Emily of New Moon (1998-1999; 2002-2003)
Cast and Credits
A Nova Scotia-Québec Co-production Produced by Salter Street Films Ltd. [Series I: Emily Productions Inc.; Series II: Emily II Productions Inc.; Series III: Emily III Productions Inc.; Series IV: Emily IV Productions Inc.] and CINAR Productions Inc. [Series I: Pigtail Productions Inc.; Series II: Pigtail Productions Inc.] and CINAR Corporation Inc. [Series III: Pigtail Productions Inc.; Series IV: Pigtail IV Productions Inc.]. Produced in association with WIC Entertainment. Produced with the participation of Telefilm Canada [Series I], Gouvernement du Québec: Programme de crédits d’impôt, the Cable Production Fund [Series I], Gouvernment of Canada: Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit Program, Canada Television and Cable Production Fund [Series I-III], Telefilm Canada: Equity Investment Program [Series II-IV], CTCPF: Licence Fee Program [Series II-III], Enterprise PEI/Province of Prince Edward Island [Series III-IV], Canadian Television Fund [Series IV], CTF: Licence Fee Program [Series IV], the Province of Nova Scotia [Series IV], and the Nova Scotia Film Industry Tax Credit Program [Series IV]. Running time: 46 episodes (three series of 13 episodes and one series of seven episodes) x 46 minutes. CBC airdates: 4 January 1998 - 10 January 1999 [Series I-II].
Susan Clark (Aunt Elizabeth) [Series I], Stephen McHattie (Cousin Jimmy), Martha MacIsaac (Emily), Sheila McCarthy (Aunt Laura), Linda Thorson (Cousin Isabel) [Series II-III], John Neville (Uncle Malcolm) [Series II-III], and Jessica Pellerin (Ilse Burnley) [Series IV].
Salter Street Films and Cinar Present. Based upon the novels Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, and Emily’s Quest written by L.M. Montgomery. The television series Emily of New Moon has been authorized by the Heirs of L.M. Montgomery. Developed by Marlene Matthews. Supervising Producer: Marlene Matthews [Series I]. Line Producer: Deb Lefaive [Series I]. Executive in Charge of Production for Salter Street Films: Alan MacGillivray [Series I-II], Charles Bishop [Series III-IV]. Executive in Charge of Production for CINAR: Irene Litinsky [Series I]. Senior Producer: Marlene Matthews [Series II]. Line Producer: Jenipher Ritchie [Series II]. Executive Producer Marlene Matthews [Series III]:. Production Supervisor: Jenipher Ritchie [Series III]. Supervising Producer: Leila Basen [Series IV]. Co-Executive Producer: Matthew Nodella [Series IV]. Producer: Jenipher Ritchie [Series IV]. Creative Producer for CINAR: Patricia Lavoie. Executive Producer for WIC Entertainment: Dale A. Andrews. Executive Producers: Micheline Charest, Michael Donovan, and Ronald A. Weinberg.
Commentary and Synopsis
Visually and thematically the antithesis of Road to Avonlea, Emily of New Moon offers a drastic reconfiguration of popular notions of Victorian time/space. Instead of presenting Prince Edward Island as Avonlea’s fantastic bubble where reality never intrudes, Emily of New Moon openly explores such themes as illegitimacy, drug addiction, lunacy, Victorian hypocrisy, child abuse, misogyny, and the effects of extreme Protestant repression. Developed by longtime Road to Avonlea writer and story editor Marlene Matthews, the series was a co-production of Salter Street Films (Halifax) and CINAR Productions (Montreal) and filmed entirely in Prince Edward Island. Although the series was produced for broadcast on WIC stations across Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation eventually bought first Canadian broadcast rights and premiered the series on 4 January 1998 in Road to Avonlea’s former timeslot. Individual WIC stations began airing episodes of the series in fall 1998, but because they did so independently of each other, no uniform WIC airdate can be given.
Like Montgomery’s corresponding novels, the television series initially follows the adventures of eleven-year-old Emily Byrd Starr (MacIsaac), an orphan girl who must negotiate her passionate spirit and desire to write with the limits imposed by a repressive environment. In addition to this general framework, however, the series writers, working under Matthews’s supervision, added a number of elements and subplots that offered a record of 1890s Prince Edward Island that is radically different in tone and in topic from Montgomery’s. Emily’s “flash” and encounters with the supernatural are heightened in the television series, so much so that Ellen Vanstone refers to the production as “The X-Files meets Anne of Green Gables” (C1). As well, characters such as Aunt Laura (McCarthy), Aunt Thom (Janet Wright), and Margaux Lavoie (Jacqueline MacKenzie) all contribute to the series’ unflinching rejection of the Victorian idolization of courtship and its creation of situations that entrap women legally, sexually, and emotionally.
That said, the original plotlines have disappointed many Montgomery readers who would prefer a more literal translation to the screen, whereas several viewers have objectedto the inclusion of such mature subject matter in Road to Avonlea’s old “Family Hour” timeslot. After airing for two seasons, the CBC put Emily of New Moon on hiatus, with the remaining two seasons airing sporadically between January 2002 and February 2003. Combined, the first two seasons won three Gemini Awards (out of nineteen nominations), but the remaining two seasons were ineligible for nomination because of a technicality. The official website for the series was http://www.emilyofnewmoon.com, but it is no longer online.
Episode Guide
Series I
I.1/1: The Eye of Heaven. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by George Bloomfield. 4 January 1998.
I.2/2: Storms of the Heart. Written by Janet MacLean. Directed by Randy Bradshaw. 11 January 1998.
I.3/3: The Book of Yesterday. Story by Peter Meech. Teleplay by Jeremy Hole. Directed by Richard Ciupka. 18 January 1998.
I.4/4: The Disappointed House. Written by Heather Conkie. Directed by Eleanore Lindo. 25 January 1998.
I.5/5: Paradise Lost. Written by Jeremy Hole. Directed by George Bloomfield. 1 February 1998.
I.6/6: The Enchanted Doll. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Mark Sobel. 8 March 1998.
I.7/7: Falling Angels. Written by Janet MacLean. Directed by Phil Comeau. 15 March 1998.
I.8/8: The Tale of Duncan McHugh. Written by Rob Forsyth. Directed by Giles Walker. 22 March 1998.
I.9/9: Wild Rover. Written by Janet MacLean. Directed by Michael Kennedy. 29 March 1998.
I.10/10: The Ghost of Wyther Grange. Written by Joe Wiesenfeld. Directed by Douglas Jackson. 5 April 1998.
I.11/11: A Child Shall Lead Them. Written by Joe Wiesenfeld. Directed by Jimmy Kaufman. 12 April 1998.
I.12/12: A Winter’s Tale. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Gabriel Pelletier. 12 April 1998.
I.13/13: The Sound of Silence. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Stefan Scaini. 19 April 1998.
Series II
II.1/14: Summer of Sorrows. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Michael Kennedy. 4 October 1998.
II.2/15: And So Shall They Reap. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Stefan Scaini. 11 October 1998.
II.3/16: A Shadow in His Dream. Written by Jeremy Hole. Directed by Michael Kennedy. 18 October 1998.
II.4/17: Where Angels Fear To Tread. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Giles Walker. 25 October 1998.
II.5/18: The Witches’ Spell Book. Written by Lynn Turner. Directed by Jean-François Pouliot. 8 November 1998.
II.6/19: Rivers of Babylon. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Giles Walker. 15 November 1998.
II.7/20: A Time to Heal. Written by Leila Basen. Directed by Eleanore Lindo. 29 November 1998.
II.8/21: The Devil’s Punchbowl. Written by Rob Forsyth. Directed by Don McBrearty. 6 December 1998.
II.9/22: Pins and Needles, Needles and Pins, When a Man Gets Married, His Trouble Begins. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Chris Bould. 13 December 1998.
II.10/23: Crown of Thorns. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Bruce McDonald. 20 December 1998.
II.11/24: When the Bough Breaks. Written by Janet MacLean. Directed by Jimmy Kaufman. 27 December 1998.
II.12/25: Love Knots. Written by Leila Basen. Directed by Bruce McDonald. 3 January 1999.
II.13/26: The Book of Hours. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Matthew Nodella. 10 January 1999.
Series III
III.1/27: Ask Me No Questions, I’ll Tell You No Lies. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Gordon Langevin. 13 January 2002.
III.2/28: The Return of Maida Flynn. Written by Leila Basen. Directed by Jimmy Kaufman. 3 March 2002.
III.3/29: Under the Wishing Moon. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Michael Kennedy. 10 March 2002.
III.4/30: Bridge of Dreams. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Giles Walker. 17 March 2002.
III.5/31: Bred in the Bone. Written by Leila Basen. Directed by Jimmy Kaufman. 24 March 2002.
III.6/32: The Return of Malcolm Murray. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Bruce McDonald. 7 April 2002.
III.7/33: In the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Written by Dennis Foon. Directed by Giles Walker. 14 April 2002.
III.8/34: Had a Wife and Couldn’t Keep Her. Written by Leila Basen. Directed by Lorette Leblanc. 9 June 2002.
III.9/35: A Fall from Grace. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Matthew Nodella. 23 June 2002.
III.10/36: The Bequest. Written by Marlene Matthews and Leila Basen. Directed by Michael Kennedy. 7 July 2002.
III.11/37: Command Performance. Written by Marlene Matthews, Leila Basen, and Nobu Adilman. Directed by Steve Danyluk. 14 July 2002.
III.12/38: A Man May Work From Sun to Sun, But a Woman’s Work is Never Done. Written by Leila Basen. Directed by Stephen McHattie. 4 August 2002.
III.13/39: A Weaver of Dreams. Written by Marlene Matthews. Directed by Matthew Nodella. 11 August 2002.
Series IV
IV.1/40: Rites of Passage. Written by Leila Basen. Directed by Michael Kennedy. 18 August 2002.
IV.2/41: The Taming of Ilse Burnley. Written by Leila Basen. Directed by Matthew Nodella. 25 August 2002.
IV.3/42: A Bill of Divorcement. Written by David Preston. Directed by Jimmy Kaufman. 1 September 2002.
IV.4/43: Too Close to the Sun. Written by Edwina Follows. Directed by Giles Walker. 22 September 2002.
IV.5/44: The Weight of the World. Written by Leila Basen. Directed by Matthew Nodella. 11 February 2003.
IV.6/45: Away. Written by David Preston. Directed by Giles Walker. 12 February 2003.
IV.7/46: A Seller of Dreams. Written by Leila Basen. Directed by Stephen McHattie. 13 February 2003.
Merchandise
Home Video
Emily of New Moon. 6 volumes. Scarborough, ON: Koch Vision, [2000].
- The Eye of Heaven / Storms of the Heart
- The Book of Yesterday / The Disappointed House
- Paradise Lost / The Enchanted Doll
- Falling Angels / The Tale of Duncan McHugh
- Wild Rover / The Ghost of Wyther Grange / A Child Shall Lead Them
- A Winter’s Tale / The Sound of Silence
DVD
Emily of New Moon: The Complete First Season. Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, 2008.
- Disc 1: The Eye of Heaven; Storms of the Heart; The Book of Yesterday; The Disappointed House.
- Disc 2: Paradise Lost; The Enchanted Doll; Falling Angels; The Tale of Duncan McHugh; Wild Rover.
- Disc 3: The Ghost of Wyther Grange; A Child Shall Lead Them; A Winter’s Tale; The Sound of Silence.
Further Reading
Scholarship
Gittings, Christopher. “Re-visioning Emily of New Moon: Family Melodrama for the Nation.” Canadian Children’s Literature / Littérature canadienne pour la jeunesse, no. 91-92 (Fall-Winter 1998): 22-35. Reprinted as “Melodrama for the Nation: Emily of New Moon,” in Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture, edited by Irene Gammel, 186-200. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002.
Popular Press
Adilman, Sid. “Axe ready to fall on losers.” Toronto Star, 1 February 2000, C7.
—. “Emily TV series to film in P.E.I.” Toronto Star, 4 June 1996, E7.
—. “Horror comes to paradise.” Toronto Star, 15 November 1998, D20.
—. “Montgomery’s darker side.” Toronto Star, 27 October 1996, E1+.
—. “New Moon rising for a plucky heroine.” Toronto Star, 21 December 1997, B8.
—. “P.E.I. Liberals gave TV series $1.9-million gift.” Toronto Star, 10 May 1997, K8.
Atherton, Tony. “Another P.E.I. heroine gets TV treatment.” Calgary Herald, 3 January 1998, I1-I2.
Bickley, Claire. “Beyond Green Gables.” Edmonton Sun, 2 January 1998, 22.
—. “Location, location, location.” Toronto Sun, 26 January 1997.
Butler, Kate Macdonald. “Montgomery saw Emily books as her ‘best.’” Letter. Toronto Star, 8 December 1996, B2.
Corliss, Richard. “Emily and Her Family.” Time, 12 January 1998, 58.
Cox, Kevin. “The Island finally gets to play itself.” Globe and Mail, 8 December 1997, A2.
Dawson, Catherine. “Island Girl.” TV Guide, 3 January 1998, 9-10.
—. “Scotchbroth.” TV Guide, 17 October 1998, 15-17.
Doucet, Jane. “New Moon rising.” Elm Street, November-December 1997, 22-24, 26, 28, 30.
Harris, Christopher. “PEI investing in Emily.” Globe and Mail, 13 August 1996, A10.
Kelly, Brendan. “Prince Edward welcomes ‘Emily.’” Variety Television, 19-25 August 1996, 33.
MacAndrew, Barbara. “Move over, Anne. It’s Emily’s turn.” Globe and Mail, 19 July 1997, C2.
Miller, Gina. “The deeper, darker Anne.” New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, 3 January 1998.
“Montgomery descendant to appear in Emily of New Moon.” Montreal Gazette, 20 August 1998, D11.
Torrance, Kelly. “Emily gets with the program.” Alberta Report, 2 February 1998, 54-55.
Vanstone, Ellen. “Quirky and complex—don’t mess with Emily.” Globe and Mail, 1 January 1998, C1.
Vlessing, Etan. “‘Emily’ TV series walks path of ‘Green Gables.’” Hollywood Reporter, 12 August 1996, n.pag.
