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Well, Cedar Cove is premiering very very soon, and Hallmark already launched its second primetime series with When Calls The Heart, and now, a potential third: Hallmark Channel announces that three-time Emmy® nominee Gail O’Grady (“NYPD Blue,” “Boston Legal,” “Hellcats”) and Michelle Harrison (“Tom Dick & Harriet,” “Emily Owens M.D.”) are set to star in “The Mystery Cruise.” The two-hour backdoor pilot and the network’s newest potential primetime series in development, began production in Vancouver. Based on the book The Santa Cruise by New York Times bestselling authors, Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, the backdoor pilot centers on the dynamic partnership of Alvirah Meehan (O’Grady) and Regan Reilly (Harrison). These two best friends and unlikely business partners team up, using their talent for detection and unorthodox ways to solve crimes. The World Premiere of “The Mystery Cruise,” is scheduled for Saturday, October 19 @ 9p.m. ET/PT, 8C on Hallmark Channel and will air on the network in 2014, should the pilot be greenlit to series.
“The Mystery Cruise,” is an Entertainment One Television production. Emmy® Award nominees Howard Burkons (“The Ron Clark Story”) and Brenda Friend (“The Ron Clark Story,” “Joan of Arc”) and Entertainment One’s Ira Pincus (“Goodnight for Justice”) and John Morayniss (“Hell on Wheels,” “Klondike”) are executive producers. Doug Barr (“Notes From the Heart Healer”) directs from a script by Burkons. Entertainment One is also the international distributor.
“The Mystery Cruise” centers on best friends and impending partners, Alvirah Meehan (O’Grady), a lottery winner turned amateur sleuth and Regan Reilly (Harrison), a private investigator. After the two heroines rescue the diamond-collared pooch of a wealthy socialite (played by Carol Higgins Clark), they set off with their spouses to join Regan’s mom, Nora Reilly (Colleen Winton, “The 4400”), a world famous mystery writer, on a luxurious three day cruise around the San Juan Island off the coast of Washington, the setting for a mystery game created to promote the release of Nora’s latest book. As the boat calmly sets sail, everyone is enjoying getting into character, especially Alvirah, who may or may not be the “murderess” in the mystery game. But troubled waters lie ahead when Alvirah gets a hunch that a real killer may be on board and together with Regan the pair teams up to take the killer down. Back on the mainland, Alvirah and Regan hang out their shingle in their fabulous Manhattan office to continue their sleuthing and crime fighting ways!
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