‘Firefly Lane’: Your Background Guide to Netflix’s Show With Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke

Netflix’s latest series Firefly Lane premiered on Wednesday and with an audience score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, the show is sure to quickly climb the charts on the streamer and takeover homes. Starring Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy) and Sarah Chalke (Scrubs), the show follows two unlikely friends Tully (Heigl) and Kate (Chalke) whose “unbreakable bond in their teens carries them through their 40s,” according to the synopsis.

For Grey’s Anatomy fans who loved Heigl’s performance as Isabel Stevens, be prepared to fall in love again since the show promises to be a heartfelt tearjerker. Based on the novel of the same name by Kristin Hannah, CNN describes the show as an “old fashioned soapy drama.” It transpires between the past and present-day (2003), showing off the duo’s younger relationship as teens with actresses Ali Skovbye and Roan Curtis.

Heigl talked about the new character with Decider alongside her co-star. “The fact that Tully doesn’t apologize,” Heigl said. “Because it’s all I do! I spend all day everyday apologizing, for nothing most of the time.” The star claimed she was so enamored with her character’s “unapologetic ambition,” she wondered if she could embody that quality for herself. “I thought, ‘Can I do this? Can I understand a woman like this?’ I mean, I can certainly understand it. But can I do it? Can I find that in me?” Heigl said.

“This job also came along with so many challenges that were so exciting to me,” Chalke said, referencing the show’s childbirth scene, among her character’s other major moments. “All within the same day you’re dancing on the table, you’re doing a scene where you’re sobbing about the pain of your divorce and maybe you’re swimming naked in a pool at night in the winter in Canada.”

IMDB reports the series was filmed in Burnaby, British Columbia from September 2019 to January 2020. For those interested in visiting some of the sites, Hannah told people via her website: “Since I went to the University of Washington, I remember a lot of locations used in the book,” she wrote. “Anyone interested in a Firefly Lane memory lane tour should try: The Last Exit coffee house (is it even still there?), Kells pub in Pioneer Square, which is still a great time, Starbucks in the Public Market, a ferry ride from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, Goldies tavern in the U District, Greek row at the University of Washington (I’m sure you can still find a ton of parties happening there on Saturday nights), and the view of Seattle at night from Rockaway Beach.”