Signed, Sealed, Delivered (TV series)

Signed, Sealed, Delivered (2014), created by Martha Williamson, is an American-Canadian Hallmark television series consisting of twelve TV films and ten hour-long episodes. It centers around a group of postal detectives who work for the Dead Letter Office in Denver, Colorado, as they attempt to deliver lost mail and, in the process, change lives in ways they never anticipated.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered (pilot film)

Oliver O'Toole: Sometimes, I wonder who mailed the first letter. Who was that brave soul who put a stamp on an envelope and released it into the world, trusting a stranger to deliver it across the miles and across time?

---

[as Oliver arrives at the Denver Main Branch Post Office]

Oliver: There it is. A beacon of hope to those who still put their faith in the power of a piece of paper and a 46-cent stamp. And behind every letter stand thousands of dedicated heroes who still fight the good fight through rain and snow and fiscal cliffs to deliver every note, every card, every letter. ...And I am one of them. The few... the proud... the postal. I work for you, whoever you are, or whoever you were.

---

Oliver: I went on a pilgrimage to the National Postal Museum two years ago. It was glorious.

Shane McInerney: I can't say that I ever went.

Oliver: I got lost in it.

Shane: Did you go alone?

Oliver: No. Well, sort of. I, uh, I took my wife, a lovely person whose interests extended far beyond the written word to, shall we say, the somewhat decadent. We were standing in front of the Pony Express exhibit. I turned around; she wasn't there anymore. I looked everywhere for her. I finally gave up. I went back to the Holiday Inn Express and, um, waited for her. She never came. I was just about to call the police when I noticed that little red light blinking on the phone. She left this message: she said that she was tired of being married to a government official, and she figured, since she was in Washington, DC, it was the closest she had ever been to Paris, so she was getting on a plane and moving to France.

Shane: I'm so sorry, Oliver. Did she ever come back?

Oliver: Not yet. The last thing she said on her message was, "I'll send you my forwarding address. Au revoir!" Actually, she pronounced it "or rev-or," but I assume her accent's much improved by now.

Shane: Don't you think you've waited for her long enough?

Oliver: I believe in keeping promises. I am, after all, a gentleman.

Shane: That you are.

Episodes

Time to Start Livin'

Oliver O'Toole: "All's well that ends well," hmm?

Shane McInerney: No, no. You do not get to quote Shakespeare tonight. Shakespeare never had to thwart a drug cartel.

Oliver: "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon 'em."

Shane: You're impossible.

Soulmates

[Oliver asks Shane to be his partner in his dance lessons]

Shane McInerney: Oliver, why don't you just ask one of your friends, or a neighbor, or one of the nice ladies at your church?

Oliver O'Toole: I don't want a nice lady, I want you— [awkwardly cuts himself off too late]

Shane: Oh. Hm.

Oliver: What I mean is that you and I have danced before, and you are not entirely without grace.

Shane: [sarcastically] Oh, be still my heart.

Oliver: I would very much appreciate it, Ms. McInerney.

Shane: Okay, Oliver. I will.

The Masterpiece

Norman Dorman: [reading from Rita Haywith's book, Renita Hayweather: Frontier Duchess] "As they floated over the Rockies, aloft in their hot air balloon, the Duchess whispered a great truth into Mr. D'Lorman's expectant ear: 'Life is for the taking if you only have the courage to listen to the bidding of your heart. Unless your heart is messing with you, in which case you really can't trust your heart at all.'"

The Edge of Forever

[after Shane has just informed Oliver that his estranged wife signed a three-year lease in Paris]

Oliver O'Toole: How dare you? How dare you invade my privacy? And my wife's? With that horrible machine and that insatiable curiosity of yours? I assume that's what you did: looked up my wife's comings and goings. Just because you have the means to do so, just because you can?!

Shane McInerney: Because I care, Oliver! I watch you check that stupid Paris box every single day, telling yourself that she must have sent a forwarding address, and convincing yourself that it just got lost in the mail, and, someday, it'll find its way back to the Dead Letter Office and—

Oliver: So what?!

Shane: So what? So you can stop living in limbo and start living your life!

Oliver: It's my life to live! Why couldn't you mind your own business? Just let... let...

Shane: ...Nature take its course? I'm sorry, Oliver. I am truly sorry, but this bird has flown, my friend.

Oliver: This is how friends behave?

Shane: I don't know. I don't know. I don't—I've never had a friend like you before.

Oliver: Yes, well... you may presume too much.

Shane: [after a stunned pause] Maybe so.

The Future Me

[Rita delivers her speech at the Miss Special Delivery Pageant]

Rita Haywith: Some people think that the Post Office is a relic of the past, just waiting to be squashed like a bug by its new competition. But you know what? Bugs can surprise you. I think we can learn a lot from the South Pacific tree lobster. It's not beautiful, like a butterfly. It can't create whole societies like an ant, or spin webs and trap you like a spider. To tell you the truth, I don't know what it can do. But I know what it can't do. Its shell is so tough that it can't be squashed. Once you know how strong you are, that no matter how tough it gets, you can't be squashed, you stop worrying about all the things that you can't do, and you start dreaming of all the things that you can do.

Dark of Night

[Norman arrives at the ceremony at the Mailbox Grille, wearing a black suit and sunglasses]

Norman Dorman: Uh, barkeep? May I have an Arnold Palmer? Shaken, not stirred?

Oliver O'Toole: Norman, we were growing concerned.

Norman: Ah. Thank you.

Shane McInerney: I see you dressed for the occasion.

Norman: Ah, yes. I often dress... for occasions. Rita? May I buy you an Arnold Palmer?

Rita Haywith: Why, yes, please, with an umbrella, please.

The Treasure Box

[Oliver and Shane are trapped in the bank vault]

Shane McInerney: Ugh, I've got to do something to keep myself from going crazy. Let's play a game. Okay, I will say something and you say the first thing that comes into your head. Ready?

Oliver O'Toole: No.

Shane: Door.

Oliver: Knob.

Shane: Window.

Oliver: Washer.

Shane: Car.

Oliver: ...burator.

Shane: Ha! That's a Norman answer.

Oliver: [chuckles] I know.

A Hope and a Future

Shane McInerney: It must be very exhausting, always trying to find ways to say "I love you" without actually saying "I love you."

Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas

[as they make preparations for the Christmas pageant]

Norman Dorman: ...And Shane, you will be over here above the stable.

Shane McInerney: I'm sorry, I'm what?

Norman: You're the angel.

Shane: No. No. No! I'm helping Jordan design set. I'm no angel.

Oliver O'Toole: A very provocative thought, Ms. McInerney.

---

Jordan Marley: I notice that you call Rita "Rita," but you call Shane "Ms. McInerney?"

Oliver: Yes, well, uh, it started as an office formality, but, uh, it just continued. Don't know exactly why I do that.

Jordan: I think you do. She's a very special lady.

Oliver: [hesitantly] Yes, she is.

---

Oliver: I will make my way home, or get a ride with someone, after I clean up. The bear may have to stay a day or two.

Shane: Just make sure he gets home before New Year's. He's a party animal.

Oliver: That was a terrible joke.

Shane: [laughs] I know.

From Paris with Love

[Oliver and Shane discuss his marital difficulties]

Oliver O'Toole: There is so much I could have done and I didn't. And I don't know why.

Shane McInerney: Because it hurt. And it froze you up. You're like the snowman I saw in the park on my way in this morning. And he's just stuck there, left behind by someone who made him that way. All he can do is wait for the thaw before he can change.

Oliver: But... then he melts.

---

[final lines, as Oliver and Shane observe a crocus poking out of the snow]

Oliver: It was a long winter, but spring is almost here.

Shane: It's coming.

Truth Be Told

[when Oliver finally opens up with his father]

Oliver O'Toole: I was thinking about that slide in the park. I told you I didn't remember it, but... I did. I remember thinking... how scared I was. I was too embarrassed to turn around and climb back down, and I was too scared to pull off and slide down, so I just, I sat there. And Mama got so mad. So mad. Finally she said, "Well... I guess we're just gonna have to leave you here. Bye, Ollie." She just walked away. But...

Joe O'Toole: But?

Oliver: You just... you sat down, right on the ground. And you said something like... like...

Joe: "Take your time, Ollie. I'm not going anywhere."

From the Heart

[as Ryan Hallett is about to reunite with Madison Alstrup, who is terminally ill]

Ryan Hallett: I want to tell her the truth and I want to tell her I'm sorry. I just don't know how to tell her goodbye.

Norman Dorman: [steps forward shyly] Uh... Um... When Abraham Lincoln was 26 years old, he went to visit a woman who may or may not have been his fiancée. Nobody's ever been able to prove it. We do know that she was dying of typhoid, so he had gone to say goodbye to her. Nobody knows what they said to each other that day, but after he left, he was never the same again.

Oliver O'Toole: Norman...

Norman: She told him—well, I like to think that she told him—not to dwell in the past, or blame himself for what he couldn't change. And no one could ever understand the special bond that they had. And I think that she told him that none of it would matter if he didn't carry on after she was gone. And I guess we both know that he did.

One in a Million

Oliver O'Toole: What good is a letter if we don't mail it?

Dudley Curly: What?

Oliver: Somewhere in these bags is a love letter a lady named Nikki mailed last Saturday because of these words you spoke to her. You understood that writing a letter and putting it in a mailbox is like handing your heart over to a stranger. Just like asking for love is a risk, or asking for attention or forgiveness, you have to mail the letter and risk whatever happens next, otherwise nothing happens. So whether anyone ever appreciates us or knows who we are, Mr. Curly, they will know what we stand for, and that matters to every single person who wrote every one of these letters.

Lost Without You

[as Rita and Norman reunite Topper and Sandy]

Rita Haywith: That is fourteen enchiladas' worth of happiness over there.

Norman Dorman: Mm. And worth every one.

Higher Ground

Shane McInerney: And tell me again why you moved my desk?

Oliver O'Toole: It was hard to look at every day.

Shane: So, you mean, you missed me.

Oliver: I mean what I say when I say it. Although I don't always say what I mean when I do say it, I mean it. For example, when I once said I hoped our first date wouldn't be our last, that was a true and transparent statement that, if we had ever actually completed a first date, would subsequently have been borne out in action, assuming you were in agreement, which, given your extended absence, you might understand my assumption that your intentions and mine were not in concert.

Shane: If you are suggesting that I didn't miss you—and I might be the only person on Earth who understands what you just said... [she takes out a bunch of letters and holds them up one by one] I wrote this one on the plane, with your pen, and talked about kissing you on the step. And the second one, I wrote, with your pen, after we landed, and told you that I... I wish I'd never left. [she starts crying] And the third one... the third one is about how afraid I am that I can't do what they need me to do. And the fourth one... is about how... I'm afraid I'm gonna die before I can see you again. And the fifth one is about deciding to survive it all so that I can come back to this crazy, stupid place. And now you've moved my desk, and you—

[Oliver abruptly pulls her in for a long kiss]

Home Again

[Rita and her father discuss her engagement to Norman]

Rita Haywith: Look, I know you don't like Norman...

Bill Haywith: I never said I didn't like him. I don't get him.

Rita: Well, you would if you tried. You just don't want to. I mean, ever since you guys got here, all he's done is try to be nice. The errand he's going on right now is to pick up Mom's glasses. He invited you for dinner. I mean, he milked a cow!

Bill: [sighs] He lost your engagement ring. What does that say about a guy? I'm sorry, it's just, it's not what I imagined for you.

Rita: Well, you wanna know what I imagined for me, Daddy? Somebody sweet and kind and generous and unselfish. Somebody who's right there to pitch in and help when you need it. Somebody who thinks that I make sense, no matter what I say. Somebody who doesn't care that I wear glasses because he sees the world the same way I do, and he always tries to find something beautiful in it. He's exactly what I imagined, Daddy... because I imagined somebody like you.

[Rita leaves; behind Bill, Joe steps forward]

Joe O'Toole: Forgot my keys.

Bill: Did you hear any of that?

Joe: Sure did. And I'm thinking maybe... you're the one who needs the glasses.

---

[Norman finally gives Rita her engagement ring, as her parents watch]

Norman Dorman: Rita?

Rita: Mm-hmm?

Norman: This ring looks like an owl, not just 'cause I know that you like owls, but... because owls are beautiful... and wise, like you. They're smart, like you. And they are so brave. It doesn't matter how dark it gets, they just keep flying through the night, because they can see what nobody else can. And so do you. [looks at her father] Probably because someone else who's wise and smart and brave... taught you how. And now I get to fly right alongside you forever. And I am so grateful for that. [puts the ring on her finger] With this owl ring, I thee... engage you.

To the Altar

Oliver O'Toole: Don't look at my tie. Look at my eyes. And listen to my heart.

Shane McInerney: [crying] Oh, Oliver.

Oliver: Marry me, and I will love you forever, and I promise I'll never wear this tie again.

Shane: [laughs through her tears] It's pretty awful.

Oliver: Uh, my father picked it out. I probably would have gone with something a little more—

Shane: Yes, Oliver. Yes, I—I will marry you and love you forever.

Oliver: [takes out a ring] This was my grandmother's. She was the finest woman I ever knew... until you.

Cast

• Eric Mabius — Oliver O'Toole
• Kristin Booth — Shane McInerney
• Crystal Lowe — Rita Haywith
• Geoff Gustafson — Norman Dorman

External links

• Official website