Why Aren’t We All Watching Mrs. Hatt?

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One of the best parts of this spring’s TV season has been seeing Valerie Cherish back on screen in The Comeback. The docuseries, which offers a fascinating look behind the scenes of her latest sitcom, How’s That?, is as good as ever. Unfortunately, the sitcom itself isn’t doing so well. How’s That? features Cherish as the quirky owner of a struggling bed and breakfast, and its bland humor is likely because it was largely written by artificial intelligence. But the real appeal of both the show and the documentary is Cherish herself.

With viewers hoping her new show, How’s That?, finds its audience and gives Cherish another long-running TV series, its somewhat slow start also presents a good chance to revisit her other work – some of which deserves more recognition. While many remember her memorable (and disastrous!) appearance on The Traitors, there’s a lot more to Cherish’s career! Her breakout show, I’m It!, is gaining renewed interest, and fans have plenty to say about Room and Bored and Seeing Red. But a recent series of hers, Mrs. Hatt – a charming cozy mystery – hasn’t gotten much attention yet, and it has the potential to become a beloved cult hit.

If you enjoy cozy mysteries like Murder, She Wrote, Rosemary & Thyme, Murdoch Mysteries, and Father Brown, or lighthearted shows like White Collar and Royal Pains, you’ll likely love Mrs. Hatt. This series, which ran for two seasons on Epix, follows Cherish, an amateur detective who solves crimes with her ex-police chief husband. Cherish is a gardener known for her hats – especially those that shield her from the sun – and she has a knack for uncovering mysteries in her quiet New England town. The show’s playful tagline, “What will she dig up?,” hints at the constant stream of surprising discoveries – and bodies – she unearths while tending to her dahlias. It deserved a longer run.

In the sixth episode of The Comeback, Cherish watches a standout episode of the short-lived show Mrs. Hatt. The episode centers around Mrs. Hatt noticing something odd about her neighbor Charlie’s hydrangeas. Played by Paul Dooley, Charlie looks on in disbelief as Mrs. Hatt calmly explains the situation: “My hydrangeas are so tall, and yours and Nelly’s are much shorter,” she says. “I think these were recently replanted, which makes me wonder: What’s buried underneath?” Then, she delivers a shocking question: “And where is Nelly?”

It’s frustrating that shows like Mrs. Hatt don’t often receive the same critical praise as darker, more intense dramas, especially those focused on male characters and endless suffering. We often celebrate big-name series like Task or Down Cemetery Road as defining television today. But shows like Ludwig, Mrs. Sidhu Investigates, Vera, Shetland, and Mrs. Hatt offer something different – they’re comfortable and familiar, delivering satisfying crime stories and focusing on relatable characters striving for justice, kindness, and a little bit of hope in a harsh world.

The show Mrs. Hatt had the potential to run for many seasons – some critics even cherish a special baseball cap they received from the show’s original press releases. While it didn’t find a large audience outside of streaming services like BritBox and Acorn, the current TV landscape proves that shows can be unexpectedly revived, as seen with The Comeback. This gives hope that Mrs. Hatt might eventually get the third season it deserves, because in television, anything is possible!

The most promising sign for the future of the character Mrs. Hatt is Cherish’s clear fondness for the role. She’s repeatedly referenced Mrs. Hatt in public, even recreating a scene from The Comeback where she instructs a costume designer to avoid giving her character in How’s That? a hat – that’s Mrs. Hatt’s signature look! If you’re interested, it’s worth exploring the history of Mrs. Hatt or the original French series it came from, Madame Chapeau. Cherish believes the character had a lot of potential, saying, “People would’ve liked it!”

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2026-04-27 19:59