Christy (TV series)

Christy is an American period drama series that aired on CBS from April 1994 to August 1995 for twenty episodes.

Christy was based on the 1967 novel Christy by Catherine Marshall, the widow of Senate chaplain Peter Marshall. Inspired by the experiences of the author's mother, the novel was a bestseller in 1968, and the week following the debut of the TV movie and program saw the novel jump from #120 up to #15 on the USA Today bestseller list. Series regular Tyne Daly won an Emmy Award for her work on the series.

Cast
Primary Cast
 * Kellie Martin as Christy Huddleston
 * Randall Batinkoff as Reverend David Grantland
 * Stewart Finlay-McLennan as Dr. Neil MacNeill
 * Tyne Daly as Alice Henderson
 * Emily Schulman as Ruby Mae Morrison
 * Tess Harper as Fairlight Spencer


 * LeVar Burton as Daniel Scott (Season 2)

Secondary Cast
 * Scott Michael Campbell as Lundy Taylor, the school bully
 * Dale Dickey as Opal McHone
 * Mike Hickman as Bird's Eye Taylor, Lundy's abusive father
 * Richard Kiley as Dr. Jacob Ferrand, the mission director
 * Scott Latham as Festus Allen
 * Bruce McKinnon as Jeb Spencer, Fairlight's husband
 * Chelcie Ross as Ben Pentland, who delivers mail to the community
 * Sally Smithwick as Bessie Coburn
 * Andy Stahl as Tom McHone, Opal's husband
 * Sam Tyler Wayman as John Spencer, Fairlight's son
 * Collin Wilcox as Swannie O'Teale

Storyline and characters
The show starred Kellie Martin as Christy Huddleston, a new teacher arriving in the fictional Appalachian village of Cutter Gap, Tennessee, in 1912. The villagers have old-fashioned ways. For example, they maintain rules and vengeance similar to the Highland clans of old Scotland. They also have a strong belief in folk medicine. At the same time, many of their ways are portrayed in an idealized fashion. The show emphasized their culture by making Christy and most of the main cast outsiders in one fashion or another. These "outsiders" included a minister, David Grantland, played by Randall Batinkoff; Quaker missionary woman Alice Henderson, played by Tyne Daly; and physician, Dr. Neil MacNeill (played by Stuart Finlay McLennan), who while born and raised in Cutter Gap, also grew up and was educated outside of the Appalachia. The television show maintained the book's romance novel element by showing Christy drawn both to the minister and the doctor.

The show's last episode was a cliffhanger concerning Christy's fate in the town and with the two rival male love interests. Later TV movies resolved the love triangle according to the ending of the novel.

Christy was developed for television by Emmy Award-winning writer Patricia Green.

Reception and cancellation
The show received mixed reviews from critics. Writing for the Washington Post, Tom Shales said: "It is earnest, well intentioned, based on a beloved book by Catherine Marshall, handsomely photographed, wholesome as a tea cozy, cute as a kitten and almost unspeakably humdrum." He criticized the performances of Martin and Batinkoff.

John J. O’Connor of the New York Times was more positive. "This is an impressive production," he wrote. "The cast is generally quite good; Ms. Martin is extraordinary, making Christy's fresh-faced innocence utterly captivating on these beautiful and sometimes dangerous mountains." Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times called it "highly appealing" and "too nice to pick apart."

The series developed a loyal following among readers of the novel and families. It was an initial ratings success, with the pilot episode placing fifth in the weekly Nielsen ratings and inspiring hundreds of letters to CBS from grateful viewers. But it later faltered, as it came on in a period of two years where CBS lost strong affiliates to Fox due to NFL football rights and issues with CBS that had built up years before. Episodes were also expensive to produce, with each installment costing $1.2 million despite generating advertising revenues of only $900,000, in part because it performed poorly among young urban viewers most highly sought by advertisers. The series was cancelled by the network to make way for an attempt to program for younger audiences, but the show's fanbase remained strong despite the cancellation.

Television movies
In 2000, the family-friendly network Pax TV produced three made-for-television movies based on unresolved stories from the novel and original CBS series in response to demand from loyal fans, though Kellie Martin did not return as Christy, with Lauren Lee Smith taking over the role. On November 19, 2000, Pax aired Christy: The Movie. The second and third films aired in 2001 as a two part mini-series entitled Christy, Choices of the Heart, with Part 1 entitled Christy: A Change of Seasons and airing on May 13, 2001, and Part 2 entitled Christy: A New Beginning and airing on May 14, 2001. Stewart Finlay-McLennan (who played Doctor MacNeill), Bruce McKinnon (Jeb Spencer), Mike Hickman (Bird's Eye Taylor), Andy Stahl (Tom McHone), and Dale Dickey (Opal McHone) were the only original TV-series cast members to appear in the telefilms.

The Christy movies were developed for television by executive producer Tom Blomquist, who served as supervising producer of the original CBS series.

Syndication
The show began airing on Gospel Music Channel in June 2009, with a later migration to INSP.

Home media
20th Century Fox released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on March 20, 2007.

Festival
An annual festival, called "ChristyFest," dedicated to Christy, the novel, television series and movies, was held in Townsend, Tennessee, also home to a private, non-profit museum called Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center. Taking place during summer, it was a gathering of those dedicated to the preservation of "Christy" and Southern Appalachian culture. Early in 2018 it was announced that the ChristyFest event would never again be held, but that a successor organization called "Christy Friends" would preserve its spirit.