tek's rating: ¾

Holly Hobbie, on Hulu (USA, s1-3) / Family (Canada) / BYUtv (s4-5)
BYUtv; Facebook; Family; IMDb; official website; TV Tango; Wikipedia; YouTube

Season 1
So... I guess this series is loosely based on the doll/greeting card character of the same name. It's a name I don't remember ever not being aware of, but I've never really known anything specific about the character. She's appeared in some other media, books or TV or whatever, but I don't know anything about any of that. But in this webseries, Holly Hobbie is a 13-year-old girl (Ruby Jay) who lives in the small, rural town of Collinsville. She's a singer/songwriter. She's got a BFF named Amy Abassi. She's got an older brother named Robbie and a younger sister named Heather. She's got parents, Katherine and Bob. She's got a grandmother, Helen (Sara Botsford), who runs a cafe called Calico. At the start of the series, the cafe is in danger of being shut down, so Holly tries to save it, drumming up more business by re-instituting open mic night. Of course, she'll occasionally perform her own songs there, but anyone else in town can also get up on stage to sing or perform however they want to. Meanwhile, Amy has recently become friends with a girl named Piper Parish, and at first Holly is jealous, and worried about losing her best friend. But she soon becomes friends with Piper, as well. There's also a boy named Tyler Flaherty, who has recently returned to Collinsville after a year away. (It's rumored that before that he burned down a barn, but no one seems to know the truth about why he left or where he's been for the past year.)

Well, I guess I should also mention that Heather has a best friend named Levi. And Robbie has a girlfriend named Lyla. And... eventually some conflict does arise between Holly and Piper. I don't want to spoil the reason for it, but it does get resolved by the end of the season. And I don't know what else to say, except that I think it's a fairly cute and fun show, with some good music. (And in the season finale, Holly spends part of the episode dressed like the doll the series is based on, which I thought was really cute.)

Season 2
Holly gets a part in a local play, but the director is a total jerk who absolutely should not be directing kids. And eventually Holly loses her role to her rival, Savannah. Lyla breaks up with Robbie, but remains friendly with the Hobbie family. Holly meets a musician named Oscar, with whom she begins collaborating. He becomes a potential love interest for her, as well. And Tyler and Piper start to develop feelings for each other. Amy works on a science project to help accelerate the healing of Robbie's broken leg. Heather learns more about her paternal grandfather, whom the Hobbie kids have never met. And of course, lots of other stuff happens throughout the season, but I think those are all the most important bits, for now.

Season 3
At the end of last season, Holly performed as an opening act for a famous singer, and at the start of this season she was just finishing up that gig. But when she might have a chance to go on tour with her, Piper helps Holly with her social media presence to make her more likely to be chosen for the job. Also, Holly's parents get into a car accident, and her father hurts his back pretty badly. Without him to run the farm, and medical bills piling up, the kids step up and try to make more money for the family. Robbie starts a potential jam-making business, as well as getting a job writing for the newspaper. Amy helps him with the latter endeavor. Also this season Holly and Oscar are a couple. As for Piper and Tyler, I don't want to say how that turns out. And Holly is shocked to learn that her grandfather is alive, and wants to get involved in his grandkids' lives. Toward the end of the season, Holly, Amy, and Piper are planning on going to summer camp; it will be Piper's first time, and she discovers she really doesn't like it. But she gets an internship in Paris for the summer, instead. And in the season finale, Holly gets a chance to become a songwriter in Nashville, while her grandmother marries a guy named Nate (whom I didn't even remember she was dating, because I have a terrible memory). And other stuff happens throughout the season.

Season 4
The series moved from Hulu to BYUtv, without my knowing it. I'll try to catch up the network's website, but it may take awhile.


kids' webseries index