Good Witch - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Here!

[Meredith Quill]

Your Town Characters Topic!

[kimaken]

I've enjoyed the movies and the season premiere of the new tv series, but I wonder where some of th town characters have gone? Specifically, Tom Tinsdale (mayor in the earlier movies and husband of the current mayor); the Tinsdale boys (damaged Cassie's store in the first movie, had one small mention several movies later never seen or otherwise heard from...), Walt, the drunk homeless guy Cassie helped in the first movie, Nancy, the travel agent, cousin (forgot her name), foster mother, Doris, and most notably, Gwen (George's wife, in the last few movies but no mention at all in the tv premiere).

[kimaken]

Enjoyed the premiere of the tv series spun off the tv movies but was sad about Jake (but since the actor is a regular in another tv seires I understand why he couldn't be in this one, too). Not sure why they went with a different actor for the part of Brandon, unless the original actor is also engaged elsewhere and wasn't available, but it was nice to see many of the regulars from the tv movies (other than Cassie, of course--Derek, Lori, George, Martha), I'm looking forward to see where they take the show from here!

[GaT]

I ran across this show by accident right before it premiered, & then realized there were movies first, so I recorded all the movies & the show. I'm going to watch all the movies before I start on the show, so it may take me a while to catch up.

[joanne3482]

TVDB doesn't have a summary but I watched the episode so here's the summary:

 

Everyone's favorite good witch, Cassie Nightingale is back in a TV show.  Her kid Grace is all growed up and is now navigating the teenage waters. A new guy moves in next door. He is handsome. 

[joanne3482]

They showed a bunch of the movies over the weekend. Oddly they were out of order. I forget when I found them, but really enjoy them. They are ridiculous, but so happy and so positive too. 

[GaT]

They showed a bunch of the movies over the weekend. Oddly they were out of order. I forget when I found them, but really enjoy them. They are ridiculous, but so happy and so positive too. 

Yeah, they had all the movies except the 3rd one on Saturday, & for some reason they had that one on Sunday. Strange way to do it. I've only watched the first movie so far, and I was expecting a lot more "witch" stuff. Just having a shop that sells essential oils & owning a broom does not equal witch to me. I'm hoping that as I get deeper into the movies & series, that there is a lot more magic.

[stillbored]

I really like the pilot episode - I'm a big fan of Bailee Madison and I thought she did a really good job of being Cassie's daughter.

How big of an age difference is there between Grace and Lori? Is it the 13+ years like the TV movies, or did they time jump Grace (because it looks like there are only a couple of years between them)? George is actually Jake's father in-law, so I was a bit confused when he had said that he never wanted Jake to become a police officer (or did they forget about the "in-law" part). It doesn't bother me much that even if Jake was his son-in-law that Grace refers to him as her grandfather - since he lives there and is her siblings' grandfather.

I wish that they could have gotten the same actor to play the son. And I hope there isn't too much of a problem with his marriage. It's nice that all of the other actors returned.

[stillbored]

I've enjoyed the movies and the season premiere of the new tv series, but I wonder where some of th town characters have gone? Specifically, Tom Tinsdale (mayor in the earlier movies and husband of the current mayor); the Tinsdale boys (damaged Cassie's store in the first movie, had one small mention several movies later never seen or otherwise heard from...), Walt, the drunk homeless guy Cassie helped in the first movie, Nancy, the travel agent, cousin (forgot her name), foster mother, Doris, and most notably, Gwen (George's wife, in the last few movies but no mention at all in the tv premiere).

I forgot about Gwen - maybe she passed away at some point (since it does seem like a few years have passed since the last movie. I don't think I saw the 2014 movie - how old was grace in that one?)

[kimaken]

Gwen actually wasn't in that one--she was mentioned as being away (visiting family, I believe--I think most of her family is in California) and George was going to send her the camera video of Brandon and Tara's wedding. In the premier they mentioned Jake died not long after Lori graduated from college and in the last movie, Lori was a college freshman. I was just surprised they didn't mention where Gwen was--divorced? died? Maybe that will be mentioned in an upcoming episode.

[Perfect Xero]

I've never seen any of the movies, but I watched this with my Mom. For a show with the word witch in the title I was expecting a little more ... witching.

 

Presumably the people who have seen the movies would be aware of their relationship, but for almost half the episode I thought that Brandon and Lori were supposed to be a young married couple.

 

I don't know that it's something that I'll keep watching, but it was sweet.

[paulvdb]

I've never seen any of the movies, but I watched this with my Mom. For a show with the word witch in the title I was expecting a little more ... witching.

I have also never watched the movies, so I had the same expectations. I haven't decided yet if I'll keep watching it. I guess I'll watch at least the next episode and decide after that.

[GaT]

Well, I've gotten through 3 of the movies, not much in the way of magic. I'm not sure why this is considered anything about a witch.

[joanne3482]

Well, I've gotten through 3 of the movies, not much in the way of magic. I'm not sure why this is considered anything about a witch.

 

It is more implied magic. They never show her doing spells like Charmed or Willow in Buffy.  It's more the things she does that "help" the people in the town. A seemingly innocent present affects the recipient's entire future and changes their whole situation.  

[momtoall]

How big of an age difference is there between Grace and Lori? Is it the 13+ years like the TV movies, or did they time jump Grace (because it looks like there are only a couple of years between them)?

 

Baby Grace was introduced in the Good Witch Charm movie, at which time Lori was supposed to be about eighteen.  In the world to TV, Grace is now 15 and Lori is 23/24???

 

George is actually Jake's father in-law, so I was a bit confused when he had said that he never wanted Jake to become a police officer (or did they forget about the "in-law" part).

 

Or they hoped the audience would. lol

[Kromm]

Signs a show is on about a $2 budget and/or has scripts being written on cocktail napkins, or something like that...

 

1.) Even though the scenes are supposed to be happening days apart, every scene in the driveway has the same light snow falling.  Because you know... they changed like a scarf or something on the actors and shot them all in a row and did a shit job of covering that.

 

2.) They can't even decide on the ages of the actors.  None of it makes any sense.  I think I've only seen like 1 of the TV movies, but I DO recall that the blond girl was about the age the younger daughter is now in the one I saw.  Ergo, she should now be DOUBLE that age, and if it's a High School freshman, that means 14-15 and 28-30 as the supposed age ranges.  But the blond actress according to IMDB is actually 20, and frankly, because I bet she was actually playing younger in the TV movies (a typical thing to get around child labor laws), she's baby faced and LOOKS and sounds about 17, and not 11-13 years older.  Catherine Bell herself is fairly genetically blessed, so I suppose we can handwave her looking 2-3 years older when they're claiming she should be 14 years older, but man it's confusing.

 

3.) The music score and it's tinkly pianos is driving me nuts. It sounds like they had some guy on the crew sit down and knock out a few trite melodramatic tinkly piano bits as the score.

 

4.) Jamie Denton looks rough, man.  Wikipedia says he's 52, but man he's never looked so clearly his age before.

[bigskygirl]

 

The Heritage Festival is held. Meanwhile, a frightened young woman stays at Grey House, and an elderly resident who's returned to town seems to know something about her; and Grace tries to assist Nick, but she gets caught up in his lies

 

[Lava VaVoom]

What happened to George's wife?  Are we supposed to forget about her?  What about Brandon's wife?  Did the Chief die in the line of duty?   I like James Denton regardless of how aged he looks, and Martha is still wonderful.

 

I fiind it hard to believe Cassie's store and the B&B earn enough money to maintain a fabulous house like Gray House.

 

Other than that, I like the show and prefer it to the later movies in the series.

[marieYOTZ]

I'm totally loving this show.  It's like putting my brain in a lavender scented bubble bath.  I saw some negative reviews after the first episode, essentially seeming to say that it was too 'bland', but I can only assume they don't understand the appeal of Hallmark shows.  

 

The witness protection plot took me a little off guard - I can't imagine they'll go anywhere too extreme with it, and I was frankly shocked that it wasn't wrapped up in a single episode, but I think it's an interesting, though odd, addition. 

[marieYOTZ]

I completely enjoyed the show -- I think I watched the first movie, maybe the first two, and it was so long ago that I don't particularly care about the passing of Cassie's husband -- I think the current set-up is good for a new show.  I watch so much bleak and depressing and cynical TV that I love a little Hallmark palette cleanser, and Good Witch totally does the job.  I'm in for the foreseeable future..

Edited March 8, 2015 by marieYOTZ

[Dandesun]

I came upon the movies because Hallmark was doing a Halloween marathon that involved not scaring the shit out of me. (I'm a big big weenie when it comes to scary things and Halloween while being an awesome holiday, doesn't seem to understand that not everyone considers it a 'scary' one.)

 

So they are typical Hallmark fare; treacly, gentle, heart-warming... it's a nostalgic thing for me because I grew up watching the Waltons with my Mom, you know, that sort of thing. Although I was watching this going 'This is the whitest town that ever was...' 

 

But aside from that, it's a lovely way to wind down and relax without having an actual massage.

[kimaken]

I'm enjoying this series, too, but I must have missed the ending because I saw Ashley/Heather leaving while Cassie was trying to call her back and then the next tv show started! I didn't think the witness protection story was wrapped up since all that happened was she left with no real connection to the grandfather or face to face with the US Marshal.

 

As for the rest--I felt back for Grace's friend, Anthony, with his dad leaving the family. But it's hard to like her neighbor, the doctor's son--he's still a belligerent, sulky teenager. But I'm enjoying the show and staying with it for the full run and hope it gets renewed!

[kimaken]

 

I fiind it hard to believe Cassie's store and the B&B earn enough money to maintain a fabulous house like Gray House.

In the movies, Cassie claimed to be the last descendant of the Gray Lady and arrived with the deed of the house--I don't think it cost her a lot (I think back-taxes was mentioned, so that may be all she had to pay because the house was a wreck when she moved in). Renovations cost money, but before she married Jake, she'd turned Gray House into a B&B. George was afraid he'd be in the way once Jake and Cassie married and was thinking of leaving, but Cassie talked him into becoming her partner, to move into Gray House to maintain it and run the B&B (and I believe they rented the place out for special events, too). So I think there was money accrued through the years the B&B was in business, plus I'm sure Jake had some good insurance to provide for his family (he was a cop and knew there were risks, even for a small town police force). Lastly, I think Cassie's shop gained in reputation after the town doctor left and everyone was coming to her for herbal remedies so even if she charged them little or nothing for those remedies, she may received business from the townspeople in appreciation of her help (and in sympathy for losing Jake, who was a popular police chief).

 

Of course, the simplest explanation is that this is tv, specifically Hallmark....

[GaT]

I am still slogging through the movies, & I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it. The last one I saw the world was up in arms because Cassie appeared to vanish in a viral video. Cries of "witch!" were everywhere because of course no one has ever heard of things like stopping the recording or using CGI to make it appear that someone vanished. Innocence is one thing, stupidity is another.

[GaT]

OK, I have finally made it through all the movies. They really aged the kids a lot, the last movie Grace was a baby, now she's in kindergarten. Oh well, I'm off to start the series.

[GaT]

I finally watched the 1st episode after watching all the movies. Does anybody know why they killed off Jake & decided to turn NewBrandon into a cop & get rid of his wife? They kept hammering the "family" aspect in the movies, & Cassie was forever giving little speeches about how family always comes together, so it's seems a little odd that they would basically break up 2 marriages for the show. 

 

I'm also having a problem with this whole "natural medicine" Cassie is suddenly dispensing to the town instead of people going to a doctor. And there is still no magic. I already invested a lot of time on this series by watching the movies, but if things don't improve, I'm done.

[beadgirl]

 

In the movies, Cassie claimed to be the last descendant of the Gray Lady and arrived with the deed of the house--I don't think it cost her a lot (I think back-taxes was mentioned, so that may be all she had to pay because the house was a wreck when she moved in). Renovations cost money, but before she married Jake, she'd turned Gray House into a B&B. George was afraid he'd be in the way once Jake and Cassie married and was thinking of leaving, but Cassie talked him into becoming her partner, to move into Gray House to maintain it and run the B&B (and I believe they rented the place out for special events, too). So I think there was money accrued through the years the B&B was in business, plus I'm sure Jake had some good insurance to provide for his family (he was a cop and knew there were risks, even for a small town police force). Lastly, I think Cassie's shop gained in reputation after the town doctor left and everyone was coming to her for herbal remedies so even if she charged them little or nothing for those remedies, she may received business from the townspeople in appreciation of her help (and in sympathy for losing Jake, who was a popular police chief).

 

Of course, the simplest explanation is that this is tv, specifically Hallmark....

I'm wondering how she finds the time to run two small businesses (stores and B&Bs are lots of work, even with George's help, and who exactly is doing all the cooking, cleaning, and laundry for the B&B?), concoct herbal remedies for the town, get involved in local doings, be a parent and step-parent, and get up every morning in time to make breakfast for her daughter before school with a full face of make-up and an impeccable outfit.  But as you said, it's Hallmark.

 

Why are they being so coy with Jake's death?  Will it be a plot-point in the future?

 

I, too, want more magic and less tinkly music, and for Cassie to develop an actual flaw or two, but I still can't help watching.

[Miss Chevious]

I watched all the movies and loved them. Except for the character of Martha, she's a nasty spiteful piece of work. But I guess they need her to create drama and stir the pot.

I really like most of the jewelry Cassie wears. It's just so beautiful! Hallmark should create a Cassie Nightingale line of jewelry and sell it in their stores. I bet it would be a best seller for them. Or at the very least post a link on their website showing us where we can buy the same pieces worn in the show.

[GaT]

GaT, Chris Potter, the actor who portrayed Cassie's husband, is a regular on the show Heartland (which airs on UP in the U.S.). I guess the Good Witch movies were filmed when he was on hiatus, so no problem there, but he couldn't do both series at once. No idea why they changed Brandons, or vanished George's wife, except I recall that she was absent from the last movie. Something about visiting her kids.

If they could recast Brandon, I don't know why they didn't recast Jake instead of killing him off.

[Kromm]

I suppose I'll break down and see this, but I'm curious, are they still using the same footage, clearly all shot at the same time, for scenes that are supposed to happen days apart?  I was amused last episode by the same light snowfall in the driveway every time anyone went to check on the old man in the garage, regardless of the supposed day, and am wondering if the entire show shows signs of having been shot like this--where they do the super frugal but hilarious thing of getting every bit of footage on a set/scene all in a row and simply change the outfits a tiny bit.  It's probably harder to tell with the inside scenes though.

[GaT]

Grace is just so perfect she's annoying.

[bigskygirl]

 

Ryan's ex-fiancée arrives in town with her new spouse, who's also Ryan's former best friend. Meanwhile, Cassie strives to get Ashley and Beamish to connect; Grace tries to reach a truce with Nick; and emotions run high at Middleton's Heritage Ball.

 

[momtoall]

If they could recast Brandon, I don't know why they didn't recast Jake instead of killing him off.

 

But if they didn't kill off Jake however could they have the "will they or won't they", "who will she chose" scenario, that they are so obviously setting up between Cassie, Ryan, and the Doc.

[GaT]

I really wish they hadn't killed off Jake.

[Anela]

I've only seen a few of the movies - I think the first one in 2009, and I sat and watched the second one late Christmas Eve. I've finally seen the first episode, and it looks like it will be a nice little show, when I'm in the right mood for it. 

[scenicbyway]

I feel like it's just one really long Good Witch movie.  I'd like to watch a series but so far it's like they are just in a movie where they've killed off Jake.  It's pretty obvious who she'll end up with.  I'm not sure what to think if Grace and the boy next door, because they'll eventually end up as brother and sister.  I really want to like it, but the focus was always on Cassie and Jake and to have killed him off just seems odd.  They could've had James Denton just cast as Jake instead.

[bigskygirl]

 

Cassie's mischievous cousin Abigail is back in Middleton, forcing Cassie to attempt tough love as Sam and Grace are swept up in Abigail's spell.

 

[GaT]

I'm still watching, but if this show wasn't on Saturday (when there isn't anything else on) I wouldn't be. They already did the Abigail show in one of the movies, why is she back doing the same thing?

[kimaken]

 

I'm still watching, but if this show wasn't on Saturday (when there isn't anything else on) I wouldn't be. They already did the Abigail show in one of the movies, why is she back doing the same thing?

 

I think it's nice to see these relatives who appeared in only one movie and never seen or heard about again are making an appearance in the series. I think Abigail's role was always to be a bit of a troublemaker in Cassie's life--first causing mischief with Lori and now with Grace.

 

It was also nice to have a mention of the Martha's husband (Tom--was the mayor in the 1st few movies--then Cassie was mayor, followed by Martha in the last movie).

 

I like the series, maybe because I enjoyed the movies, but this is rather slow moving in comparison, I think because the events aren't directly impacting the main character, Cassie--so far. I'm hoping the pace picks up a bit.

[beadgirl]

I'd like it if they built more stories around Cassie herself, too.  In the last episode there was that brief discussion where she revealed how much she hated Jake's killer at first, and that made her more interesting to me than she has been in a long time.  So little seems to affect her, make her really feel anything, that she ends up being kind of a non-entity in her own show.  She needs to show some personality traits other than "mysteriously knowing" and "warm-hearted."  Also, some magic would be nice.

[kimaken]

 

I'd like it if they built more stories around Cassie herself, too.  In the last episode there was that brief discussion where she revealed how much she hated Jake's killer at first, and that made her more interesting to me than she has been in a long time.  So little seems to affect her, make her really feel anything, that she ends up being kind of a non-entity in her own show.  She needs to show some personality traits other than "mysteriously knowing" and "warm-hearted."  Also, some magic would be nice.

 

Exactly! In the movies, most of them were about people against Cassie (trying to drive her out of town; swindle her out of Gray House, etc); the last couple were more like the tv show in that the conflict wasn't directed towards Cassie but to those near and dear to her, and she was the "warm-hearted, mysteriously knowing" person that she is in the series. There never was any magic in the movies, although whoever was having problems would receive some item from her with instructions to do something (ie, in the first movie young Lori always had nightmares--Cassie gave her a dreamcatcher to hang up over her bed and told her to chant, "I will not dream of bunnies" a few times--after that Lori's nightmares were gone but she had a new problem with dreaming of bunnies). Whether or not these items were truly magical were never stated, merely hinted at---all to give Cassie a mysterious "benign" witch vibe.

 

I think they need to ramp up the hints of magic and bring more conflict in Cassie's life to move things along a little faster. I like the series but would like to see Cassie more involved in things--right now it's like she's a bystander watching all these things going on around her and she's there to merely comment or give gentle advice.

[Kromm]

Wait.  I thought the conceit here was that she's not actually a witch, but more of a psychic and herbalist. What else are people expecting her to do?

[beadgirl]

For me it's a matter of a personal taste -- I love magic realism, and that's what I was hoping for with the movies (and what I think would help the tv show).  Not Charm-level magic (or melodrama or stupidity), just a little magic here and there to make things interesting and suit the pretty, sparkly, tinkly tone of the show.

[GaT]

Wait.  I thought the conceit here was that she's not actually a witch, but more of a psychic and herbalist. What else are people expecting her to do?

I thought that she's an actual witch, they've been implying cousin Abigail is a witch too, 

[bigskygirl]

 

Grace goes missing and Nick gets in trouble for it, even though he's not to blame. Meanwhile, Sam tries to prepare a home-cooked meal for Stephanie; Martha's development plans for the town worry Ryan; and Abigail interferes in others' romances

 

[GaT]

The only thing even remotely magical was Abigail, what is this show supposed to be about?

[Beden]

I don't want to be Negative Nancy here but am I the only one who's thinking that this series is, well, boring?

[Crucial]

I don't want to be Negative Nancy here but am I the only one who's thinking that this series is, well, boring?

You aren't the only one. This series is boring, slow and kind of uninteresting. If they speed things up I think it might be better.

[GaT]

I don't want to be Negative Nancy here but am I the only one who's thinking that this series is, well, boring?

It's very boring, being on Saturday is the only thing saving it, IMO

 

And what happened to NewBrandon & the other cop? Cassie mentioned Brandon once this episode, but we haven't seen any of the police people for 2 episodes now. They were an integral part of the movies/show before that, where did they go?