Heavy/Hallmark "The Way Home" stars Chyler Leigh, Andie MacDowell and Sadie Laflamme-Snow
With the season finale of Hallmark Channel‘s new series “The Way Home” looming, fans can breathe a sigh of relief over the network’s just-announced decision to renew the show for a second season.
On March 2, 2023, Deadline revealed that the hit show, which is Hallmark’s first new series in nearly seven years, has been renewed. It’s not only great news for fans of the show, but for its stars, too. Andie MacDowell, Chyler Leigh, and Sadie Laflamme-Snow, who play three generations of the Landry family, have been vocal about how much they’ve loved being part of the show and its unexpected plot twists.
‘The Way Home’ is the Most-Watched TV Show on Sundays
HallmarkChyler Leigh, Andie MacDowell and Sadie Laflamme-Snow of “The Way Home”
“The Way Home” has been a huge ratings hit for Hallmark, according to Deadline. It has topped the Sunday night ratings since its premiere on January 15, regularly beating out other popular series like Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Potomac,” TLC’s “90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way,” and HGTV’s “Home Town.” In fact, it’s been the most-watched program on Sundays among key demographics, both live and by people who record it for viewing later that night.
And love for the show is only growing. Viewership of “The Way Home” has actually increased throughout the season among women and younger viewers, Deadline reported.
Lisa Hamilton Daly, Executive Vice President of Programming for Hallmark Media, told Deadline, “The press and our audience have enthusiastically embraced ‘The Way Home’ from the first episode making the decision to renew the series an easy one.”
Hamilton Daly joined Hallmark in September 2021 after overseeing Original Series at Netflix, including the launches of “Virgin River” and “Sweet Magnolias.” In a February 2023 interview with Decider, she revealed she’d been developing “The Way Home” for Netflix before moving over to Hallmark.
She said, “I have been in love with that show ever since it was pitched to me at lunch one day and the team and everybody did an incredible job bringing it to life. It only gets better. Stuff gets mind-blowing by the end, so I’m really excited that people are loving it.”
Stars Celebrate Renewal of ‘The Way Home’
“The Way Home” is about three generations of the Landry family whose past family trauma has fractured their relationships. In the season premiere, Leigh’s character, Kat, and her 15-year-old daughter Alice — played by Laflamme-Snow — return to the family farm where Del, the family matriarch played by MacDowell, still lives. When a magic pond is discovered on their land that allows the family to time travel, it opens up all kinds of discoveries about their family history and the possibility of preventing the disappearance of Kat’s little brother, Jacob.
Since its premiere, the show’s stars have talked in interviews and on social media about how much they’ve loved the many twists and turns each new episode brings. In January, MacDowell told Channel Guide that she was “blown away” by the script.
“It’s different for Hallmark,” she said. “I think it’s going to be something that surprises people in a really good way. I was blown away by it. There are aspects of romance in it, but it’s more about relationships and family and how we carry the pain that we all carry and how we pass it on to each other.”
On January 15, Evan Williams, who plays the adult version of family friend Elliot Augustine, wrote in an Instagram post, “Excited for the world to see where this juicy story goes as it widens and deepens so much more in the coming episodes. Hang onto your hats, folks.”
As soon as the Deadline announcement about the show’s renewal was published, the series’ stars began to celebrate on social media. Leigh shared the article in her Instagram Stories and wrote, “yeah baby, jumpin in that pond for another season!!”
MacDowell shared a photo of the cast in her Stories with the words “Season Two” over it and a red heart. Over the photo, she wrote about how thrilled she is to see the story continue.
She wrote, “We all felt this show was something special and unexpected, but it’s been thrilling to watch audiences discover it too. Thanks to all who’ve been watching!! From the bottom of our hearts. We’re so excited to get back at it.”
Laflamme-Snow also shared the news in her Instagram Stories. She wrote, “Goodmorning, love you, and THANK YOU to anyone who watches The Way Home … congratulations to our beautiful team”
When Leigh saw her on-screen daughter’s post, she reshared it and wrote, “so proud of you @sadie_snow … what a gem you are”
Hallmark has not announced when season 2 of “The Way Home” will air, but the first season finale is set for March 26, airing an hour earlier than usual — at 8 p.m. Eastern time — because the network’s newest series, “The Ride,” will premiere afterward. For those who want to catch up on “The Way Home,” past episodes of the series are available on Peacock, Hulu+, Prime Video, and Hallmark Movies Now.