‘When Calls the Heart’ Creator on the Show’s Future and Its Appeal in a Culture of Darkness
The co-creator of When Calls the Heart is opening up about the series’ future and its continued popularity, saying viewers have embraced its message of faith and family values in a culture increasingly hungry for hope amid darkness and cynicism.
When Calls the Heart recently aired its 13th season on Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Plus, continuing the story of schoolteacher Elizabeth Thornton and the residents of Hope Valley, a frontier town where love, resilience, and community remain central themes. Inspired by the novels of Janette Oke, the drama premiered in 2014 and has become one of Hallmark’s signature series, earning a devoted fan base known as the “Hearties.”
“We're not slowing down. Nobody's talking about – how do we wind this up there?” co-creator Brian Bird told Crosswalk Headlines.
Bird is a veteran of family-friendly projects, having served as a producer of Touched by an Angel from 1999 to 2003 before helping lead a string of faith-centered films, including Captive (2015) and The Case for Christ (2017).
But to modern-day viewers, he is best known for his role in When Calls the Heart, which has elevated his profile and given him a platform to work on other projects, including the new documentary The Story of Everything. The film examines the scientific evidence for God and opens in theaters on April 30.
“If you just follow the actual science, it all leads to design,” Bird said of his new film.
When Calls the Heart was the brainchild of Bird and Michael Landon Jr., who were searching for a series that would offer viewers the same optimism found in Touched by an Angel and the 1970s/80s classic Little House on the Prairie, which starred Landon’s father. The series has become Hallmark’s longest-running original scripted drama. It was recently renewed for a 14th season.
“We were just trying to make a show that would be kind of a legacy kind of a show that would have the kind of the faith and family values that Michael's father had when he did Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven – and like I did when I did the show Touched by an Angel,” Bird told Crosswalk Headlines. “In the years since the end of Little House on the Prairie and Touched by an Angel, there was a whole decade or so in which everybody went dark in terms of the content – hope and faith and love and all of those things on television sort of fell off the cliff. And everybody went into cynical kinds of content, you know – crooked politicians and crystal meth dealers and zombies and vampires, everywhere you turned. And very few people were doing any kind of programming like Little House on the Prairie or like Touched by an Angel in that whole decade.”
The two men didn’t know if it would succeed, but were pleasantly surprised when it became a breakout hit.
“We didn't know if people would even find us amid all the other noise out there in the culture,” Bird said. “You know, when there's 1,000 shows on television, how do you break through with your content? There's just so much competition for people's hearts and minds and eyeballs.”
Fans of the series soon gave themselves a name – the Hearties. Bird estimates roughly 2 million viewers now self-identify that way, following every twist and turn of the hope-filled drama.
“They're having community around our show, and they're making friendships,” Bird said. “The legacy of the Hearties will live on long past When Calls the Heart.”
Bird said the show’s enduring ratings success has confirmed what he long suspected: Audiences were hungry for something different.
“This show is the top-rated scripted show on Sunday nights on cable television – for several years now. And our numbers are continuing to stay strong even this deep into the run of the show,” he added.
“I think people have sensed our authenticity about this kind of content, and they were hungry for it. If a whole year, a whole decade, happens of cynicism on television, and you come along with a little show that could – that has not one ounce of cynicism, not a cynical bone in its body – it's food. And when you find an island full of starving people, and you bring food to them, they will love you. It's not more complicated than that.”
Bird has no plans to slow down or bring the series to an end anytime soon.
“The Hallmark Channel has been an incredible partner and patron in this – to the degree that we just launched a prequel that is doing really well for them on their subscription service that they're extremely happy with,” he said, referencing Hope Valley: 1874. Another spinoff, When Hope Calls, airs on Great American Family.
“Our attitude is we will make this until the cows come home, until they tell us they don't want it anymore.”
Related Article
Centuries of Christian Pilgrimage Come to Life in Hallmark’s ‘Journey to You’
Photo Credit: ©Hallmark
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
Originally published April 20, 2026.
