TV series fans spark social media movement

Julie Hillman, Deseret News| February 25, 2016

Hallmark Channel’s “When Calls the Heart” first began as a two-hour, made-for-TV adaptation of a series of period novels, but it has since sparked a movement.

Since the series first premiered in January 2014, masses of fans have connected over social media and evolved into a marketing force for “When Calls the Heart,” a values-based television series created by Michael Landon Jr. and Brian Bird, calling themselves “Hearties.”

The Hearties materialized . . .