Hallmark’s ‘When Calls The Heart’ Welcomes Melissa Gilbert as Guest Star | Television Shows

Melissa Gilbert is about to visitor star in a two-episode arc on Season 12 of the long-running sequence When Calls the Heart, set to premiere on the Hallmark Channel subsequent 12 months. The information was shared with those that gathered on the present’s annual Hearties Family Reunion fan occasion in Vancouver, Canada.

Gilbert will painting Georgie McGill, who “shares a surprising past with one special Hope Valley resident,” per the announcement description. The alternative to affix the sequence arose via govt producer Michael Landon Jr., who linked with the veteran actress on the Little House on the Prairie fiftieth Anniversary Cast Reunion and Festival held earlier this 12 months. The two shared the information in a panel dialogue onstage on the Hearties Family Reunion. 

“When Calls the Heart has long drawn comparisons to Little House on the Prairie, for its charming and compelling stories of hope, human connection and frontier survival,” stated Kelly Garrett, vice chairman of Hallmark Media programming. “It was only fitting that the first people to hear this special news were the Hearties — devoted fans who have celebrated the show year after year and made it such a success. The energy being here with them to share this news is electric and we cannot wait for them to meet Georgie next year.”

Gilbert is greatest recognized for portraying Laura Ingalls on NBC’s Emmy-winning family-oriented Little House on the Prairie. The Emmy-nominated performer additionally served as the previous president of the Screen Actors Guild, launched way of life model Modern Prairie and is a New York Times bestselling creator. Her different credit embody The Miracle Worker (for which she garnered her Emmy nod), Sweet Justice (reverse Cicely Tyson) and Secrets and Lies, an ABC drama that starred Ryan Phillippe, Juliette Lewis and Michael Ealy.

Beloved as Hallmark’s longest-running unique sequence, When Calls the Heart Season 12 will include 12 episodes dropping in 2025. News of the renewal got here amid the present’s launch of Season 11, which adopted Hope Valley residents as they launched into the Nineteen Twenties. The plot revolved round schoolteacher Elizabeth Thornton (Erin Krakow), who started a recent begin — with new romance, new challenges and new fashion. She and Mountie Nathan Grant (Kevin McGarry) navigated their rising romantic emotions whereas additionally leaning on one another for help as they confronted parenting obstacles. The forged was rounded out by Chris McNally, Jack Wagner and Pascale Hutton.

Season 11 of the romantic interval drama ranks as the most-watched leisure cable sequence year-to-date amongst households, whole viewers and girls over the age of 18.