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Hallmark Channel’s successful and first-ever primetime series, “Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove,” kicked off its second season on July 19.

Andie MacDowell, Dylan Neal, Teryl Rothery, Bruce Boxleitner and Barbara Niven will all return to the second season.

“Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove” is based on the popular book series Cedar Cove by New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.

The series immerses its audiences into the world of Cedar Cove, which is based on Port Orchard. The series is filmed in Fort Langley, B.C., Canada.

“I tried everything to get it filmed here,” said Macomber. “We just don’t have the infrastructure here in the state.”

She said two of the show’s cast — Sarah Smyth (Justine) and Corey Sevier (Seth) — visited Port Orchard last year to get a feel of the town.

“They did a tour of the town. They just loved it.” Macomber said. “I know Andie and Dylan want to come visit. They want to see what ‘Cedar Cove’ really looks like.”

In the series, Cedar Cove is home to romance, relationships and drama. At the center of it all is Judge Olivia Lockhart (MacDowell), whose Cedar Cove Municipal Court is where the town’s shocking surprises and hidden secrets are unveiled.

Neal (Griffith), the new editor of the Cedar Cove Chronicle, who uncovers and reveals the truth on what goes on behind the closed courtroom doors, but also has grown to be a love interest for Lockhart.

“I am so lucky to have Andie play the part of Olivia,” she said. “A lot of readers tell me the book is different that the television series, and it is. I have a lot of characters in the ‘Cedar Cove’ series.”

Macomber said the series centers around Olivia and Jack and “everything comes from them.”

She noted that in her books, there is “very little descriptions” of the characters.

The second season series will be produced by Unity Pictures and distributed by Dan Wigutow Productions. Executive producers are Dan Wigutow and Ron French.

Sue Tenney, who was executive producer and writer for “Seventh Heaven”, is show runner.

“She (Tenny) is absolutely amazing,” said Macomber. “She is very familiar with building the structure for the shows.”

Macomber said Hallmark has six seasons planned out for the series.

Stephen Harmaty is the co-executive producer and Connie Dolphin is the producer.

The series was launched by Hallmark on July 20, 2013, and helped make the channel the No. 1-rated cable television network in the Saturdays 8-9 p.m. slot.

“This is the first scripted series that Hallmark has ever done,” Macomber said. “It surpassed my expectations. The ratings are beating shows like ‘Breaking Bad.’ I think so much of television these days are just so ‘cutting edge’ that people are hungry for a regular life down-home kind of show they can watch without being shocked.”

Macomber said the series has given Hallmark the confidence to launch other series.

“They have four or five series in the work now,” she said.

The two-hour series pilot debuted as the No. 1 primetime ad-supported movie of the week and day, delivering a 2.4 household rating with more than 3.8 million viewers. The premiere episode was the No. 1 general entertainment program for cable in social media as measured by Trendrr.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network.