Heartland

You'd have to agree that we don't have long to wait now -- since that Season 5 finale the months of April, May, June and July have come and gone and we're now only a month and a half away from finding out what new stories and adventures this upcoming season of Heartland has to offer.

I must always remember -- as must faithful followers of this blog -- that Heartland is gaining fans every day, and so for some of you this will be the very first blog post you will have read, and you're curious about things that many fans already know the answers to.

But that doesn't mean your questions should go unanswered... even though that means me answering -- both in here and on the ever-growing Heartland on CBC Facebook Page -- many of the same inquires over and over again.

In an effort to streamline this we're going to be posting a FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) heading on the right hand section of the blog, and when a question gets asked, either in here or on Facebook, I will just be able to direct everyone to the FAQ page where you'll gain a wealth of knowledge about Heartland, and hopefully find answers to your questions.

Examples of frequently asked questions are:

When does Season 6 premiere? (A: September 23, 2012.)

When does Season 5 come out on DVD in Canada? (A: September 18, 2012.)

Where is Heartland filmed? (A: In and around Calgary, Millarville and High River, Alberta.)

How many seasons will there be of Heartland? (A: No one knows. The decision is made each season whether to continue the series or not.)

So now for something a little different, I'm going to answer some IFAQs

Tanya asks, how much time will have passed since the season finale episode?

Even though Season 5 ended on a relationship cliffhanger (no kidding!), some weeks will have passed when Season 6 starts up again. This is not to say the Ty and Amy engagement issue is being shelved. Questions we all have will be asked and answered at the start of the season.

For example, you may have noticed over past seasons that some episodes end and the stories then pick up immediately where it left off in the following episode. Ty and Scott's plane crash was an example of that. I can tell you that there will be more pairings of episodes like that this year. It will almost be like having one long episode played out over two Sundays.

Meesha asks, I feel stupid asking this but, are they filming ALL of season 6, right now? Or just a few episodes?

Don't feel stupid, it's not a dumb question. Right now Heartland is filming 18 new episodes which are going to air on CBC Television as Season 6. The production films 2 episodes in 15 day blocks and although the scenes are not necessarily shot in order the episodes in the block are sequential. So 601 and 602 were filmed together, followed by 603 and 604, and so on. In November filming will wrap when the last block (episodes 617 and 618) are finished.

I <3 Heartland asked, Does Badger ever come back?

Because right now no one knows what will be in the last half of this upcoming season anything is possible, and I hesitate to suggest that an actor will not return... for as you will learn in Season 6, some past characters you thought were gone for good will be making interesting returns to the series.

That being said, I believe it is unlikely we will be seeing Badger again, but I have to now quickly add, "You never know." About the only ones I feel comfortable saying will NEVER return are Ty's dad, Pegasus and Mr. Hanley, because they have died on the show. But again... you never know. Surely you have heard of flashbacks. :)

keely asks, when Amy (Amber) sings does she go to a studio to record the song or does she sing whenever it is recorded? just curious, will we see more of her singing in the upcoming season?

When actors sing in a television series they are recorded, but then most often they go to a studio and watch a playback of the footage and they record an additional vocal track that is added to the soundtrack. That way the sound you hear is of the best quality it can be. An exception would be if it was a concert film. Then in most cases you are hearing the musicians as they performed the song live.

Amber has a great voice, and although Amy doesn't sing a lot, you never know if we're going to hear her sing again.

horselover asks, Hey Bw I was wondering do the main actors eg. Amber and Graham have lines to learn every night for scenes the next day or do they get the script at the start of each block?

All the actors get the scripts when they're first written, but there can be several changes made to each script between that time and when the scenes are actually filmed. Being professional actors, Amber, Graham and all the other actors on Heartland know their lines perfectly for the scenes they are going to film on any given day. For scenes that are being filmed the following week they will be familiar with them, but there is no rush to have them memorized perfectly, because those lines may be changed and scenes might even be deleted.

Elaine McCurdy wrote, I am 92 years young and am a big Heartland fan. I've been disappointed that Heartland reruns haven't been shown --- will there be reruns leading up to Season 6?

Who says there are only tweens following this blog??!? Thanks for asking, Elaine! Throughout the summer there have been many reruns of episodes from Seasons 4 and 5 on CBC when Heartland regularly airs - 7:00pm on Sunday nights (7:30pm in Newfoundland). Last Sunday "Wild Horses" from Season 5 ran across the full network. Sometimes however, certain parts of Canada will have some coverage of a local event that will replace a rerun of Heartland. My advice is to check your television listings each week to see if Heartland is airing on your local CBC station.

Alexa asks, Is there a season 6 promo/preview thing yet??? I know a bunch of shows starting in October that already released them!!!!

Yes, some have. But they don't have a Blog Whisperer that keeps you occupied throughout the off-season, do they? Huh? Do they? Didn't think so!

Seriously, there will be previews, promos and advance photos from each episode of Season 6, but we are not going to show them too early. All of us require a certain amount of patience. Trust me, it will be worth it!

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So that's it for this week except I am going to give you Monday's Spot the Differences puzzle with the 9 differences identified by red arrows.

It seems many of you were having problems locating all of them and others were seeing things that were not there.

Good!

This must mean I am making them just hard enough. Next week I promise to give you a puzzle that is a little easier, cause that's the kind of Blog Whisperer I am!

Until then...

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