Hearts Afire
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Hearts Afire is a sitcom that aired from 1992-1995 on CBS.
[edit] Series Premise
Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason, the show starred John Ritter and Markie Post playing John Hartman and Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman, respectively. Supporting actors included Billy Bob Thornton and Ed Asner. The show was set in Washington, D.C. and centered on a senator's aide (Ritter) and a political reporter (Post) whose professional disagreements masked a growing attraction for one another. Other costars on the show included George Gaynes and Wendie Jo Sperber. The series was itself a satire on current affairs in Washington, D.C, although it moved to the south in later years.
[edit] Production and Rights Issues
The series was independently produced by Mozark Productions (series executive producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's company) and Adam Productions (Ritter's company) under the dummy company "Hearts Afire Productions". It did not receive any outside help from any major studio, although another independent distributor, Genesis Entertainment, handled international distribution outside the U.S. Because of this, the series was never made available for television syndication, although in recent years cable's USA Network aired reruns.
The John Ritter estate now owns complete control over the series as to how and when it could be released. In 2005, the Ritter estate awarded the home video rights to Image Entertainment (beating out favorites Lions Gate Home Entertainment and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), all three seasons of the series are now available on DVD, albeit in altered versions (due to music rights issues, some music has been re-scored, like presented in their USA Network rerun versions, but the content is all unedited).
[edit] Trivia
- The series' title is taken from a line in the Earth, Wind & Fire song "That's the Way of the World" (which originally served as the series' theme song).
- Radio personality Rush Limbaugh guest-starred as himself on a 1994 episode.
- Hearts Afire webpage
