Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n
Blazing his own trail.<\/strong> At age 49, director\/writer Michael Landon, Jr<\/a>. has made his way out from under his legendary father’s shadow — simultaneously embracing his dad’s penchant for unapologetically heartfelt storytelling while building up an impressive\u00a0resume of his own<\/a>. Much of that resume has been produced under the banner of Believe Pictures<\/a>, the company he founded with his friend (former Touched by an Ange<\/em>l producer\/writer) Brian Bird<\/a>.<\/p>\n While Michael’s dad built his reputation primarily via classic TV series like Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie<\/em> and Highway to Heaven, <\/em>Michael himself has garnered acclaim through his work in several highly-rated TV movies — notably including a series of Hallmark films based on Christian author Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly<\/em> books.<\/p>\n Now, Believe Pictures is producing its first weekly TV series. When Calls the Heart<\/em>, based on another popular series of Oke books, debuted about a month ago on The Hallmark Channel. Airing Saturday nights at 9:00 PM (ET), the show has quickly established itself as a hit for the network. The western-themed drama tells the story of Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow), a well-heeled young woman who turns her back on her father’s wealth to take a job as a teacher in a Canadian mining town called (appropriately enough) Coal Valley. There she develops a love\/hate (probably leading to love) relationship with Jack Thornton (Daniel Lissing), the dashing local Mountie assigned to watch over a community where class tensions between the owner of the mine company and the miners are always seething beneath the surface.<\/p>\n