User reviews

this series is really great. i loved it. the best thing that makes me say that, is that i was really excited to see what would happen in the next episode. it was a normal story about a little girl wanting to make her wished come true. who cares about her friends and family.

sometimes her curiosity drives her to some danger, but she always uses her brain and gets out of it.

she goes to school, tries new ways in life.

she does all she can to help her family.

i think that MANY people can relate to her in a way.

she is smart, she is funny, she is nice and kind, she is everything young :) and full of life

it;s really fun for the family and children, but a great thing to watch for the adults too :) enjoy

i give 4.5 out of 5 =D cheers ,,,

After having enjoyed Kevin Sullivan's foray into the works of L.M. Montgomery, I was interested to see what Salter Street Films would do. The Emily series is the darker, more realistic vision of life Rural Prince Edward Island and much closer to the life Montgomery herself lead. While the series captures that darker element, there are moments of light and color that make the series charming and delightful. The performance of the regular actors in the series were all very well done. Stephen McHattie, who plays Cousin Joe, was especially a standout for me because I'm used to seeing him play heavies and bad guys. The actress playing the lead character is certainly well cast. She is almost a little too intense.

It would be interesting if the producers did an update movie with the same cast based on the last book in the Emily series. It would be a great closer for a series that didn't last too long.

Even though the episodes became pretty far-fetched as time went on, I really looked forward to Emily each week. To me Chris Dedrick's beautiful theme song alone, with the waves rolling in behind the credits, was worth watching. Every week I got a chuckle out of the caterer's name rolling by--Grilled Cheese, Etc. After the first few episodes I charged out and purchased the Emily paperbacks, to relive my girlhood. I never cared much for the Anne books, but Jane of Lantern Hill, Emily, and The Blue Castle (wish they'd make a series on that one!) were my favorites. Thought the actresses/actors were great and often wonder what some of those younger kids are doing now. This week I've been "rewatching" my Emily tapes in the evenings, as I can find very little worth watching on TV. I'm 72 years old. Thank you.

I'm sorry and I am not sorry. I caught this show quite some time ago in the early 2000's. I was 30ish and watching early morning tv like The Patty Duke Show, Highway Patrol, Seahunt and Mr. Ed. They weren't shows I had seen as a child bc they were before my time but as an adult I found that I liked them. Eight am rolled around and there was Emily of New Moon. I'd never even heard of the books let alone read them so I had no preconceived expectations. I was instantly caught up in this new to me show. I don't suppose there are lots of people who were watching this show at the age of 30 but I was. The fact it was an import from Canada I liked. I admit it was a bit soap-operish and I was left with a cliff hanger in my lap every Sunday morning but isn't that what most tv series are like? If they weren't they wouldn't be able to hold onto their audience. Nowadays we have so many so-called "reality shows" that are in actuality not that real being that they are scripted. I watched every episode of every season and I loved it. Many people here say they're sorry they even attempted to watch Emily of New Moon bc they had read each of the three books and were disappointed in the tv show. The one thing that I won't ever do is read the books bc it would probably ruin the tv series for me. The only thing that left me wanting was the fact that the series didn't last long enough to cover all of the books. Now Emily of New Moon is offered by Hallmark Movies Now and I'm in the process of revisitation. I've tried googling the actors/actresses in every role of the series and I haven't found much. I wonder what they look like now and what they're doing etc...I've found out the most information recorded is about Martha MacIsaac. I suppose fittingly enough for the lead character. About this particular tv series I can say it seems either you love it or you hate it.

The only thing I did not like was that it ended to soon. Me and my he wife loved all of it. James Welch Henderson Arkansas 8/11/2021.

I discovered this series as a teenager when it first aired on CBC television and read the books as a result, but I am reviewing it now that I have the proper maturity to appreciate its qualities and flaws. I will mention I only watched the first season and a good part of the second for reasons that will become obvious as you read along. I had begun watching the series when my sister-in-law noticed my interest and lent me L. M. Montgomery's Emily trilogy. I devoured all three books over the summer and Emily of New Moon remains one of my favourite novels to this day. I was raised Protestant in Québec, a post-Catholic secular culture, and had rarely found fiction I could relate to growing up. The Murrays' Presbyterian lifestyle felt familiar and Emily's innocent musings on legalistic attitudes were hilarious and on point. Upon finishing the books, I realized how far Marlene Matthews, the TV series developer, veered from the source material. She took the books' few uncanny events suggesting Emily Starr has second sight and turned the character into a clairvoyant who communes with the dead on a regular basis. She turned kind spinster Laura Murray into a mentally unstable woman with a complex love life. She replaced Elizabeth Murray with a new character after one season. I have read these choices had to do with some of the actors' demands and decisions, but I wonder how a production can claim to be based upon an author's work while resembling fan fiction to such a high degree. I think Montgomery would be offended by many of Matthew's changes as they do not reflect her beliefs and her era. It would have been good to have Presbyterians and historians review the script before going into production. After two seasons, all the series still had in common with the books were the names and places. The trilogy may be considered youth literature, but the series is not suited for children. Too many mature themes and disturbing images. I will still say the cast is top notch, the music beautiful, the costumes and sets splendid. And with Prince Edward Island brilliantly photographed as a backdrop, it is still worth a watch. I am somewhat fond of it because it helped me visualize Montgomery's characters and places while reading her books. I believe it made the experience richer.

I just finished reading the series for about the zillionth time and decided to take a chance on the television series. I read reviews here and thought i should be alright until the second season. I was wrong. I am halfway thru the first episode and have already asked my husband not to bother getting the rest of the dvds on netflix. I am so disappointed. i'm going to try to finish the disk but the massive alterations. So far the only similarities i've found between the book and the series is a girl named Emily and a father named Douglas both with the last name Star. Scenes, characters, location, plot line etc are all changed. Oh wait they did get the names of the aunts and cousin correct but... the cat is wrong.

Sigh. Perhaps if i had never read the books i'd be OK with just watching this as a stand-alone piece. Even Emily's essential personality has been changed from the character i adored in the trilogy.

Not only does this series utterly fail to stay true to the characters, plot lines, and simple joy and beauty of the novels, it also fails to stay true to the time period in which it is set, and to the basic tenets of good story-telling and film-making. After I watched the first episode or two alone, my roommate asked if we should watch an episode together one night. I said, no, it was late and the episodes were too long. Imagine my surprise when it was revealed that they were only ~45 minutes each. My response: "Well, at least, they feel too long."

Perhaps if the writers weren't trying to jam-pack each episode with divergent plot lines, abrupt changes of mood and character motivation, and (silliest of all) some ghostly mystery or other for Emily to "solve", this series would be bearable. As it is, it's an unholy mess. To make matters worse, more often than not I find myself wondering if the best Canadian actors all go to Hollywood, as that would help to explain the acting, which typically ranges from wooden to melodramatic to simply awful. I give it two stars rather than one only because, every once in a while, one of the actors (usually one of the children) manages to do something legitimately endearing.

I have to say, that I have only recently begun to watch Emily and have fallen in love with all of the characters over again. Although the books are truly amazing pieces of literature, I must admit that the actors portraying the beloved characters are what drew me into watching the show. I am truly amazed at the raw talent coming from Canada and an glad to see that many of these great performers are being recognized. I would also like to say, that although the television show does take some liberties and has added story lines and details that were not in the novels the stories do draw you into the trials and tribulations of the community of Blair Water and the family, and extended family, of New Moon.

after the relatively lighthearted tales of life around the turn of the century in rural Prince Edward Island, brought to the viewer in Anne of Green Gables, and Road to Avonlea, it was almost hard to watch, to have to endure the dark depressing episodes in the life of young Emily Murray and her misbegotten family in this new and (thankfully) short-lived series from the works of E M Montgomery...

a series filled with incidents covering madness, murder, treachery, ghosts, religous intolerance, betrayal, disease, lost unrequited love, such as hasn't been seen since the novels of Charles Dickens... The mood of most of the episodes being so intense, it seems to have been reflected in the performances themselves, with the result that it was so rare that any of their characters were allowed even a brief moment of happiness and when it came, you were left waiting, watching for the moment when that moment would be shattered by even more doom and gloom...

Viewers obviously did not take to this series as happily as they did Avonlea and Green Gables...it may have reflected a much more realistic portrayal of a way of life in bygone rural Canada, but unrelenting misery is not a promising premise for family viewing...

It's a shame that people will see the t.v series and think that what happened there, in the show, is what happened in the book. The sub-stories with-in the books (there were 3 books in total) and the characters are so different and so much better in the book trilogy. The makers of the show for some reason did the book a dishonesty by making the series trashy and more adult oriented than it was meant to be. Lucy M. Montgomery wrote those as children books. Yes, the books were somewhat darker than the Anne of Green Gables and Road to Avonlea but they were still well written and very enjoyable. Please don't follow the show, read the books instead.

I caught an episode of this show on satellite cable and was just horrified. Having read and truly loved the books as a child, I was at first very excited to see that there was apparently some interest in producing a film/television version, but in comparison with the books the characters and stories presented in the TV series are completely unrecognizable and also came across as a little bizarre. It's even more disappointing considering what a beautiful job was done creating the "Anne..." films (the first two, anyway). The "Emily" series could make just as wonderful a transition but was, in this case, handled very VERY badly.

I must say that this is one of my favorite shows on TV. Whether or not the show follows the story presented in the books, which I haven't read, this is a far better young adult option than 99% of anything I've seen on Nickelodian or even Disney.

In the show the life of a young writer is portrayed with dead-eye accuracy. Maybe not the way adults perceive these "dark and disturbing" plot lines, but nevertheless accurately. The life of a writer is not the same as the life of a non writer and I would recommend this show to ANY child or even young adult in less than a heartbeat, knowing that it will encourage them to be themselves, despite the undying efforts of Aunt Elizabeth types who squash dreams like bugs. Or fall victim to The Aunt Laura's spaghetti backbone. Their use of archetypal characters and imagery is phenomenal- nothing like it on TV these days. I wish Netflix would get more than the first 2 seasons. I discovered this show late, whenever the US made the switch to all digital broadcast.

after the relatively lighthearted tales of life around the turn of the century in rural Prince Edward Island, brought to the viewer in Anne of Green Gables, and Road to Avonlea, it was almost hard to watch, to have to endure the dark depressing episodes in the life of young Emily Murray and her misbegotten family in this new and (thankfully) short-lived series from the works of E M Montgomery... a series filled with incidents covering madness, murder, treachery, ghosts, religious intolerance, betrayal, disease, lost unrequited love, such as hasn't been seen since the novels of Charles Dickens... The mood of most of the episodes being so intense, it seems to have been reflected in the performances themselves, with the result that it was so rare that any of their characters were allowed even a brief moment of happiness and when it came, you were left waiting, watching for the moment when that moment would be shattered by even more doom and gloom... Viewers obviously did not take to this series as happily as they did Avonlea and Green Gables...it may have reflected a much more realistic portrayal of a way of life in bygone rural Canada, but unrelenting misery is not a promising premise for family viewing...