Getty/Heavy A new series is coming to Hallmark.
A new TV series is coming to Hallmark, joining “When Calls the Heart” and “The Way Home.” Hallmark’s other series, “Ride,” was canceled before a second season was produced.
The new series will be based on the bestselling novel “The Chicken Sisters” by KJ Dell’Antonia, Variety reported. The series will be eight episodes long, executive produced by Annie Mebane. Mebane will also be the showrunner.
Annie Mebane Also Produced ‘The Goldbergs’ & ‘Shrinking’
Mebane was executive producer for the ABC sitcom “The Goldbergs,” which ran from 2013 to 2023 following a Pennsylvania family in the 1980s. She was also co-executive producer for the Netflix comedy-drama “Shrinking,” starring Harrison Ford and Jason Segel; consulting producer for Netflix’s “Atypical“; and co-producer for “The Michael J. Fox Show,” which ran from 2013-2014.
According to Variety, “The Chicken Sisters” is a family drama “where a generations-old rift between dueling fried chicken restaurants – Mimi’s and Frannie’s – has left the founders’ families fractured and the locals taking sides.” Secrets are revealed when a cooking show comes to their town of Merinac.
Lisa Hamilton Daly, Hallmark’s EVP of programming, said that the showrunner’s vision for the series “blew us away.”
“Her unique spin and enthusiasm for this fried chicken feud had us excited from day one,” Daly said in a press release. “We are confident that each episode is going leave our viewers craving more and more.”
Mebane told Variety that the series isn’t really about competing restaurants but about “the baggage we pass down through the generations and learning to unpack it.”
Much like “The Way Home,” this is also described by Mebane as a “multigenerational story focused on women.”
Lea Thompson Is Among the Stars Headlining the Series
According to Variety, the show will star Genevieve Angelson, Wendie Malick, Lea Thompson and Schuyler Fisk.
Angelson’s credits include “Which Brings Me to You,” five episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale” as Alanis Wheeler, “New Amsterdam” as Dr. Mia Castries, “This is Us” as a young Sally Brooks and more.
Malick is known for “Young Sheldon” (President Hagemeyer), “Night Court” (Julianne), “Physical,” “The Owl House” (89 episodes voicing Eda), “American Housewife” (Kathryn), “Rush Hour” (Lindsay Cole), “Hot in Cleveland” (Victoria Chase), “Frasier” (Ronee) and more.
Thompson is known for “The Spencer Sisters” (Victoria), “The Goldbergs,” “Next Stop, Christmas,” “Over the Hill,” “Penn Zero,” “Switched at Birth” (Kathryn), “Scorpion,” “Back to the Future” and more.
Fisk’s credits include “Sam & Kate,” “Every Other Holiday,” “Castle Rock,” “The Nanny,” “Fear the Walking Dead,” “The Best of Me,” “Hart of Dixie” and more.
The Novel Is a Witherspoon Book Club Pick
The novel “The Chicken Sisters” is a Reese Witherspoon book club pick. The book description reads:
In tiny Merinac, Kansas, Chicken Mimi’s and Chicken Frannie’s have spent a century vying to serve up the best fried chicken in the state–and the legendary feud between their respective owners, the Moores and the Pogociellos, has lasted just as long. No one feels the impact more than thirty-five-year-old widow Amanda Moore, who grew up working for her mom at Mimi’s before scandalously marrying Frank Pogociello and changing sides to work at Frannie’s. Tired of being caught in the middle, Amanda sends an SOS to Food Wars, the reality TV restaurant competition that promises $100,000 to the winner. But in doing so, she launches both families out of the frying pan and directly into the fire. . .
The last thing Brooklyn-based organizational guru Mae Moore, Amanda’s sister, wants is to go home to Kansas. But when her career implodes, helping the fading Mimi’s look good on Food Wars becomes Mae’s best chance to reclaim the limelight–even if doing so pits her against Amanda and Frannie’s. Yet when family secrets become public knowledge, the sisters must choose: Will they fight with each other, or for their heritage?
READ NEXT: Watch Deleted Scenes from ‘Three Wise Men & a Baby’