale, who believes that she is practicing black magic.
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.[2] It also was #1 in its time period, propelling the channel to the #4 spot in weekly ranking.[3]
The Good Witch's Garden
The Good Witch's Garden premiered on the Hallmark Channel on February 7, 2009. The film's premise centers on Cassie, who is turning her home into a bed and breakfast. Strife comes when a suspicious stranger, Nick, comes into town claiming to be the actual owner of her home, Grey House. Nick claims that it is his birthright, as he is the descendant of the home's original owner, the Grey Lady, and her lover, a captain. Over the course of the film it's proven that the captain was only a fictional creation and that Nick is a grifter who had run similar cons on other homeowners. The film ends with Jake proposing to Cassie.
The film's premiere did moderately well for Hallmark Channel. It scored a 2.7 household rating with over 2.3 million homes, over 3.1 million total viewers and 4.2 million unduplicated viewers. This performance ranked it #1 in the time period as well as the second-highest-rated Prime Time cable movie of the week and day, among all ad-supported cable networks. The film boosted Hallmark Channel to rank #3 in prime time for the day, and #5 for the week.[4]
The Good Witch's Gift
The Good Witch's Gift premiered on November 13, 2010 and is the third installment in the Hallmark Channel's series of Good Witch television films. The film had a 3.8 HH rating and nearly 3.2 million homes.[citation needed] The film's premise centers on the wedding of Cassie and Jake.
Cassie Nightingale has settled comfortably in Middleton with a successful boutique and is now engaged to Chief of Police Russell (Chris Potter). Having gifts for everyone else, finding one for Cassie proves to be a little more tricky for Jake. He sets his heart on letting Cassie wake up with a family on Christmas Day after getting married on Christmas Eve. With 7 days to go, everyone gets involved in the planning. Martha Tinsdale, who is looking for a job after her husband announces they're broke, discovers her talent for planning weddings. She eventually overcomes her struggles not to let her own vision undermine the bride-to-be's. Betty, the owner of a local bakery, is in charge of the menu, including the cake, and comes out more confident after Cassie gives her a necklace. As the chief of police, Jake Russell has additional concerns, as Leon Deeks, a man he put in jail for robbing a bank 10 years ago, got out of prison early. The money that was stolen had never been found. Leon appears at his former home. His daughter Jody is happy to see him, but his wife has filed for divorce and kicks him out. Jody is in a relationship with Brandon and the two of them visit Cassie's shop. Lori has been left to look after it for a bit and has been put in charge of Cassie's wedding ring, the last thing Cassie still owns from her mother. After the three of them talk for a bit, Jody suddenly has to leave. Immediately after, Lori notices the ring's gone missing. She feels horrible about losing it. Lori suspects Jody to be involved in the ring's disappearance and visits her at home. Before she can ring the doorbell, Brandon sees Lori and accuses her of harboring preconceived notions of Jody only due to the prior indiscretions of her father. He continues to get mad at anyone suspecting Jody. They later find out that Martha, who had previously been in the shop, had accidentally put it in her purse. Problems continue when the marriage certificate is first difficult to acquire, then gets switched up by accident, only to be followed by the minister's car breaking down and a dog eating the wedding cake. George considers moving to Montreal, but Cassie makes him want to stay and move into Grey House after she moves in with Jake after the wedding. He welcomes his new job as a caretaker for the property. All other problems are resolved just in time for the wedding. Leon retrieves the robbery money from underneath the tiles in Cassie's shop, where he had hidden it back when it had still been an abandoned building, and returns it to Jake. He decides to stay in Middleton to regain peoples' trust and his family decides to give him a second chance. Cassie wakes up the next morning with a family.
The Good Witch's Family
The Good Witch's Family premiered on the Hallmark Channel on October 29, 2011 and is the fourth film in the series. The film follows Cassie as she must deal with new threats to the wellbeing of her family, friends, and community.
Critical reception for the film was positive and actor Matthew Knight received a 2012 Young Artist Awards nomination for "Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special - Supporting Young Actor" for his role as Brandon Russell.[5]
The Good Witch's Charm
The Good Witch's Charm aired on the Hallmark Channel on October 27, 2012. Bell and Potter reprised their roles as Cassie and Jake, respectively.[6]
The film focused on Cassie's life as she acclimates to caring for her newborn while also serving as her town's mayor. She's hoping to get a break from her hectic life and take a vacation with her husband Jake and their new family, however this plan is ruined when her stepdaughter is blamed for a recent rash of robberies. A reporter has also arrived in town with the seeming goal of ruining Cassie's reputation, and Cassie's own estranged mother has suddenly arrived in town as well.
The Good Witch's Destiny
The Good Witch's Destiny premiered on Hallmark Channel October 26, 2013 and is the sixth film in the series.[7] Its premiere was watched by 2.82 million viewers and was the channel's most watched original movie to date for 2013 among the network's core demographic, women aged 25–54.[8][9]
The film's plot centers on Cassie's birthday and her stepdaughter Lori's investigation into Cassie's great aunt who disappeared many years ago.
The Good Witch's Wonder
The Good Witch's Wonder is the seventh film in the Good Witch film series. It premiered on the Hallmark Channel on October 25, 2014.[10][11] The film is the last one to star Chris Potter, as he was unable to reprise his character due to scheduling conflicts.[12]
In its original airing on the Hallmark Channel, The Good Witch's Wonder was watched by 2.49 million viewers and had a 0.3 rating among adults aged 18 to 49.[13]
Television series
Episodes (2014-2021)
In February 2014, the Hallmark Channel announced that Good Witch had been green-lighted for a ten-episode series, starring Catherine Bell, which premiered on February 28, 2015. [14][15] Production for the first season began on October 29, 2014, in Toronto,[16] with Sue Tenney as showrunner. Bailee Madison and James Denton also star.[16][17] The show continued for 7 seasons with 5 specials each Halloween. In April 2022, Hallmark has green-lighted Season 8 to be released early 2024. [18] There is no word yet whether a special will be released at the end of that season.
Specials
Each special was timed for release after each season in the series and would air the week before Halloween. The fans generally consider these individual specials to be Good Witch movies after the original series of movies. There is no special scheduled for the end of Season 8 [18], but all is not lost.
Good Witch: Halloween (2015 special)
Good Witch: Halloween/Something Wicked was the first of the Halloween specials that followed the characters in the series, after the end of Season 1. It waas the first. It aired October 24, 2015. Whilst Cassie deals with the newest guest at Grey House, Grace tries to deal with school bullies calling her a witch, on her own. The situation gets worse until she finally seeks out advice from her family. [19]
Good Witch: Secrets of Grey House (2016 special)
Good Witch: Secrets of Grey House followed the second season and aired October 22, 2016. Middleton helps to celebrate the latest release of a famous authoress' book series, by becoming the enchanted town of Tarynsville during her stay. [20]
Good Witch: Spellbound (2017 special)
Good Witch: Spellbound followed the third season and aired October 19, 2017. The business owners compete for the best-decorated shop, and a prophecy is unearthed in the basement of City Hall. When predictions start coming true, the citizens fear it's a terrible curse. As the town searches for the clues to save Middleton, Cassie and Sam may be the keys. [21]
Good Witch: Tale of Two Hearts (2018 special)
Good Witch: Tale of Two Hearts followed the fourth season and aired October 21, 2018. Cassie's precious family heirloom - a beautiful ruby "The Heart of Middleton" - goes missing from the "History of Halloween" exhibit in Middleton, just as they prepare for the anniversary festival and masquerade gala. [22]
Good Witch: Curse From A Rose (2019 special)
Good Witch: Curse From A Rose aired October 21, 2019. Cassie meets her match when her long-lost college roommate, Autumn Delaney who had issues with Cassie at school, makes an unexpected visit to Grey House. She is determined to disrupt Middleton's Halloween festivities, in return.[23]
List of Good Witch episodes in order
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 10 | February 28, 2015 | April 18, 2015 | |
| Halloween | October 24, 2015 | |||
| 2 | 10 | April 17, 2016 | June 19, 2016 | |
| Secrets of Grey House | October 22, 2016 | |||
| 3 | 10 | April 30, 2017 | July 2, 2017 | |
| Spellbound | October 22, 2017 | |||
| 4 | 10 | April 29, 2018 | July 1, 2018 | |
| Tale of Two Hearts | October 21, 2018 | |||
| 5 | 10 | June 9, 2019 | August 18, 2019 | |
| Curse from a Rose | October 19, 2019 | |||
| 6 | 10 | May 3, 2020 | July 5, 2020 | |
| 7 | 10 | May 16, 2021 | July 25, 2021 | |
Ratings
The table below shows the ratings for the Good Witch films. Ratings for the films and the subsequent television series have been generally favorable.[24]
Films
| Film | Premiere date | Household rating | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Good Witch[2] | January 19, 2008 | 3.8 | - |
| The Good Witch's Garden[4] | February 7, 2009 | 2.7 | 3.1 |
| The Good Witch's Gift | November 13, 2010 | 3.8 | - |
| The Good Witch's Family | October 29, 2011 | - | - |
| The Good Witch's Charm | October 27, 2012 | - | - |
| The Good Witch's Destiny[8][9] | October 26, 2013 | - | 2.82 |
| The Good Witch's Wonder[13] | October 25, 2014 | - | 2.49 |
Television
| Season | Season premiere | Season finale | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | February 28, 2015 | April 18, 2015 | 2.21[25] |
| Halloween/Something Wicked | October 24, 2015 | - | 2.68[26] |
| 2 | April 17, 2016 | June 19, 2016 | 2.19[27] |
| Secrets of Grey House | October 22, 2016 | - | 2.24[28] |
| 3 | April 30, 2017 | July 2, 2017 | 2.147[29] |
| Spellbound | October 22, 2017 | - | 2.70[30] |
| 4 | April 29, 2018 | July 1, 2018 | 2.137[31] |
| Tale of Two Hearts | October 21, 2018 | - | 2.36[32] |
| 5 | June 9, 2019 | August 18, 2019 | 2.8[33] |
| Curse from a Rose | October 19, 2019 | - | 1.87[34] |
| 6 | May 3, 2020 | July 5, 2020 | 2.8[35] |
| 7 | May 16, 2021 | July 25, 2021 | - |
Home video releases
| Film | DVD release dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |
| The Good Witch | January 5, 2010[36] | ||
| The Good Witch's Garden | April 22, 2014[37] | ||
| The Good Witch's Gift | June 17, 2014[38] | March 17, 2014 (DE)[39] | |
| The Good Witch's Family | September 16, 2014[40] | April 16, 2014 (DE)[41] | |
| The Good Witch's Charm | October 7, 2014[42] | September 26, 2014 (DE)[43] | |
| The Good Witch's Destiny | October 24, 2014 (DE)[44] | June 7, 2015[45] | |
| The Good Witch's Wonder | June 7, 2015[45] | ||
Box sets
| Title | DVD release dates | Films | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||
| The Good Witch Collection | October 14, 2014[46] |
| ||
| Cassie Collection | May 29, 2015 (DE)[47] |
| ||
| The Good Witch Collection | February 8, 2017[48] |
| ||
| The Good Witch Double Pack | July 10, 2019[49] |
| ||
References
- ^ According to his Instagram, his Twitter and IMDB, James Swalm and James Rittinger are the same person, with "Rittinger" being his middle name.
- ^ a b "Catherine Bell and Chris Potter to Star in Sequel to "The Good Witch," Hallmark Channel's Second-Highest-Rated Original Movie Ever". TheFutonCritic. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
- ^ Hallmark Channel Press Release 1/23/2008 October 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Hallmark Channel Press Release 2/10/2009
- ^ . Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
- ^ "Catherine Bell to Star in Hallmark's Original Movie THE GOOD WITCH'S CHARM". BroadwayWorld. TV News Desk. August 15, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- ^ Murray, Christian (October 25, 2013). . Sunnyside Post. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- ^ a b "The Good Witch's Destiny" Premieres as #1 Cable Program of the Day Among Women 25-54 Rating; Boosting Hallmark Channel to Rank #1 in Prime Time
- ^ a b Saturday's Cable Ratings & Broadcast Finals: World Series Makes It No Contest for FOX
- ^ Brokaw, Francine. "The Good Witch's Wonder on Hallmark Channel". Family Choice Awards. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ (PDF) (Press release). Hallmark Channel. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 3, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
- ^ "Why did Good Witch; kill off Jake? Catherine Bell explains". zap2it.com. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- ^ a b Bibel, Sara (October 28, 2014). . TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 18, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
- ^ Hallmark Channel's Good Witch Movies To Spawn Drama Series Starring Catherine Bell
- ^ Join Us Saturday, February 28 8/7c for the Two-Hour World Premiere Event of Good Witch, A Hallmark Channel Original Primetime Series
- ^ a b James Denton to Star in Hallmark Channel's 'The Good Witch' October 27, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Details". Retrieved 1 May 2016.
- ^ a b "Good Witch Season 8 Release Date, Trailers, Cast, Spoilers and News".
- ^ "Good Witch: Halloweene (IMDB)".
- ^ "Good Witch: Secrets of Grey House (IMDB)".
- ^ "Good Witch: Spellbound (IMDB)".
- ^ "Good Witch: Tale of Two Hearts (IMDB)".
- ^ "Good Witch: Curse From A Rose (IMDB)".
- ^ Hale, Mike (2017-06-15). "Have Your Grandparents Told You About 'Good Witch'?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
- ^ "Good Witch: Season One Ratings". TV Series Finale. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 25, 2015). . ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on October 28, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
- ^ "Good Witch: Season Two Ratings". TV Series Finale. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 25, 2016). . ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
- ^ "Good Witch: Season Three Ratings". TV Series Finale. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Porter, Rick (October 24, 2017). . TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
- ^ "Good Witch: Season Four Ratings". TV Series Finale. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 23, 2018). . Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
- ^ "Hallmark Channel's "Good Witch" Crosses the Season Five Finish Line on Top as #2 Scripted Series on Cable". Futon Critic. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 22, 2019). . Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
- ^ "Hallmark Channel's "Good Witch" Season Six L+3 Ratings Highlights". Futon Critic. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ "The Good Witch (Hallmark)". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "Good Witch's Garden (Hallmark)". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "Good Witch's Gift (Hallmark)". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "Cassie - Eine verhexte Hochzeit". Amazon.de. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "Good Witch's Family (Hallmark)". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "Cassie - Eine verhexte Familie". Amazon.de. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "Good Witch's Charm (Hallmark)". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "Cassie - Ein verhextes Video". Amazon.de. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "Cassie - Ein verhexter Geburtstag". Amazon.de. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ a b "June 2017 Dealer Guide" (PDF). Madman Entertainment. pp. 16, 17. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "The Good Witch Collection (The Good Witch's Garden / Good Witch's Gift / The Good Witch's Family / The Good Witch's Charm) (Hallmark)". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "Cassie Collection [3 DVDs]". Amazon.de. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "February 2017 Dealer Guide" (PDF). Madman Entertainment. p. 30. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "The Good Witch Double Pack: Destiny & Wonder". Amazon.com.au. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
External links
- Official website
- on Hallmark Channel
- The Good Witch (TV series and specials) at IMDb