# Wildfire (2005)

> After juvenile detention, a teenager with a gift for horses finds a fresh start on a family-run ranch.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/2338

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 51
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, family
- Created by: Michael Piller
- Network: ABC Family
- Cast: Genevieve Padalecki, Micah Alberti, Ryan Sypek, Nicole Tubiola, Nana Visitor, Greg Serano, James Read, Andrew Hoeft
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439879/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: hopeful, warm, earnest, wholesome, sincere

## What critics say

Audiences rate Wildfire positively as a warm, character-driven family drama centered on horses and a ranch community.

## Synopsis

Wildfire (2005-2008) is an American family drama series created by Michael Piller for ABC Family. Eighteen-year-old Kris Furillo (Genevieve Padalecki), fresh out of a juvenile detention center, is trying to build a new life after a volunteer trainer recognizes her talent with horses and gets her a job at a family-run ranch. Her days are shaped by the demanding work of training horses, the household of the Ritter family, including Jean Ritter (Nana Visitor) and her son Matt Ritter (Micah Alberti), and the friction of a past she cannot fully leave behind. Her ambitions are simple and fragile: earn trust, keep her job, and prove she can belong somewhere. Across four seasons and fifty-one episodes, the series moves through a steady stream of ranch chores, personal rivalries, and romantic tangles among the ranch hands and neighbors. Its tone is warm, earnest and hopeful, with a wholesome rural sheen. Fans of Heartland and Everwood will find resonance in its blend of horse country and family drama.

## Shows like Wildfire

- [Life Unexpected (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/18487)
- [The Ranch (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/57844)
- [The Kicks (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/59963)
- [Finding Carter (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54523)
- [Everwood (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/1842)
- [Make It or Break It (2009)](https://ember.film/tv/16240)
- [My Perfect Landing (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/82198)
- [Free Rein (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/63181)
- [Blue Skies (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1104971)
- [It's Not Like That (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1105043)

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