''Hearts Afire'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

created by

Linda Bloodworth-Thomason Linda Joyce Bloodworth-Thomason (born April 15, 1947) is an American writer, director, and television producer. She is best known for creating, writing, and producing several television series, most successfully with the sitcoms ''Designing Women ...

, starring

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American comedian and actor. He was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason Ritter, Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is best known for ...

and Markie Post, that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

from September 14, 1992, to February 1, 1995. The series' title is taken from a line in the

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

song "

That's the Way of the World ''That's the Way of the World'' is the sixth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on March 3, 1975, by Columbia Records. This was also the soundtrack for a That's the Way of the World (film), 1975 motion picture of the same ...

" (which originally served as the series' theme song).

Series premise

Described by CBS as a "politically topical series" and created by

and Harry Thomason, the show starred

and Markie Post playing John Hartman and Georgie Anne Lahti, respectively. Supporting actors included

Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker, singer and songwriter. He received international attention after writing, directing and starring in the independent film, independent Drama (film and television), drama f ...

and

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor. He is most notable for portraying Lou Grant on the sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977) and drama '' Lou Grant'' (1977–1982), making him one of the few ...

. The show was set in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and centered on a conservative senator's aide (Ritter) and a liberal political reporter (Post) whose professional disagreements masked a growing attraction for one another. Other costars on the show included George Gaynes, Beth Broderick, and Wendie Jo Sperber. The series was itself a satire on current affairs in Washington, D.C. John and Georgie Anne married near the end of the first season. In the second season, the show abruptly changed its setting to the Southern town where John grew up; he returned to take over the town's failing newspaper, accompanied by Georgie Anne and his two children from a previous marriage. Some of the supporting characters made the move as well, while others were superseded.

Cast

*John Hartman (portrayed by

) *Georgie Anne Lahti (portrayed by Markie Post) *Billy Bob Davis (portrayed by

)

Cameos

* Roger Clinton, half-brother of

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

, appeared in a cameo as a restaurant singer at the end of the series' third episode, aired in September 1992. * Hugh E. Rodham, father of the incoming

First Lady of the United States First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...

Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, made a cameo appearance in December 1992. The producers of the series were friends of the Clintons. *Political pundit

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...

guest-starred as himself on an April 1994 episode. That episode had the series' highest rating, finishing as the 8th-highest ranked show of the week during its original airing. * Harry Anderson, Post's co-star on ''

Night Court ''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 4, 1984, and ended on May 31, 1992, after nine seasons consisting of List of Night Court episodes, 193 episodes. The show is set in the night shift of a Manhattan ...

'' and Ritter's co-star from the 1990 miniseries adaptation of

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's It, made a cameo appearance in a March 1994 episode, portraying columnist

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally Print syndication, syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has written numerous books of humor and parody, as we ...

as part of a crossover with Anderson's contemporary series, '' Dave's World''.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1992–93)

Season 2 (1993–94)

Season 3 (1994–95)

Home media

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

released the entire series on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in Region 1 in 2005 and 2006. On November 7, 2012, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series and released ''Hearts Afire - The Complete Series'' on DVD on January 8, 2013.Hearts Afire DVD news: Announcement for Hearts Afire - The Complete Series , TVShowsOnDVD.com
The 7-disc set features all 54 episodes of the series, as well as bonus features.

References

External links

* * {{epguides, HeartsAfire
''Hearts Afire'' webpage
at TVHeaven.com 1990s American political comedy television series 1990s American satirical television series 1990s American multi-camera sitcoms 1990s American workplace comedy television series 1992 American television series debuts 1995 American television series endings American English-language television shows Political satirical television series Television series about marriage Television series created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason Television shows set in Washington, D.C. CBS sitcoms