THE OFFICIAL HEARTLAND BLOG

Today on a RAINY set (everyone is constantly asking what ever happened to warm Alberta summers?) the final day of filming episodes 409 and 410 under the direction of Grant Harvey is taking place. Tomorrow shooting begins anew on episodes 411 and 412 and Heartland welcomes a new director to the series, another Albertan - Francis Damberger, who besides directing, has acted on film and in television and he has also produced significant projects, including last year's Best Picture Genie winning feature, "Passchendaele." Welcome to the ranch, Francis!  Note - he will probably feel right at home in the director's saddle, as he is a rancher himself.

These two episodes, which mark the two-thirds spot in the season, carry some heavy baggage with them. Things will happen that will not be undone; people will lose their way in life, and another ghost from the past returns, this time with a new approach to something that did not pan out before...

But I'm sure you don't want to heat about THAT! Those episodes are not airing until January, and right now we should be focussing on "Homecoming" - the Season 4 premiere. The theme to this season is "Home is Where the Heart is," and before Sunday is done you'll know exactly why that old English proverb is the perfect motto for the 2010-2011 edition of Heartland.

And yes, there will be a preview for Episode 401, and I will be posting it here, BEFORE IT APPEARS ANYWHERE ELSE. Perhaps it will trigger a heated discussion similar to the Season 4 preview. Let us know what you think of it; we all love your comments, kudos and barbs alike. Stay tuned - it may even appear on the site as soon as tomorrow!

Anyway... on Saturday at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Amber Marshall, Shaun Johnston, Michelle Morgan, Graham Wardle and Jessica Amlee stayed for nearly three hours and autographed hundreds of postcards, DVDs, saddle blankets, hats, kerchiefs and notepads for close to a thousand fans who turned up. A fabulous time was had by all!

Thank you # 1 - to the cast for taking the extra time out of their busy schedule to meet and greet so many fans, and...

Thank you # 2 - to the organizers of Spruce Meadows who did a great job arranging for the cast to be at their equestrian event!

Now, before I get to some of your questions I want to tell you all something very important about upcoming Thursday blog postings, which I have written every Thursday this year - in case you haven't noticed :)

Now that we're entering the fourth season of Heartland, I'm going to concentrate more on the upcoming episodes (with photos!) on Thursdays, so I won't be answering your questions quite as frequently, beginning next week. But don't worry! Yes, I WILL be compiling the questions you pose, but rather than provide you with answers every week on Thursday, I'll pick a different day of the week every month and answer a looooooong list of questions once a month instead of once a week. Sounds good?

But that's next week. Right now I'm going to answer some of your most recent questions...

1) In response to the most excellent guest posts by Kathryn - thanks again, KMA88! - canadiangurl was prompted to ask, "will there be someone else that can go visit the set/heartland ranch next year?"

Yes, if there is a Season 5 of Heartland, set visits will be arranged so some lucky fans of the series can spend a day at the Heartland ranch and experience a great time on set, meeting the cast and crew and staying for lunch...

2) Elli M. asks, I would love to see some pictures about the inside of the residence! It's soo cozy in there!!!

That it is! But the reason Kathryn was unable to show you the inside of the ranch house - for those of you who don't know - is that the interior sets are actually in a studio in Calgary. Amy's room, Lou's room, Marion's room, the kitchen, dining area and living room aren't actually inside the ranch house you see standing on the heartland acreage!

However, at some point I'll run some pictures of the Calgary studio set, so you can enjoy the coziness it exudes!

3) Over the past few weeks I've been receiving some concerned questions regarding whether Boomerang, the channel in Brazil, will be broadcasting Season 3 of Heartland. Well, good news, as Heartland fan Débora has reported that 301 began airing just last week! So yes, Brazil - Heartland's 18 episode third season is there for you to watch it. Yay!

4) Lottie asks, how unfair the contest is for Canada only? why is this cause i live in the uk, i love heartland but i cant enter the contests ? :(

If I could I would totally make ALL these contests available for everyone to join, but with all the different countries in the world comes different sets of international rules and it would be way too complicated to arrange it so anyone anywhere could enter. So I'm afraid it may be unfair that you can't enter a particular contest, but I'm sure you must know that contests in the United Kingdom and the USA are also not available to us in Canada to enter, so the unfairness goes both ways! But, that being said, if you are a member of the Official Heartland Facebook Fan Page at facebook.com/cbcheartland there WILL be a few international giveaways that you can participate in, so become a fan!

5) canadiangurl asks, hey BW when are you going to tell us what ep. 401 is going to be about :)....Thanks...:)

Patience, canadiangurl, patience - next Thursday's blog posting will be TOTALLY devoted to episode 401!

6) Leanna writes, Ohhhhh im really excited now that they are coming to toronto! i need details :)

CBC is celebrating Canadian Culture days, celebrating arts and culture from coast to coast from September 24 - 26. Amber Marshall (Amy) and Graham Wardle (Ty) are taking time off of their busy production schedule to be in Toronto on Thursday, September 23, and in Vancouver on Sunday, September 26. There will be an opportunity for fans to see Amber and Graham, in Toronto, from 5:00pm - 7:00pm ET, and in Vancouver starting at 1:00pm PT. The events will take place at the CBC building in Vancouver and Yonge/Dundas Square in Toronto. I will have complete details for you next week, including who else will be there and what you can expect should you want to go downtown and take either event in.

But I urge you to enter the video contest on Facebook (as I mentioned a the beginning of this post) this gives you the opportunity to actually personally spend some quality time with Amber and Graham!

7) Rachel asks, Why cant some of the cast try and come holiday in Perth, Western Australia?

Don't tempt them! - with the lousy weather a warm Perth day sounds waaaay too inviting!

8) Charlotte from Belgium asks, What's the name of the city where the ranch is situated?

Heartland's ranch set is on a hundred+ acre plot of wooded land near Millarville, Alberta. Millarville is about 30 minutes south of the Calgary city limits. It's beautiful there, but then so is Belgium... I went to Bruges once...

9) horselvr98 asks, k so do u know the shirt that jessica amlee was wearing at spruce meadows on saturday, do u know where its from?

I emailed Jessica and she is totally flattered that you noticed and says "Thanks!" She didn't have it around when I asked her, but will find out where she bought it and the make of the shirt, and I'll pass it on to you in the future.

10) Shadowz writes, Found a listing for Heartland in Tucson, AZ, but nothing in Phoenix, AZ. I'm really bummed.

To all you wonderful fans of Heartland in the United States - the post I put up on Tuesday is as comprehensive a list as I can give you - it's what I've pieced together from all the info I've been supplied by the American distributor of the series. Tomorrow it'll be tweaked, and a few more times here and there (notice that I've created a new category called "US Broadcast Times" on the right hand column of every blog page, so you can always get to it easily), but the simple fact is: states and stations will change, and I just can't keep up with it - it would take up literally all my time and I wouldn't be able to post anything else! In the USA, Heartland is not playing on a single network, like it is in Canada, where you can tune in to the CBC on Sunday nights at 7:00pm and find it. It's broadcast by many stations in syndication, like "Friends", or "Oprah" or "Wheel of Fortune." So, using the table I posted on Tuesday as a guide, check your local listings (and Google!) and in most markets in the U.S. you'll be able to find a time slot playing Heartland.

So I pass the torch to you, American fans! Please feel free to post updates either in the comments of the U.S. Stations post, or create a new category in the Communty Forum on this site to keep everyone informed as to where and when Heartland will be airing in the U.S.

Once again, that's all for this week everyone! Starting tomorrow we're entering a countdown of single days (with tomorrow being 9) until new Heartland episodes air.

It's getting exciting, isn't it?

Tick... tick... tick...