[Re-release] Hallmark Mysteries and More (part 1)

Transcript

Speaker: Hi, it's Sarah. Brooke and I are taking a short break from recording new episodes to catch up on our reading lists and plan for the next season of Clued in Mystery. While we're off, we are re-releasing a few of our favorite episodes.

Speaker: We hope you enjoy.

Speaker: Welcome to Clued in Mystery. I'm Sarah. And I'm Brooke. And we both love mystery. Hi, Brooke. Hi, Sarah. Today we're going to talk about mystery shows once again, specifically those made by Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, which is now Hallmark Mystery.

Speaker: This American cable and satellite channel is a spinoff from the main Hallmark Channel network. It was launched in 2004, and it's estimated that the channel is now available to more than 55 million households.

Speaker: It airs family oriented feature length and episodic mystery shows, some reruns, some originals. Eric Rutan is an expert on Hallmark Mysteries, so we thought it would be fun to talk with him about this TV network dedicated especially to the mystery genre. Sarah, would you like to introduce Eric to our listeners?

Speaker: Absolutely. Eric has been clinically diagnosed as a Hallmark Mysteries addict. The only cure is for him to co-host Hallmark Mysteries and More to save his family and friends from his constant chatter about the latest movie or his favorite mystery, The Gourmet Detective.

Speaker: As with many Hallmark mystery addicts, he got his start with Mystery 101, and it quickly grew until his DVR was filled with recordings of all the mystery marathons and spilled over into a subscription to Hallmark Now so he could watch all the old series like Flower Shop Mysteries and Darrow and Darrow.

Speaker: As an influencer in the Hallmark community, Eric brings a behind-the-scenes knowledge of Hallmark news as well as expertise in the classic Hallmark mysteries. Welcome, Eric. Well, hello.

Speaker: Wow. That's like the best introduction I've ever gotten. Thanks for being here. We're so excited. I'm very excited that you invited me. Well, before we get into like the technical interview about ah about the channel and about all that you do, I know that you prepared a special treat for us. That's that's like a tradition on your show, Eric.

Speaker: It is. So one of the things when we launched, we are Hallmark Mysteries and more. And so we try to figure out what that more is And it's kind of the lifestyle. And my co-host, Sydney, who was with me in season one, she very much liked making cocktails. And so what happened is we started making cocktails dedicated to whatever mystery we were talking about.

Speaker: So for you guys today, I decided to create one that is called the red herring because it's sort of all inclusive of the whole genre. And with this, you're going to take two ounces of Jamison whiskey, an ounce of cream de menthe, an ounce of cream de cocoa, and two ounces of heavy cream.

Speaker: You're going to throw them all in the blender, get them all mixed up. And then while you're doing that, you're going to take a glass, melt some chocolate, dip the like a martini glass, dip it in there.

Speaker: Then some little mini chocolate chips, dip that there so you get a nice cool chocolate rimmed. Then pour your little concoction in there. Have a drink while you read your favorite mystery novel, which is hopefully one of the ones we're going to talk about today that have been turned into a Hallmark movie.

Speaker: I love it. That sounds so great. Yeah, it sounds great. And we do have a beautiful graphic that you've made. So we'll share that. um We'll share that on our website.

Speaker: So thank you. No problem. So tell us, Eric, about how you and Sydney started your podcast and what it is all about. Well, going back, like a lot of Hallmark people, probably I first got into the rom-coms and was all into, into those.

Speaker: And then just happen chance stumbled upon, ah the mysteries and I've always enjoyed mysteries. So I started watching them and then I, for, you know, it got hooked and I really, really enjoyed them. So i started looking for it and then discovered, you know, Hey, there's the whole channel that's dedicated to these and started spending more and more time over on the mystery channel.

Speaker: So because I just like talking about it, and as you said a little earlier that uh, just would talk to my family about it who had no interest. My daughter has a little, but she's since moved out and she's not the house. My wife has very little.

Speaker: So I started going through the whole Instagram community and developing some online friends who would talk about mysteries there. And then I said, you know what?

Speaker: No one in has ah a podcast that's really dedicated just to the mysteries. Why don't I do that? And so then I reached out to some of the people I'd been talking about. And so that's where I got in touch with Sydney, which just quick question. Did you guys know each other? Because you you have a great distance between you two, right?

Speaker: Did you know each other before you started podcasting? ah Similar. We ah connected through Instagram. Just had a, you know, mutual love for the medium. Right. So that's where Sydney and i came together and we started podcasting, just talking about our favorite Hallmark mysteries. And before you know it, um because this there was such a void in the space, we started also connecting with the actual Hallmark people and started getting actors like Brennan Elliott and. um ah Benjamin Ayers, you know, coming on on our show and it was like, wow, and then started getting some of the the the um main writers and directors. And one of our big things we did last year was, as any Hallmark Mystery um fan knows, one of the big things out there was Mystery 101.

Speaker: being canceled on a cliffhanger. And Mystery 101 has the most fanatical, loyal fans of any mystery. And then it ending on a cliffhanger was just, you know, blew up the whole ah Hallmark Sleuther universe.

Speaker: And What they accidentally happened was Hallmark on a just random post about Mystery 101 accidentally revealed that the show was canceled because it was sort of in this limbo where no one knew, is it going to be another one? Is it not going to be another one? So who some social media manager by accident just completely let the cat out the bag that it was officially canceled.

Speaker: And then all chaos broke out. And so what happened in that time is we had talked to John Christian Plummer, the author of the um the Mystery 101 series, and he'd been really nice to us.

Speaker: And I said, hey, would you come on and tell us what would have happened if there was the other episode? And lo and behold, he said yes, which kind of blew my mind. And I was surprised that bigger media out there didn't do this because this was a really big and you know Hallmark has this universe, but then every now and then there are certain stories that get bigger than just Hallmark. And this was one of those.

Speaker: And he said, sure, but I actually have to go through Hallmark, which we had never had to go through and get corporate approval before. And it turned into ah whole like little negotiation-y type thing. And what can we do? What can't we do?

Speaker: Fortunately, Hallmark is as an organization, surprisingly transparent, surprisingly supportive of little channels like us and like, okay, go for it. You can do what you want to do. I'm sure he had a little coaching behind the scenes on what he could and couldn't say, but lo and behold, he came on And shared what would have been episode eight and we are the only place that ever aired it. So that was absolutely fantastic. So that was our big, like putting us over uh, tipping thing of being this little tiny niche one where then we started getting a bigger audience.

Speaker: And, um, that's till this still to this day, we have all sorts of people who still listen to that particular episode and DM us and complain because a lot of people get confused and think we're actually the network.

Speaker: And everything is kind of crazy. Some of the things that happen in our DMs, but you say, so we grew and along those lines, Sydney, went and got pregnant and she unfortunately well fortunately for her unfortunately for me for season two is like you know what i gotta focus on being a mom she's due pretty much any day now and um so andrea who i've been friends with for a while as well she has stepped in and so she's become my host co-host for season two and it's kind of funny because andrea and i seem to agree on most things

Speaker: But when we disagree, oh boy, we are so polar opposites. You'd think we were like, kind of like be in the middle or whatever, like, oh, I'm only in the middle, but you liked it or vice versa. But no, it's like polar opposite. So this season has been ah lot of fun. It's our second season. I know you guys have been doing this for a little while. So the other thing I've learned.

Speaker: with podcasting is there's a whole lot more work that goes into hosting a podcast than I thought. I thought I'd just get on Ramble for, you know, few minutes and then boom, upload it.

Speaker: But no, it's a whole lot of work. So your listeners should be so appreciative of not only the content you share, but the effort you guys put in to make the show happen on a consistent basis. So there I'm giving you guys a little bit of love.

Speaker: Thanks, Eric. yeah Thank you.

Speaker: ah So I know, Eric, you recently had Brooke on your show to talk about mystery books that ah the two of you thought would make some great Hallmark TV series.

Speaker: ah Now, as someone who is an expert on network productions, can you tell us a little bit about some of the mystery book series that have already been adapted for Hallmark Mysteries?

Speaker: I'd love to. So there's a few of them. And most notably, I'm going to, I just have a little list. I'm going to start with, you you said in the beginning that the gourmet detective was my favorite Hallmark mystery.

Speaker: I just, I honestly had no idea that there was a gourmet detective book series and about two weeks ago, actually surprisingly after you guys had invited me to be on here, I found out that it was a book series by one of our followers on our our podcast. they so They sent a DM saying, Hey, have you read the books?

Speaker: I'm like, what you mean? What books? There's no books. And sure enough, there are. They're by Peter King. And one of the things about them, which I think goes through a lot of the Hallmark mysteries,

Speaker: is when you read the book and then you compare it to the Hallmark mystery, they're some of them are completely, completely different.

Speaker: And then some of them you can see just sort of took the bones from the mystery and then went on. But also a lot of them, and you I know you guys have touched on this before in your podcast, they just have not aged well.

Speaker: that what they wrote about, this was written, wanna say his late eighty s early 90s. And he is so misogynistic. When you read the book, he, like just the way he, like every woman who comes in either their breasts or their butt come into their description, right?

Speaker: Or their lips. It's just very interesting. And then when you see the the series on Hallmark, It is nothing like that. um The the um Henry character in the series played by Dylan Neal, he's just wonderfully likable, perfectly contemporary and fits within the time.

Speaker: But when you read the book, you're just like, this guy is a dog. And one of the lines that really stuck out that sums up the character, I think, is he's talking to one of his ah cohorts.

Speaker: And they said, Oh, I didn't think that woman was your, um, was, was your, your style. And, uh, his response was, oh, all women are mine.

Speaker: Right. So it's just like, that's the kind of guy he was right. And then 1989, 1990 guys, not once saying right or wrong, but that's kind of the, know, in, in a mystery type thing, that's how guys work. And I know you guys had recently just did your, your cozy mystery, um, podcast where you guys talked about the golden age of, of,

Speaker: the cozy mystery being, I think it was the seventies, right? I think when you said it came back seventies, eighties or somewhere around there. yeah Kind of a resurgence. Yeah. Right. And you know, from the original, you go back to the, to, to, you know, the Agatha Christie's and all those ones, which once again, that's the whole debate of where, where, where that in the cozy is, uh,

Speaker: is probably a lively one. But you look at these ones who a lot of these Hallmark ones are based off of ah is that sort of resurgence period in 80s, 90s seemed to be when they were mostly at least started.

Speaker: And Gourmet Detective is one of those. And so reading it, this is one where I only read the the first book, but it does parallel the movie.

Speaker: And you can see um Dylan Neal not only stars in it, but he also is the the writer with his wife. You can see where they did take the bones of the mystery and they follow the characters and there are certain things that they said, okay, we like this, or we can take a bunch of these and consolidate them all. Because that's one of the challenges is when you take a book, you can go so in depth, you can explain it for a whole chapter, but in a movie, you got to knock it out really quickly.

Speaker: So you you can see though, in this particular series where they did take the bones of the mystery that were that were part of the book and turned it into the series.

Speaker: And like I say, it's it's absolutely fantastic. For your readers, the mystery is fun. And most of these cozies are fun. You just have to make sure you aren't going to get offended by some of the things that take place. Because like say, they're not 2024. They're not 2020. Heck, they're not 2010, right? But- he they're not two thousand ten right but There are 2000, 2000, or excuse me, 1989.

Speaker: If you lived back then, you know, that was just what life was. So you can't really look at it through the current lens, but that was a fantastic mystery. Another one is Hannah Swenson, which that's by Joanna Fluke. They're still making those ones and it was Murder, She Baked for a while.

Speaker: And now they're Hannah Swenson because of some, this has to do with rights where the the company that had the rights before for the Murder, She Baked no longer is associated with Hallmark. And so that's why it's Hannah Swenson. They have brought in some different writers to do the actual screenwriting.

Speaker: um But these are ones too, where it's interesting. Some of them, I wanna say, I think there's like seven seven of them that have been made.

Speaker: Some of them are tying to the book. You can see, okay, that makes sense. um I get where you're going. Some of them just have the name in it and there's literally nothing.

Speaker: Carrot Cake Murder was a recent one. And the only thing that is anything close to the book is that there's a carrot cake in it. Other than that, the mystery is a hundred percent different.

Speaker: The characters, they, they pull in a couple of the characters, but totally changed their whole role for what they're doing. So it's really, really different.

Speaker: Um, they, one of the interesting things and it, a lot of people are complaining about though, is the Hannah character. A lot of people get upset because she's in a love triangle and they're just like, oh, make her pick. She should be here. She should be this and all that.

Speaker: But when you read the books and for, for um Hannah Swenson, I've actually read several of those. I want to say, I think there's like 18 or 19. I have not read all 18 or 19, but I've read probably eight of them.

Speaker: And one of the things about it is Hannah Swenson, really is that wishy-washy in her relationships. And so they actually are being reflective of the books.

Speaker: And yet people in um the Hallmark universe get upset and they're like, no, that shouldn't be, that shouldn't, why are they doing this? This is stupid. I don't like that. But it all that is, is actually being true to the character of the books.

Speaker: So that's kind of one of the interesting, interesting things there. So I have a quick question. Do either of you, well, no, Brooke, you do watch Hallmark Mysteries, but are you guys, would you say you're, you're like Hallmark fans at all in in that? Or is this kind of like, you're like, I don't know what you're talking about.

Speaker: No. and And that's actually one of the questions that I have for you because I haven't watched any Hallmark Mysteries. Okay. um And so I don't know where you would recommend that someone like me start.

Speaker: Oh, easy, easy. All right. I'm going to go through two quick ones and then we'll get back. There's Aurora tea garden. That one has had like 18 hallmark movies as well.

Speaker: And then, um There's a a zillion books as well. And one of the interesting things here is with the book, Charlene Harris has, um, written those. Have either of you read her by chance?

Speaker: Yeah, I did Eric after, um, after I was on your show, cause we talked ah a lot about that series and, um, and we talked about, it's a little bit like what you were saying with a gourmet detective, pretty antiquated, ah stories.

Speaker: But undertones of racism too, I think. Did you find that? Right. So that's, once again, the interesting thing about this book is it's just when you you you read the book, I kind of, I had to stop reading it because I just was not comfortable with the the writing style. And yes, I understood, it like, once again, you have to look at it through that lens then, but once again, that there's this undertones of some racism or just a little bit too much for me, but Aurora T garden has been a really popular series. And this is one that does follow once again, not probably the racist aspects, but they do follow these deep book.

Speaker: Fairly close, and once again, following the bones. And then the last one I'm gonna talk about is curious cater, and this is by Diane Mott Davidson. And this is interesting. Cause this is one that's a fairly new mystery that they've, they've started, um, has big, big cast with Nikki Deloche and Andrew Walker, two of the biggest hallmark stars.

Speaker: And in this one, they kind of sort of almost like pick a scene from the book, but that's about it.

Speaker: But then they also really have done some major character changes because if you read the book, you would be like, how is this turning into a hallmark mystery?

Speaker: Because in the book, Goldie is the main character and her ex-husband is abusive, not just emotionally, but physically. He actually assaults her.

Speaker: He's, um, I think he like broke her finger in a way that's, so her finger can never straighten. In one of the, um, in In one of the books, Dying for Chocolate, he's actually going like crashing through a wind window and trying to pull her through the kitchen window where she's cutting her arm, ending up in the hospital.

Speaker: And her son in the in in the movies, she has a daughter, but in the in the book, she has a son who is basically It's telling her like, oh, you know, you don't really love me. You'd be back together with dad. He's like supporting his his dad despite the the abuse and things like that. And so you just wonder like, how did this end up in a Hallmark?

Speaker: mystery But you see that what they do is they just took some bones. They said, oh, she's a, you know, she's a caterer. We think that's wonderful. And you can turn it into that Hallmark story and they transfer it through. But if you read the book, the books, I want to say kind of dark. And it was interesting because when I listened to your podcast the other day about the cozy mysteries, I was just thinking about this because I was like trying to figure out, you know, you had your rules that a cozy has to follow.

Speaker: And I guess it kind of does, but I don't know. There's some ones on this one that may make definitely go into that gray area of what the definition of a cozy is. And is it, is it one or isn't it?

Speaker: And I know I said, that's the last one I will say they just recently did also a gilded Newport mystery, which was taken from the book. And in that one, we'll see if there's going to be more. That goes back to 1895. Alyssa Maxwell is the author.

Speaker: And they did keep sort of pretty true to the story, but they had to consolidate things. So we'll see how that one that one goes. But it was fun going back in time to 1895 for that. So that in a nutshell is a couple of the big ones.

Speaker: I know that's probably a way longer answer than you wanted, but that's sort of in a nutshell, if you want to read a cozy book and see, you know, some movies that have a few of them so you can, you can do, that's probably a really good, you know, group of them that, that have both book and mystery movie.

Speaker: I have to brag a little bit. I have met Diane Mott Davidson at a conference a long time ago. So that inspired me to to read several of those books. But it was I was reading those, oh goodness, it was probably in the early 2000s. And so they didn't, I think that your point is um is right, Eric. Some of those like eighty s ninety s quote unquote, cozies are still a lot more, um and don't know, traditional mystery or maybe with a little noir considering, you know, some of them the masculine ah attitudes.

Speaker: I think that we've developed them over the years to get more and more and more are cozy or cutesy as we're hearing now. um But yeah, you could definitely see a lot of those darker themes in the eighty s and 90s.

Speaker: I did like that. I never heard it before the cutesy mystery until I listened to your podcast. And I do think Hallmark movies definitely fall in that cutesy category, whereas the book probably does not for several of these.

Speaker: Yeah. We hadn't heard that term either. That was a new one to us, but I think it's helpful because it is such a spectrum um of different kinds of stories.

Speaker: Brooke and I had such a great conversation with Eric, but ah we're going to pause the conversation here. Come back next week and hear where he recommends people who are new to Hallmark Mysteries start.

Speaker: Thanks, everybody. We'll see you next week for the continuation. Until then, i'm Brooke. And I'm Sarah. And we both love mystery.

Speaker: Clued in Mystery is written and produced by Brooke Peterson and Sarah M. Stephen. Music is by Shane Ivers. If you liked what you heard, please consider telling a friend, leaving a ri review, or subscribing with your favorite podcast listening app.

Speaker: 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're on social media at Clued in Mystery.