The 10-episode show is about how a Christian family navigates life’s challenges.
When Christian novelist Karen Kingsbury received a phone call from award-winning Actress Roma Downey in 2015, she experienced full-body chills.
That’s because after her father had read his daughter’s novels fifteen years ago, he suggested she call Ms. Downey who was portraying Monica on the TV series “Touched by an Angel” at the time.
“Only God could allow that to happen where I had this silly conversation that I should call Roma Downey when I didn’t have her number and she ends up calling me,” Ms. Kingsbury told The Epoch Times. “It was very much a divine moment. Certainly, God had his hand on it.”
Ms. Downey contacted Ms. Kingsbury to inquire about developing a series of her books into a television episodic called “The Baxters.”
Ms. Kingsbury has written some 20 novels about the Baxter family over the last 23 years. The first book of the series is “Redemption,” and the prequel is titled “The Baxters.”
“What I wanted was for all this to happen 20 years ago but I wasn’t ready,” Ms. Kingsbury said. “I needed to grow as a writer and as a Christian, honestly, to develop the patience to understand that I needed to hold onto my dreams a little less tightly. I can step back now and it’s not about me.”
Prior to becoming a novelist, Ms. Kingsbury was a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times and a reporter at the Los Angeles Daily News. After covering a murder story, she wrote her first book about it called “Missy’s Murder.” Since then, she has become a No. 1 New York Times and USA Today best-selling novelist. Her last twelve published books all topped the bestseller lists.
But developing her “Baxters” book series into a television show wasn’t without obstacles. The project was shelved for five years while Amazon acquired MGM. The $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM officially closed in 2022.
“There was one thing after another in the Hollywood politics world, but I just kept praying and Roma never gave up,” she said. “I really compliment her for that. Roma is a champion for this project and for these books.”
Season 1 began streaming worldwide on Amazon Prime Video last week. The 10-episode show is about how the Baxter family navigates the complexities of life with their faith in Jesus Christ at the helm.
“Already we’re getting incredible feedback online,” Ms. Kingsbury said.
Initially, Ms. Downey hadn’t planned on playing Elizabeth Baxter, the leading lady in the show, even though she won a Golden Globe in 1999 for best performance by an actress in a drama TV series. Ms. Kingsbury talked her into playing the Baxters’ matriarch.
“She is as sweet and kind as you would think her to be,” Ms. Kingsbury said. “But there’s a side to her, this professional side that won’t give up, and that has this fierce determination to see programs like this be available for people.”
Today Ms. Kingsbury and Ms. Downey are very close. They text each other frequently.
Ted McGinley plays Ms. Downey’s husband, John Baxter, in the series and Ms. Downey’s daughter, Reilly Anspaugh, is cast as Erin Baxter.
Ms. Anspaugh graduated from Boston University and performed at the Boston New Repertory Theatre before being cast in 48 episodes of “Geoffrey the Dumbass.”
Although “The Baxters” is a Christian-themed series, the show touches on modern topics, such as adultery, interracial relationships, addiction, and divorce.
“One of our prayers about the show is that people will either see their family in it or the family they always wanted and they will find their way home, either way, when they watch The Baxters,” Ms. Kingsbury added.
For example, one of the Baxter daughters named Kari, played by Ali Cobrin, is confronted with her husband, Tim Jacobs, portrayed by Brandon Hirsch, cheating on her with one of his students at the university where he teaches. The episode is about discovering whether love is a choice and if a marriage can be saved.
“I think that projects in the past sugar coated over some of these issues, and we saw faith projects where somehow, people of faith didn’t have problems like everybody else, and of course, we do,” Ms. Downey previously told
The Christian Post. “We’re brought to our knees in more ways than one. It’s just that when we’re down there, we stop and we pray and we help each other back up in a myriad of ways, and I think it is important.”
In addition to acting in the TV series, Ms. Downey is also an executive producer.
Ms. Kingsbury’s novels, “The Bridge,” “A Time to Dance,” and “Maggie’s Christmas Miracle” are all being developed into Hallmark Channel movies.
