After nearly three years of begging Hallmark executives to bring back the “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” (SSD) mystery franchise, its biggest fans — nicknamed POstables — were stunned and thrilled to learn that they’ll finally get what they’ve wished for.
Though Hallmark executives and the franchise’s stars have hinted at a likely reunion for a while, it became official on March 19, 2024, when the recently rebranded Hallmark Mystery network posted on social media that Crystal Lowe, Kristin Booth, Eric Mabius, and Geoff Gustafson will reunite for at least one new installment of the beloved series this year.
Over a photo of the foursome from their 2017 movie, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Home Again,” that was posted across its social media accounts, Hallmark Mystery wrote, “#POSTABLES, WE’RE BACK!”
The caption of the post read, “#POstables, we’re back with an all new mystery that you won’t want to miss! #SignedSealedDelivered #2024 Share your reactions with @eric.mabius, @officialcrystallowe, @kristintbooth, and @geoffjames.”
Though very few details were given about the reunion, POstables were thrilled by the promise of a new mystery in the mailroom. However, many fans of another long-running franchise, “Mystery 101” featuring Kristoffer Polaha and Jill Wagner, responded to the news by flooding the posts with complaints that Hallmark hasn’t revived that mystery wheel, too, despite its official cancelation in April 2023.
Here’s what you need to know:
Hallmark Executives Have Kept POstables Hanging, Hinting at Franchise’s Return for Years
The “SSD” mysteries center around four quirky postal service detectives — played by Lowe, Booth, Mabius and Gustafson — who try to find the intended recipients of damaged letters and packages that end up in the Dead Letter Office.
Though the franchise started out as a Hallmark Channel series in 2014, the network scrapped the show after the first season and decided, instead, to produce “SSD” mystery movies, per Parade. The 13th movie in the franchise, “The Vows We Have Made,” premiered in October 2021.
In an attempt to keep the franchise going, POstables have conducted letter writing campaigns to Hallmark executives and filmmakers, even before the last installment aired, with requests for more “SSD” movies. Those campaigns have not gone unnoticed.
In June 2023, former Hallmark Media CEO Wonya Lucas told The U.S. Sun she was “pretty excited” about the future of the franchise, adding, “I will tell you, the POstables are alive and well. They send me notes, they send me pictures, every time I go to my office, they’re there.”
On March 12, executive VP of programming Lisa Hamilton Daly said on the Hallmark Mysteries & More podcast that she, too, receives lots of letters and emails about older mysteries like “SSD” and added that the logistics of reuniting past casts is trickier than many fans realize.
“We hear the fans, they email me, they send me letters about some of the older (mysteries),” she said on the podcast. “And some of that is delayed — hint, hint ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ people — by logistics.”
“You know, it’s not on us,” she continued. “It’s literally on the people that produce the shows. We are often at the mercy of other people, like in bringing something back. Our actors leave, they want to do something different, writers are busy. So we’re sort of working through trying to get around some of that stuff.”
Hours before the “SSD” news broke, Lowe — who makes her directorial debut with the Tyler Hynes movie “Shifting Gears” on March 23 — appeared on “Deliver Me a Podcast” and played coy about the future of the franchise.
“I have some projects — there’s an ‘s’ on the end of that — that are coming up,” she said, clearly trying to figure out how much she could say. “But I am 100 percent going to be in front of the camera and it’s gonna be really fun and exciting for many, many people.”
“For every interview, I’ve said this over and over again, just trust the timing,” Lowe continued, referencing a phrase used in “SSD” and adopted by POstables.
Fans React to News of ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ Return
POstables were over the moon with excitement about the announcement of at least one new “SSD” mystery in the works, with thousands liking and commenting on the social media posts.
One fan wrote on Instagram, “Such fantastic news! Finally you have the best series back for more letter mysteries and more of our favorite characters. Thanks for listening! Woohoo! 📬🎉📬🎉📬🎉📬🎉”
Another wrote, “The band is getting back together. Crying happy tears over here. Time for a toast and give thanks to Hallmarkfor bringing us more of this top quality show with our fine cast writer and crew! Cannot wait!”
On Facebook, someone commented, “Oh my goodness!!!! (To quote Oliver!) This is AMAZING!! By far my favorite Hallmark series of ALL TIME!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!! “
POstables also rejoiced with tweets on X, formerly known as Twitter, including a fan who wrote, “#POstables Is coming back! Thank you @hallmarkmystery for listening to our impassioned pleas! We love this show!”
However, the announcement about Hallmark reviving “SSD” was a trigger for fans of another popular franchise, “Mystery 101,” which ended after Wagner signed a deal with Great American Family. Hallmark confirmed its cancelation on social media in April 2023, but fans who disliked the cliffhanger ending continue to hold out hope that it, too, will be revived. Many of them weighed in on the “SSD” posts to express their disappointment.
“Happy for the postables,” one wrote on Instagram, “but y’all already had two happy endings and this just feels like Hallmark vigorously rubbing allllll the salt in the wounds of Mystery101 fans, which are still raw and bleeding from the ridiculous ‘We haven’t done it in a while, right?’ middle-of-a-marathon-facebook-comments cancellation. Give us number 8 and another new Polaha mystery and I might be less bitter about this.”
Another commented, “Mystery 101 deserves this. Sorry (not really), still bitter.”
As for when the new “SSD” movie will air, that remains unknown. On the morning of March 20, the Hallmark Mystery Facebook account added a comment to its post that said, “We will definitely keep you posted on a premiere date as soon as we have news! Thanks!”
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Hallmark Surprises Fans With Return of Beloved Mystery Franchise