• "Sullivan's Crossing" brings Chad Michael Murray and Scott Patterson back to The CW.
• The small-town drama comes from the same team behind "Virgin River." 
• The cast spoke to Insider about bonding with each other and the draw of comfort TV.

Comfort TV fans, rejoice: There's another show for you from the minds behind Netflix's hit "Virgin River."

"Sullivan's Crossing" isn't technically new. The show was filmed for Canadian television in the summer and fall of 2022, and the first season already aired in its entirety on the Canadian network CTV earlier this year. But American audiences were only recently introduced to Maggie Sullivan (Morgan Kohan), Cal Jones (Chad Michael Murray), and Harry "Sully" Sullivan (Scott Patterson) when the first episode, "Coming Home," premiered on The CW on October 4.

The family drama reunites former "Gilmore Girls" stars Murray and Patterson and will make fans of the "Virgin River" feel right at home. It's based on a book series by the same author, Robyn Carr, and also shares its showrunner, Roma Roth.

In separate interviews with Insider approved to take place during the SAG-AFTRA strike via an interim agreement, Murray, Patterson, and Kohan discussed bonding with each other, the draw of comfort TV, and why fans of "Virgin River" will discover a unique type of satisfaction at the "Sullivan's Crossing" campgrounds.

Murray and Patterson actually share scenes for the first time in 'Sullivan's Crossing'

Although Patterson and Murray played critical roles in "Gilmore Girls" season one as Luke Danes and Tristan Dugray and had previously appeared in another film together, they told Insider they only shared a scene together for the first time in "Sullivan's Crossing."

"Whenever you can walk into an environment where you know people, it puts you a little bit more at ease," Murray told Insider of working with Patterson, calling him the "cool older uncle" on the "Gilmore Girls" set who was always rooting him and his costar Jared Padalecki on from the sidelines.

For Patterson, who had a larger and longer-lasting role on "Gilmore Girls" than Murray did, it was notable to see how the younger actor had grown and changed over the years.

"He's a lot more outgoing now. He's a father of three, he's married. Life changes you," Patterson said of Murray. He recalled both Murray and Padalecki asking him for advice on set, saying he felt like they were stars on the rise and reminded him of himself at their age.

"It's a breed of cat. We all recognized each other, I was just a little older than they were," he said.

Kohan, however, had to form relationships with both men from scratch. She plays Maggie, who comes to her dad Sully's campground to heal after some setbacks in her career as a neurosurgeon. There, she meets Cal, a mysterious camper on the grounds with deep-rooted secrets who has the potential to either help her heal or break her heart all over again.

Like Murray, Kohan described Patterson as having "funny uncle" energy. And she recalled being struck by Murray's charm when they ran into groups of drunk women who recognized him while celebrating bachelorette parties in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where "Sullivan's Crossing" was filmed.

"He was so kind and welcoming and generous with his time with everybody," she told Insider. "It was such a beautiful thing to see at the beginning of our relationship too, and being like, 'That's a solid guy.'"

Kohan avoided watching 'Virgin River' before portraying Maggie Sullivan

There are undeniable similarities between Carr's "Virgin River" book series and her "Sullivan's Crossing" series. Both Mel Monroe in the "Virgin River" books (played by Alexandra Breckenridge on Netflix) and Maggie Sullivan in the "Sullivan's Crossing" books are mourning lost pregnancies (though Maggie's loss from the books is not mentioned in the CW show so far), they're both in the medical field, and they both run away to a picturesque location to heal.

There are positives to all of those similarities, of course. Patterson pointed out the built-in audience with an appetite for comfort TV, while Murray noted that it's a unique experience when the location becomes its own character on a show.

Kohan, however, tried to stay away from doing any research for her role via "Virgin River." "I didn't want to get pulled into what I thought people would want from us," she told Insider.

A key difference between the women is that Mel runs away from her family to heal, while Maggie runs to her father.

But similarly to Patterson and Murray's old stomping grounds in Stars Hallow on "Gilmore Girls," the small-town vibe and tight-knit community on both shows is what makes them delectable comfort TV choices this fall.

"We need a slower pace moment. These shows show a simpler side of life," said Murray.

"Everybody wants to be seen, and loved, and supported by a community of people who understand them and want the best for them. So when you get to see that on TV, it's like you're drawn into it," Kohan reflected.

"Sullivan's Crossing" airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on the CW.

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