The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

I loved Hearts Afire, and I was surprised it was mentioned in the kiss- and-tell book You'll never make love in this town again, when a hooker talks about her 9 1/2 sex romp with John Ritter, who was in Hearts Afire. It turns out she later appears as an extra in an episode of Hearts Afire, and hooks up again (pardon the pun) with John after filming, and engage in further sexual adventures (the bathroom sink is referred to) at her apartment.

I think I preferred the show best when it was set in Washington D.C. over Arkansas. Anyway, the relationship between Markie Post and John Ritter sizzled on screen. They had a terrific supporting cast like Billy Bob Thornton, Conchata Farrell, Beth Broderick, Wendie Jo Sperber, etc. The show was created by Bill Clinton's friends, Bob and Susan Thomason. The show never appeared to be a huge success but the show's writing was alright but the cast was first rate with sitcom veterans Post and Ritter. I think the show could have lasted longer but CBS who also had Evening Shade and Designing Women must have had problems with the show's creators. I don't know what happened but I still think the show had legs but the network didn't give it a chance to shine. It could have sizzled if time was allowed for it to adjust.

As the plot summary says, this was originally about a married couple working for a Senator in Washington, DC. The second and third seasons were about the same couple, having moved to a small town, running a newspaper. The two locales had different supporting casts except for John Ritter, Markie Post, Billy Bob Thornton, and the kids. The second incarnation of "Hearts Afire" was superior--owing much to the more relaxed, quirky atmosphere of the small town, and to supporting characters there played by Conchata Ferrell and Leslie Jordan. The friction/chemistry between Thornton and Ferrell was great.

Before Billy Bob Thorton was directing John Ritter in quirky movies, he was part of a terrific cast with John Ritter in "Hearts Afire." This must have looked like a sure fire hit with the excellent John Ritter, equally talented (and gorgeous) Markie Post, Ed Asner (one of the great TV stars of all time), and an A-list of support players including George Gaynes, Beth Broderick, Conchata Ferrell, and Wendy Jo Sperber. Billy Bob (playing the part of "Billy Bob") was an attempt to mimic the Clinton staff good-ol-boys but as time would tell he was much too nice and much too honest for the part. The chemistry between Ritter and Post ranged from good to hot. Ritter was never so sophisticated and Post was never more animated or sexy. Perhaps this series was too much like other series before, and perhaps the writer's take on Washington was not very accurate. A series like this should know it's topic very well (as do some current White House series) so we can really believe these people are where they say they are. Shows like Murphy Brown, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, WKRP, and the old Dick Van Dyke Show knew their subjects because the writers were familiar with newsrooms, radio stations, and comedy shows. With Clinton's affair (no pun intended) with Hollywood, more Hollywood producers are in tune to the Washington scene today than they were at the beginning of his administration and at the conception of this show. The show would have worked better with an Evening Shade type of setting, a small regular town perhaps. In any case, Markie Post and John Ritter had some of the sexiest scenes for a situation comedy. The Washington scene is a place for sex and hookers, but not a place for sexy.