Andie MacDowell to Star in Hallmark’s First-Ever Prime-Time Series

Hallmark Channel is getting into series television.

Andie MacDowell will star in the network’s first-ever prime-time series, Cedar Cove, which is slated to begin production mid-June. Based on Debbie Macomber’s best-selling book series, Cedar Cove will star MacDowell as Judge Olivia Lockhart, whose Cedar Cove Municipal Court is the professional milieu and social microcosm of issues the judge will face in her own day-to-day life with family and friends. Cedar Cove will initially debut as a two-hour TV movie in late 2012 before the one-hour series premieres in early 2013.

“We are beyond thrilled to have a star of the magnitude of Andie MacDowell to star in Cedar Cove, the movie that is the basis for Hallmark Channel’s first-ever prime-time series,” said Executive Vice President of Programming Michelle Vicary. “Andie is widely recognized around the world as a gifted actor and a top box-office draw and there is genuine, mutual excitement today between the network and our star about the future of the new series.”

MacDowell is well-known for her roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral and Groundhog Day. The 54-year-old actress currently co-stars on ABC Family’s Jane by Design.