Crown Media Mystery 101
Fans of Hallmark’s “Mystery 101” movie series have been hoping for an update on whether the franchise will continue or not. The series stars Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha, and the last movie ended on a major cliffhanger. Will it finally be resolved in an eighth movie?
He Said Hallmark Knows He’s Ready for the Next Movie When They Are
In an interview with TV Shows Ace, writer John Christian Plummer addressed concerns about the script for the next “Mystery 101” movie. TV Shows Ace asked if the script for the eighth movie was “locked up in a safe place.”
Plummer first jokingly replied: “I live in a small village and we never lock the door to our house, so I guess the answer is no.”
But then he gave more concrete details: “I very much want to continue Amy and Travis’ story, as you might imagine, and Hallmark knows that I’m ready to go as soon as they give me the green light. I so appreciate how much fans are lobbying for this to happen.”
He added: “To put the Mystery 101 fans’ minds at ease, there is a story for #8 which is complex, wildly fun, touching, and fully resolves the cliffhanger at the end of #7.”
Fans want the series to continue so much that they’re imagining connections between Plummer’s script for “Francesca Quinn, PI” and “Mystery 101.” The connections are there, Plummer said, because he originally had some ideas for a “Mystery 101” script that didn’t end up really fitting with Amy and Travis. So he took those ideas and put them into the “Francesca Quinn, PI” script.
Polaha Has Said Hallmark Is Changing Its Approach to Mysteries
Last December, Polaha provided his own update about “Mystery 101” while appearing on The Hallmarkies Pdocast. He said there’s a focus on making the movies more interesting and having less redundant storylines.
“I’m speaking so out of school right now, because I do not work for Hallmark other than I am a brand ambassador as an actor for them. … I hope to be in business with them for many years to come,” he began.
“I know that they are rejiggering their approach to mysteries…” he said. “As a viewer, I think you can see a lot of redundancies between the different mysteries… I think the idea is, ‘Why don’t we do mysteries and just make them a little more interesting or a little more diverse… Let’s just kind of mix up the formula.’”
As for the cliffhanger ending of “Mystery 101,” he said:
I do know that ‘Mystery 101’ has performed really, really, really well for the network. They get big numbers rating-wise, and they sell overseas internationally. And I think for a few conversations I’ve had with people at the network that there’s still very much a heartbeat in the show, and still very much love to continue telling the story of Travis and Amy and Graham. And so there will be more. I think that the fans can take a deep breath and know that there is more to come.
“Number eight’s locked and loaded, it’s written, it’s ready,” he added. “And when you hear what he [Plummer] has done with it, you guys will be…the payoff is worth all of the driving.”