HOME ON THE RANGE

Saddle up for Ride, a modern Western about a top-notch rodeo family bucking from a terrible secret, and a tragedy that steers a young couple toward passion

- DAMIAN HOLBROOK

Death, deception and forbidden romance, right out of the gate? Hallmark Channel's new rodeo drama Ride quickly ropes you in, so hold on to your horses!

Like a Yellowstone with kinder locals and way less cussin', this addictive tale centers on a Colorado ranching dynasty with deep roots in the rodeo circuit and close ties that bind them to their bustling stomping grounds.

Co-creators and showrunners Rebecca Boss and husband Chris Masi had long been nursing an idea for a series that would capture their rural upbringings. (In her case, home was southeastern New Mexico.) While the couple worked on Fox's glitzier Star and Our Kind of People, "[We] really wanted to write a show about families, for families," affirms Boss.

And what a brood they've hitched their wagon to. The McMurrays read like the first family of fictional Canyon, Colorado. Eldest son Austin (Marcus Rosner) is a rodeo champion wed to former trick rider Missy (Riverdale's Tiera Skovbye); middle heartbreaker Cash (Beau Mirchoff of Good Trouble) has been off serving in the military; and the youngest, Tuff (Hallmark movie vet Jake Foy), is a rider and country singer whose interest in men doesn't make him any less of a cowboy.