An emotional Michael Landon Jr. told fans of Hallmark Channel’s When Calls the Heart that he wished his dad could have seen the show and met the fans.
“There’s nothing like this,” Landon said. “You guys are so special.”
When Calls the Heart
Landon, who created the series with Brian Bird, was addressing When Calls the Heart fans at their annual convention in Canada.
Viewers and critics have compared the series to Little House on the Prairie, which Michael Landon Sr. produced and starred in for nine years.
Based on a series of best-selling books by Canadian author Janette Oke, When Calls the Heart follows a privileged young woman who moves to a small coal-mining community to teach school and ends up falling in love with a mountie. The show premiered on Hallmark Channel in 2014 and quickly became one of the network’s most popular series. Season 11 is currently in production in British Columbia.
During a September panel discussion at the Hearties Family Reunion, Landon was asked if Little House on the Prairie had inspired When Calls the Heart.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Little House was by far my favorite of my father’s work. It wasn’t just about the series, it was about what the series did to people. It did bring families together. It was a special time.”
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Michael Landon Jr.
Michael Landon Jr. only appeared in one episode of Little House on the Prairie, which ran from 1974 to 1983 on NBC.
In past interviews, the producer said he went through a turbulent period in his late teens.
“I was lost big time,” he told Fox News. “My parents separated and divorced when I was 16. My world came crashing down. I was floundering. I was completely lost and bitter and everything that was built up in terms of my life and what I thought my life was, the perception of family and togetherness came crashing down. So I was very bitter, turned to drugs and alcohol, and started throwing my life away.”
He eventually began going to church with his mother and, at the age of 19, became a born-again Christian. He got into show business, working as a film loader, assistant cameraman, Steadicam operator, director of photography, apprentice film editor, production assistant, and actor.
In 2005, Landon and Brian Bird formed their own production company, Believe Pictures. He produced the movies The Last Sin Eater, Saving Sarah Cain, and Love Comes Softly, which was also based on a Janette Oke novel.
“Pointing to God”
In an interview, Landon said he tries to make sure his work is “always pointing to God.”
“I started pursuing this way before The Passion of the Christ before there was a market for these types of films,” he told Christian Answers. “I started working on the Love Comes Softly film in the 1990s. It took ten years to get that done because everybody thought it was too soft. But you know, I’ve always been somewhat outspoken in my faith. Each film has something of a soul, and I think people can smell a fake.”
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