Nashville
premiered on ABC television last Wednesday at 10pm. If you’re anything like me, you had to be
begged or bribed to watch it because of the title. It’s not that I dislike Country music. In fact I love country folk and bluegrass and
even some alt country. But I never “got”
the Southern ambiance, and I wondered if this series would make any sense to
me. I once spent at year attending school
in Knoxville, Tennessee and let me just say that while the Blue Ridge mountains
are beautiful, a football obsessed town is not a good cultural “fit” for this
native New Yorker.
Therefore I’m happy to say that you can be southern,
northern, western or even urban and still find something compelling about this
series. It stars the always fascinating
Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights, American Horror Story) as the fading Queen
of country music, Rayna Jaymes. Britton
does her own vocals and she sounds terrific.
Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) stars as her baby faced nemesis
Juliette Barnes. She’s an oversexed,
auto-tuned monster, as cute as a Pomeranian but with the bite of a Pit
Bull. Juliette grew up in a troubled
home; absent Dad, Meth addict mom. She was
destined to be the terror of her local trailer park, but is instead a fast
rising cross-over star ala’ Taylor Swift.
In her spare time she’s starting a business empire by marketing her own
perfume and her new hobby is making Rayna’s life a living hell. When they are first introduced she tells
gushes that the aging Rayna is “her Mom’s favorite”. There will be no further
need to watch Internet cat videos when these two get their claws out. It’s a more interesting rivalry than the one
between the cast members Karen and Ivy on NBC’s Smash, mainly
because cattiness is a blood sport for some southern girls and they are very,
very good at it. If you have any doubt,
see Vivian Leigh’s performance in the classic movie Gone With The Wind. She was
all fiddle-dee-dee on the outside and “I’m gonna rip out your eyeballs and feed
them to your little sister” on the inside.
There’s more tension from Rayna’s family members too, so
she will be quite stressed out in this series.
Her husband is a stay-at-home Dad who just happens to be running for
Mayor. Her father Lamar Wyatt (Emmy
winner Powers Boothe) is a wealthy industrialist and political king maker. He’s a control freak and a snake but will
make a convincing villain for the series if they let him become a bit less
one-dimensional. Layered bad guys are
all the rage these days (Dexter, Breaking Bad, Mad Men) so I hope they will
allow Lamar to evolve.
If you’re able to access the pilot that aired last week
(you can stream it from the website), pay close attention to the last ten
minutes. We’re introduced to Gunnar
Scott (Sam Palladio) an affable song writer with a fierce falsetto and a
remarkable resemblance to a young Bruce Springsteen. He’s paired with Scarlett O’Connor, a shy gorgeous
poet who may herself be on the way to country music stardom. The alt country duet they sing is
mesmerizing. I predict a lot of real
life downloads for that song which (like all the music in Nashville) is
available on iTunes.
More fireworks are
anticipated in episode two. Juliette's making a video dressed in white Daisy
Dukes and a bustier. Rayna's manager wants to pair her on stage with an old
beau to spice up her lagging concert ticket sales. Save me a seat!
