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Hallmark Mysteries and More (part 2)
219 Plays10 months ago
Eric Rutin from Hallmark Mysteries and More joins Brook and Sarah to share his expertise on favorite Hallmark mysteries adapted from books. Second of a two-part conversation.
Discussed
Gilded Newport Mysteries: Murder at the Breakers (2024) Hallmark
Murder at the Breakers (2014) Alyssa Maxwell
Mystery 101 (2019-2021) Hallmark
The Gourmet Detective (2015) Hallmark
Case of the Mystery Lane (2023) Hallmark
Curious Caterer Mysteries (2022-2023) Hallmark
Murder She Baked/Hannah Swensen Mysteries (2015-2023) Hallmark
Chronicle Mysteries (2019) Hallmark
True Justice (2024) Hallmark
About Eric Rutin and Hallmark Mysteries and More
Website: https://hallmarkmysteriesandmore.com/
Instagram: @hallmarkmysteriesandmore
For more information
Instagram: @cluedinmystery
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
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Transcript
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Welcome
00:00:10
Speaker
Welcome to Clued in Mystery. I'm Sarah. And I'm Brooke. And we both love mystery. Hi Brooke. Hi Sarah. We're back for part two of our conversation with Eric Rutten. This is such a great conversation and we didn't want anybody to miss. So we've broken it up into two parts. The first part aired last week and this is the second part of that conversation. Enjoy everyone.
Hallmark's Historical Mysteries
00:00:40
Speaker
So Eric, you mentioned the Gilded Newport mysteries, and as far as I know, this is the first time that Hallmark has done a historical. Is that right? It is.
00:00:52
Speaker
Yeah, I really liked it. I watched it. I DVR'd it and then watched it when I knew that I could be alone in my home and just enjoy because I'm like you and I have a spouse who couldn't care less about Hallmark mysteries. But I was really excited to see historical. What are fans of Hallmark saying about it so far?
00:01:15
Speaker
It's been interesting because that's this one has had sort of a polar reaction. It seems like some people really loved it and other people really hated it and nobody is really in the middle. And I think with a lot of the people who disliked it, it came down to more. They just didn't seem to be fans of the casting or maybe some of the direction that the movie took.
00:01:45
Speaker
Whereas the ones who loved it really, they're probably people who like, you know, Bridgerton or like Downton Abbey. And they just really loved the period piece. They appreciated for what it was. They understood it's Hallmark. You know, it doesn't have this big, huge budget that some of these other productions that we've seen have. And they really appreciate for what Hallmark did do. I'm one of the ones who I enjoyed it. I would like to see more.
Challenges of Adaptation
00:02:10
Speaker
I think there's room for improvement, but
00:02:13
Speaker
Like I said, I enjoyed it. I think one of this ones that for me personally, having read the book and knowing that they have to cut it down to that hour and 24 minutes, some of the decisions that they made. It's funny when I, when I talked to Andrea, my co-host, like she didn't understand, but since I had read the book, I understood like, Oh, well that character, the reason they did that.
00:02:35
Speaker
because I was able to reference the book, whereas in the movie, it didn't provide that reference point. So she was clueless, I understood. So I think reading the book, I actually really enjoy not reading the book along with watching the movies. Yeah, Sarah and I both read the book.
00:02:58
Speaker
As I was reading it, I was like, this is really long. Like this is going to be hard to compact into a show. But, um, I think that they found some interesting ways to do that. And, and I'm with you. I think it'd be fun to see some more of it. Yeah. I think so when you, we'll digress a little bit. When you read the book, it seemed to me when you said it was really long that it did have maybe that.
00:03:24
Speaker
like middle or not middle, like maybe from the halfway point to the quarter point just kind of dragged for me. It started out really good, then got kind of slow and then it finished good. But I had this like chunk where I'm like, you could just take that and your editor could lose 50 pages and we'd be okay. I don't know what you guys thought.
00:03:46
Speaker
Well, I was interested in your interview with Alyssa Maxwell.
Recommended Hallmark Mysteries
00:03:50
Speaker
This was the first mystery she ever wrote. And then to have it get picked up, I mean, a lot of years later for an adaptation. But I imagine that just having written a mystery myself, I bet they get better and better over the series. So some of that, you know, middles are hard, aren't they Sarah? They definitely are.
00:04:16
Speaker
But I think maybe even more so, well, I'm not an author, but it seems like a mystery too of trying to keep that tension going and you've got to keep it going for a little while longer. But, um, I do know if you go to Jericho that you get a good long from beginning to end with no laws. Just my opinion. Thank you. Thank you. I haven't watched any hallmark mysteries. Uh, so Eric, where do you suggest that someone start?
00:04:45
Speaker
I would say that the gateway to get people hooked is always going to be Mystery 101. It's a really well-written mystery. There are seven episodes. Most people, I'll give a spoiler, it doesn't on a cliffhanger, which a lot of people like say, just stop it five minutes before the end and then you'll be happy.
00:05:10
Speaker
It's very good because each of the mysteries stand alone, and you can watch them. But John Christian Palmer did a really good job, I think, of developing characters and developing their relationships that progress. And one of the things in the cozy realm, or we'll call Mark Hutsi here on Hallmark, is sometimes you look at some of these and you're like, why is the baker
00:05:37
Speaker
you know, involved in that. You have to do a lot of suspension. You have to really jump into the whole genre and say, okay, the baker can go around and be smarter than the entire police force. But with Mystery 101, it's pretty smart in that way where it does make sense. And like I say, it progresses really well. Great acting. Christopher Balaha is
00:06:03
Speaker
my opinion, the best actor in the entire Hallmark universe. His range is just fantastic. He's been in things outside of Hallmark and he's the main detective in this and he just brings it 100%. So you'll watch it and I think it's pretty easy to realize how people get hooked in the series and then you can expand. Now personally,
00:06:29
Speaker
I would say gourmet detective. It's got a little more fun to it. Henry Ross, he's a blogger who writes about food, who just knows everything about food and the gourmet detective, he can figure out things for like, oh, what's that spice in something that someone wants to do? But he ends up getting involved in a murder and the shenanigans.
00:06:52
Speaker
the thing about this one that's so great is it also has a female detective, which you don't see in Hallmark very often with the male nosy body there. And I think they play very well. So I would go with mystery 101 and quickly followed up with a gourmet detective, which was my path. And then you'll be like me and you'll be saying, Hey, can I be a co-host on, you know, Hallmark mysteries and more next season.
Hallmark's Mystery Expansion Plan
00:07:19
Speaker
Well, Eric, since you,
00:07:21
Speaker
have had the inside scoop with writers and actors from the channel. Can you share with us maybe what's in store in the future? Well, one of the exciting things is I was just talking to Hallmark corporate with, with the big news, as you had mentioned, um, that they're repositioning Hallmark movies and mysteries to become just Hallmark mysteries. And in doing so, that means they're going to need a lot more content.
00:07:51
Speaker
I would assume, but their PR department is trying to arrange an interview with either Lisa Daly, who's the head of Hallmark, which would blow my mind if we could get her, or Elizabeth Yost, who's the head of original programming, so I can ask those diving questions, what's in store. But we have had a few leaks. One of them is,
00:08:17
Speaker
a fan favorite from last year, which was called Cases of Mystery Lane, stars Paul Campbell and Amy Garcia. It's kind of a fun, kooky mystery, which if you want to watch just one mystery, dive into that one, because that's just a ton of fun. If you want to see a series, go the other route. But word just came out that they are going to be
00:08:43
Speaker
releasing two more of those so that's exciting. One of my big things I think with the mystery genre that's different than the rom coms with Hallmark is with the mystery you get to know the characters and that's what I when I said with the mystery 101 you get to know them you see them develop the relationships develop
00:09:03
Speaker
And I think it's always just great when you can at least get three of a series because you do see the characters you've helped. And you kind of, when you talked about like Alyssa writing her first novel there, her first mystery, you kind of learn as you go and you get better. I think if you watch most of the mysteries, you'll see that like, Oh, they've gotten better. The characters are better. There's, there's more depth to them. Curious cater certainly that case.
00:09:27
Speaker
And so it's really exciting to see two more of the case of Mr. Elaine. There's two more curious caterers that are going to be coming out, which are they'll make it five total. Hannah Swenson, there's a new one with that. And this one is huge news in the Hallmark universe because Cameron Matheson, who had always been Detective Mike, her love interest, he was engaged to two movies ago, they broke it off.
00:09:56
Speaker
and kind of a little controversial thing. And then he now has left the network and they've replaced him with Victor Webster, which I'm happy about. Victor Webster is great, but it's going to be interesting to see in the next episode there, how they detour that way. There was an interview that Alison Sweeney just did where she said that the, um,
00:10:22
Speaker
The networks vary behind the Hannah Swenson because
Eric's Podcast Journey
00:10:26
Speaker
she also starred in another mystery series called Chronicle Mysteries and said that's probably Chronicles is pretty much put to bed whereas the emphasis is going to be on
00:10:36
Speaker
Um, more Hannah Swenson. So you'll be seeing some more of those. I also know that there's a couple others that are going to be coming our way, but I can't, I've been sworn to secrecy and I'll tell you what that kills me. I just want to say it, but I can't, but it's exciting news that it really does show that Hallmark is.
00:10:58
Speaker
definitely committed to starting to create more of the series of it. They call it a mystery wheel, then just have the one-offs. There's a couple of them we still want them to do, but it's exciting that they definitely are committed to it. Like I said, they're going to just need the content.
00:11:15
Speaker
So, in that aspect, I expect it to be a lot more mysteries coming up in 2024, going forward, especially coming summer. This year already they've had, I don't know when this is airing, but probably around this time, they'll have aired four brand new mysteries in the first two months
00:11:37
Speaker
Whereas they had 11 total for the year last year, right? So, and we already know that there's three of the other remakes that are, or continuations that are coming. So they are way ahead of schedule in that capacity. That's exciting. Very exciting for your Luther.
00:12:01
Speaker
I think it's great, this relationship that you've developed with Hallmark. Did you have any idea when you started your podcast that you would be able to forge those connections? No, the Hallmark universe is really interesting because I got into it and it was funny, my wife was traveling.
00:12:22
Speaker
And I was just watching Hallmark TV and I thought, you know what? I'm going to create this Hallmark blog and it's called Hallmark Movie Reviewer and it was focusing more on the rom-coms. And I'm like, no one's going to read it because I'm pretty much probably the only person who's like this Hallmark fanatic out there, whatever. I'm just going to do it because there's something to do and I'm bored.
00:12:43
Speaker
And I started my Instagram, and then I started connecting with some people. And then before you know it, I found out this whole community. And then I found that actors actually engage back with their fans here way more than they do in other places.
00:13:02
Speaker
And like I had DM conversations with some of the biggest names out there and they're like such nice people. And like, I can't, this is a story I always use the example is like, I can't imagine going and sending Tom Cruise a DM on like, Hey, really loved mission impossible six. Those stunts were fantastic. And him respond, Oh, you liked it. What was your bet? You know, your favorite part. And then getting in a.
00:13:30
Speaker
lengthy conversation about it, whereas Hallmark, whether it be the actors, whether it be the directors, whether it be the writers, whoever, the costumers, they're super open and engaging. And then I started talking, like I say, I started talking to some of the people at corporate and they've been
00:13:50
Speaker
And everything, you know, beyond belief as far as being supportive. One of the big things that was interesting was we did get it when we sort of got on the radar. We did get a little note from them saying, you know what, we've got a little issue with your name because we're Hallmark mysteries and more their Hallmark movies and mysteries. And there is a lot of that confusion. And I'm like, oh, here comes if we have to change your name, they're going to ruin it. And they're like,
00:14:18
Speaker
You totally can keep your name. We just need you to put a little disclaimer in your podcast saying that you guys are fans and not associated with Hallmark directly. And that was it. And then it's like, keep doing what you're doing. It's great. And I was like, what? Seriously? Because I work in marketing myself and I know I would not be giving up my brand so loosely like they do. But it's been amazing that
00:14:48
Speaker
you know, the, the
Engagement with Hallmark Actors
00:14:49
Speaker
access you have to this community, like say across the board, it's, it's just crazy how open it is. I think that that really though says a lot about your podcast though, Eric, because they recognize that you are helping with their marketing. And if you know, the quality is there, your knowledge is there. And if that weren't the case, that might've been a different kind of email that you got. So I think that it just speaks to how good, good your podcast is.
00:15:19
Speaker
I'll say I just recently got a after True Justice aired and we did a review of that. It was crazy because all of the actors, the main actors, including Nikki Delos, all sent a DM saying, hey, I listened to your podcast. I know. Glad you loved it. Which afterwards, Andrew and I are like, oh, thank God we we like that movie because it's the first time we've ever had literally
00:15:49
Speaker
the entire top six characters from the movie all independently send us DMs that they listened to the podcast and liked what we did. Then Nikki even said, hey, I'm busy because she was getting ready to go shoot Next Curious Cater. I'm busy going about to do some filming. The funny thing is that it hadn't been announced yet that
00:16:15
Speaker
She was going to do curious cater and she just sort of let it, well, I don't know if she was aware of what she's doing, but let it slip that she was off to go film it. And she's like, but when I'm back, let's nail it. And I totally want to be on your podcast. And that was one where I did have to go get my wife and go, you will not believe what just happened. And she's like, who's that? I had to pull up her picture. It's like, Oh, I know who that is. So, but yeah, so that's been exciting and thank you very much. I hope we give.
00:16:45
Speaker
some good content and we're interesting. I think we're fun. Definitely. And I enjoy the fact that, you know, you don't pull any punches. You guys say it like, like it is. Like if you enjoy a show, you are honest with that. And if you don't, and if you have like suggestions for how it could be better, you know, you share that. And, um, I don't know, there are a lot of fun. Mm-hmm.
00:17:07
Speaker
I do think one of the things and not to get into a whole different thing about the Hallmark podcast that are out there with the reviews, but one of the things we try to do is we try to stay positive and we know that nobody's out there to make a bad movie. And when we, you know, we don't like something.
00:17:28
Speaker
We're not just, Oh, hated on their terrible people, you know, whatever, tear it apart. We sort of say, we understand what they're trying to do. Don't think they quite did it, you know, the way they wanted to, you know, like, like our, our.
00:17:41
Speaker
Gilded Newport Mystery that we're mixed on that one. And we thought, you know, when we understand is they didn't quite deliver in these certain aspects of it, but they did do it here. So we try to, you know, remain somewhat positive and not get too derogatory. So you're not going to get a big hole, you know, slam of something, you know, in that aspect. Yeah. Well, and I, I haven't watched any of the Hallmark mysteries, but I have listened to your podcast and I do think it's great. Oh.
00:18:11
Speaker
Well, thank you. Now, do you have, well, do you have the homework, uh, mystery channel access to it? Uh, I don't know. I have to, I have no idea actually. You can always, well, you can always, uh, get a seven day trial of the homework movies now app, which has all of the mysteries
Local Filming Insights and Episode Wrap-up
00:18:35
Speaker
on there. And you could just binge away in a weekend and say, you know what?
00:18:41
Speaker
Okay. I do like the genre. I think it's fun or you can watch it and go, no, I like, I like the books better. I don't, I don't, I don't need to, I don't need to get into this whole little cutesy version of the cozy mystery. So that's like an easy way to, to test it out if it's for you.
00:19:00
Speaker
Well, I will definitely take a look at that. And I was looking it up. A lot of them are actually filmed, uh, near me. So, um, that's always fun to see something. Where are you? I'm in Vancouver. Oh, they're all filmed near, like, well, I should say all, but almost, almost all of them are. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, Oh, we're, we're in France. No, you're not. You're in, uh, the coast of, uh, of Vancouver. Yeah. I'm not going to watch anything that's, that's filmed here. So.
00:19:30
Speaker
You know what's going to happen? You're going to watch it and then you're going to like be at the grocery store and also go, wait a minute. You're from Hallmark. I know you because half of them live there too. Yeah. Sometimes Sarah spots scenery when she's out and about and will snap a picture. So that may happen after she starts watching these Hallmark shows and then I can fangirl over it.
00:19:57
Speaker
There, there's a house in, um, an Aurora tea garden and a mystery one-on-one. They use it in both and it's Julia's house in Aurora tea garden, but that's a house that's up there. That's apparently some famous Manchini type house that you probably being a resident know it and you'll be like, Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, I'll have, I'll have to keep an eye out for that. Well, Eric, this was lovely. I'm so happy that you said yes to join us on the show to talk about Hallmark mysteries.
00:20:27
Speaker
It does not take much to get me, as you can tell, to talk about Hallmark mysteries. It's more of a challenge to get me to stop. So we'll make sure to put a link to your podcast in our show notes so that listeners can find and learn more about Hallmark mysteries. I'd greatly appreciate that. They can also find us on our Instagram, which we're very active on, which is, ironically enough, at Hallmark mysteries and more. Not too hard to find.
00:20:58
Speaker
Well, thank you, Eric, and thank you listeners for joining us today on Clued in Mystery. I'm Brooke. And I'm Sarah. And we both love mystery. Clued in Mystery is written and produced by Brooke Peterson and Sarah M. Steven. Music is by Shane Ivers.
00:21:13
Speaker
If you liked what you heard, please consider telling a friend, leaving a review, or subscribing with your favourite podcast listening app. Visit our website at cluedinmystery.com to sign up for our newsletter, The Clued In Chronicle, or to join our paid membership, The Clued In Cartel. We run social media at Clued In Mystery.