HART OF DIXIE Has Heart and Charm, But No Features

Article first published as DVD Review: 'Hart of Dixie - The Complete Second Season' on Blogcritics.

The CW’s Hart of Dixie is a charming, fluffy drama about a big city doctor who moves to a small town. Infused with quirky townspeople and traditions, sort of like Gilmore Girls, season two finds the good doc finally fitting into her surroundings and peers in the South. Personal relationships flare and falter, romance is rocky, and the recurring cast swells.

As season two begins, Dr. Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson) is sleeping with Wade Kinsella (Wilson Bethel), having turned down George Tucker’s (Scott Porter) offer of a relationship until George can get over Lemon Breeland (Jaime King). George soon moves on with Wade’s ex, Tansy Truitt (Mircea Monroe, Episodes), after a brief fling with Shelby (Laura Bell Bundy, How I Met Your Mother), who then begins dating Lemon’s father, Brick (Tim Matheson). Lemon’s ex, Lavon Hayes (Cress Williams), begins seeing his former beau, Ruby Jeffries (Golden Brooks, Girlfriends), though Lemon’s best friend, Annabeth Nass (Kaitlyn Black) has a crush on Lavon. So, basically, everyone eventually dates everyone else.

As with many dramas, the main character, Zoe, has a basic choice between two men, Wade and George, and that is the primary romance that most viewers care about. George is the more sensible choice, but Hart of Dixie decides to try out Zoe with the bad boy first, saving George for another season, though most will assume that George and Zoe will be together eventually, if not in the end.

Wade is more than a scoundrel, of course. He is a womanizer at the start, but actually really likes Zoe, and tries to change his ways for her, which he is at least partially successful in doing. Zoe doesn’t see that at first, though, and one of her faults is how she can be judgmental. It takes her a long time to realize that she’s mistreating Wade and start to give him a real chance.

Besides the main characters listed above, there are many memorable citizens in the town of Bluebell, who occasionally have their own plots that intersect with the larger story, which helps round out the world. Dorky Tom Long (Ross Philips) and hyper waitress Wanda Lewis (Mallory Moye) find true love early in the show’s run, and have quite the visually exciting wedding. Dash (Reginald VelJohnson) is often seen running the local events, and Lemon’s materialistic sister, Magnolia (Claudia Lee), causes trouble.

Most of the acting is campy, but that’s in keeping with the light-hearted tone of the series. Bilson is goofy, in a good way, fully committing to the part, and the supporting cast is fun. Hart of Dixie won’t make many’s “must-see” list, but it’s an enjoyable way to pass the time.

And occasionally, it does delve into some more serious fare. There’s a really moving bit with Wade’s father, Crazy Earl (Christopher Curry), in the Christmas episode, which rises above the typical quality of the drama. Lemon also shows real growth over the course of the season, slowly becoming less annoying and more of a strong, self-sufficient character. These elements are why I continue to watch Hart of Dixie, because if it ever realizes its full potential, and moves past the constantly fluctuating pairings, it could really be something. Even if it doesn’t mature, though, it’s not a bad program.


As one might expect, the season finale drops some big stuff, changing the landscape for season three, though surely everything will return to normal not too far into the junior year. Since the show came back on the air a week ago, watching the DVD now will allow you to jump right in, without the long wait to see what happens next.

The Complete Second Season does have all twenty-two episode from last year on five discs, but sports not a single special feature. That’s the sort of release some old shows without a ton of anticipation may do, but it’s baffling that a currently-running series would dare not offer any extras for their fans. Weirder still, the cast has released some very humorous stuff online, proving they are worthy of featurettes and shorts, but none of which is included here. Combined with a very simplistic menu system, that looks old and boring, it’s not a strong DVD contender.

Hart of Dixie The Complete Second Season will be released this Tuesday, October 15th.

No Friends for Episodes

Showtime's Episodes continues to provide chapters of a wonderful, ongoing story week after week. In the latest entry, Beverly (Tamsin Greig) and Sean (Stephen Mangan) finally reconnect, Matt (Matt LeBlanc) finds out what his former Friends co-stars really think of him, and Morning (Mircea Monroe) gets a fix to her problem.

Poor Morning. It's interesting that Episodes takes someone so pretty and tarnish her so. On modern television, many of the actors are of above average beauty, and especially in Hollywood, looks mean a lot. Yet, Episodes is brave enough to not only screw up Morning's prettiness for a single episode, but to draw it out in an extended arc. Kudos to the writers and Monroe for going down this path, terrifically skewering this tradition of the industry.

Of course, Monroe isn't the only pretty face on Episodes. Los Angeles is full of them, and several more appear on the show. Matt's current problem is one in particular named Labia (Sophie Rundle), who shows a lot more than her face. She is Matt's stalker, and this week, she is prancing around his kitchen in only a pair of panties, baking him cookies. One would think that Matt, horn dog that he is, would like this turn of events, and he doesn't complain too loudly. But he does kick her out.

Matt is a player, and this is the reason that he can't embrace Labia. It's not that she's too crazy for him, which should be the main sticking point. It's that he doesn't want to only sleep with her, even if she is hot, and he doesn't want her hanging around constantly, which is what would happen even more after sex.

However, how Matt treats Labia also reveals his good side. Yes, he does threaten to call the cops. But that isn't his immediate response. And he tries really hard to get her to leave without threats at first. He isn't overly mean. He's tough, but fair.

Until he tosses off the one-liner "But you didn't!" in response to her assertion that she would die for him, which does go kinda low, considering they met when she was a Make-A-Wish kid with cancer.

This inability to resist the insult, and not even realize how wrong it is, is a major theme in Matt's life. He obviously doesn't consider it a big deal, but his former Friends co-stars do, none of them agreeing to appear in the show within a show, Pucks! Nor in Episodes for that matter. One wonders if perhaps the reason viewers only see Matt's side of the conversation is because it kind of ruins the "real" Matt in the show if those other Friends, who surely don't actually hate Matt, who is playing a caricature of himself, are glimpsed in the episode.

One Friends guy, James Michael Tyler (himself), who played ever-present Gunther, does come on Pucks! Matt is anything but grateful, taking some misplaced anger out on Tyler. Why can't Matt ever just say thanks? Why does he push? What drives this need to be liked, which is counterproductive, considering the way that he goes about achieving it?

Matt takes advantage of the couple of people that do not currently hate him, but probably will again soon enough, when he gets Sean and Beverly to write a speech he's supposed to give in honor of the slimy Merc (John Pankow). Matt acts like he appreciates their efforts, but wants the script early so he can send it back for rewrites if he's not pleased, which goes against the spirit of a favor. If he treats everyone like this, it's no wonder he's alone!

Sean and Beverly find it exceedingly difficult to write something nice about Merc, give what a low life, two-faced, scum bag he is. But they don't accept the job for Merc, and they don't really do it for Matt, either, though their innate generosity and kindness, not yet completely eroded by Hollywood, do probably play a small part. Instead, they do it to spend time together, as each has shown a tenderness to their ex-spouse as of late.

It must be incredibly hard to work so closely with an ex. Normally, when a couple breaks up, they can go their separate ways. Sean and Beverly still have to write Pucks! Somehow, they've found a way to be more than civil towards each other, which makes their reunion inevitable. But because this is a TV show, there must be a number of bumps and misunderstandings along the way.

Which is why, in the middle of getting busy, Sean stops and refuses to go through with it, not ready to forgive Beverly for her accidental indiscretion. It's a tease to viewers, who want them together, but not an unexpected one. Sean has already had a little taste of another woman, and Beverly has Morning's brother in the wings, so that'll kill some more time. The two have to get back together. Just not yet, of course.

Episodes also stars the hilarious Kathleen Rose Perkins. Catch new episodes Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET on Showtime.

If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter! Check out my new website, JeromeWetzel.com! First published on TheTVKing

More Episodes to delight

Showtime's EPISODES is a terrific show not nearly enough people are watching, featuring some fantastic performances. Season two premiered last night, picking up four months after season one left one. It's time for the Pucks premiere, and Merc (John Pankow) throws a party. The show is getting terrible reviews, but the ratings for week one are fantastic. Is this good news for Bev (Tamsin Greig), who knows that returning home to England after a canceled series will mean losing separated husband Sean (Stephen Mangan) forever? Or is it bad news, as she won't be happy to learn that Sean is now with Morning (Mircea Monroe), and they will all have to continue working together?


The marriage issues in EPISODES stem from a comedy of errors. And while the dramatic pathos are moving, it's also pretty funny to see how things unfold. How perfect that Morning, the woman Bev believed Sean had an affair with, is now going to be dating him! And while Sean fought so hard to behave himself in season one, season two finds Beverly being the one to try to work on the marriage.


Will she be successful? They live apart, but still work together. If the great ratings of Pucks are maintained, they could be together for years, which would allow plenty of time for the couple to eventually work things out. However, being that EPISODES' main characters have terrible luck, it's much more likely that Beverly and Sean will soon be fighting for a series they don't even like, and there is no telling how the stress and camaraderie of being in the trenches together again might change their minds and behavior.


Oh, yes. Pucks, the show Bev and Sean make in EPISODES, sucks, as one review so "cleverly" points out in a rhyming headline. Viewers are told this over and over again, which does save the writers from having to worry about making the scenes of the show within a show that are shown any good, a lesson they perhaps learned from the short-lived Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, whose comedy sketches were not nearly as funny as they should have been.


Morning foreshadows what might be a turning point when she mentions in the season premiere that she was part of a sitcom that had very high ratings the first week, then plummeted. Will the same thing happen with Pucks? Can Sean and Bev unite to save it, despite Merc and the network's interference, which is why the American remake of their British comedy hit is so bad in the first place?


While the stakes of romance and ratings might be a draw for many viewers, its the performances that really sell episodes and drive the series. Mangan and Greig are brilliant, capturing a rare chemistry, and making much of the humor at their expense seem unintentional. They have an ease in the parts that really makes every situation seem authentic, and keeps viewers rooting for both, no matter how many mistakes they might make, or offenses they cause against one another.


The third wheel to their marriage is Matt (Matt LeBlanc), who proves he isn't just Joey from Friends. This version of the real Matt is snarky and kind of a jerk, willing to sleep with anyone's wife, because, after all, you don't c***block yourself. His worrying over how the couple's spat affects his friendship and working relationships with them reveal a huge ego and self-centeredness. Yet, his endearing efforts to win them back, including giving Sean a cake for his birthday, keep him from being completely despicable. Even when he ignores learning any lesson, and fools around with Merc's wife, Jamie (Genevieve O'Reilly).


Will Matt's tryst with Jamie hurt the series Pucks? After all, Merc may want to fire Matt immediately for the affair, even though Merc routinely cheats on Jamie himself. Or will he make Pucks even worse, and punish Matt by keeping him on? Or maybe he won't even care, given his own indiscretion. Or maybe this will allow Merc to take advantage of some clause in his pre-nup, which will let him cut Jamie off financially. Who knows, with EPISODES, which way it might go? This unpredictableness adds another element of greatness to the series.


It should be mentioned that Jamie is blind. Merc likely thinks he's getting away with his cheating because Jamie can't see, which makes Merc the sole character fans of EPISODES can really hate. Jamie's actions could simply be justifiable revenge, rather than an attraction to Matt, because she knows full well what Merc is up to. After all, she can't be completely clueless, right? O'Reilly plays the character in such a way that it's impossible to tell, but Jamie probably is wiser than she lets on.


And then there's Carol (Kathleen Rose Perkins), Merc's employee and mistress. Interestingly, although Carol is growing to dislike Merc's games at the end of season one, she seems doubled down in the relationship as season two begins. I guess you can't help who you love. This probably comes from low self-esteem, but yet again, Carol stays a character viewers root for, mostly because of her friendship with Beverly.


Characters that are easy to hate but still enjoyable to watch, are nothing new on television. Seinfeld made it an art form years ago. Somehow, though, EPISODES seems fresh, with a completely new take on an old standard. Maybe it's the cheeky humor and the self-awareness. Maybe it's the sharp writing and the subtle nuances the actors bring to the roles. For whatever reason, EPISODES is one of the best shows on this summer, and should not be missed.


EPISODES airs Sundays at 10:30 P.M. ET on Showtime.

Episodes - "Episode Seven" (Season Finale)

     Seven episodes of Showtime's / BBC Two's Episodes is not nearly enough! Despite a weak and confusing premiere, the following six episodes are gems of comedy genius, delightfully played by a very gifted cast. Matt LeBlanc's Matt LeBlanc is funny, but not over the top. Stephen Mangan's Sean is the exact combination of neurotic and faithful needed. Tamsin Greig's Beverly is the right mix of jealous and uptight. Kathleen Rose Perkins's Carol is pitch perfect. Even John Pankow's Merc is a deliciously sleazy, yet not quite villainous, boss. I know a couple of those parts were recast as the show was being made, but I can't imagine anyone else in any of those five roles.

     Which makes me incredibly sad that the series has not yet been picked up for a second season. The finale may have ended with the show-within-a-show, Pucks, getting a series order, but the fate of Episodes still hangs in limbo. I am most displeased, as it is a clever and unique show, and I see no reason at all why it shouldn't be renewed. Except for ratings, of course, which have been so-so, despite mostly good critical reviews.

     The characters are mostly realistic. I can definitely see how Beverly ends up in bed with Matt at the end of "Episode Six", believing as she did that her husband Sean has been cheating on her with Morning (Mircea Monroe). I can also see why Matt doesn't try that hard to set her straight, as the show's Matt is very much a horn dog, and the detestation Matt and Beverly had for each other would likely make very passionate intercourse. Their hatred also didn't let me see it coming, unlike other hate-duos before them, since I didn't think the straight-laced Beverly would ever stray outside of her marriage, no matter the circumstances, until I saw it unfold that way it did. The writers managed to find the only set of variables that could have driven Bev to do the act.

     I'd also like to heap praise on the way that Sean discovers the indiscretion. Matt and Tamsin both mix the right balance of guilt and dishonesty that Matt and Bev would show. But neither confesses. Sean puts together the pieces as anyone would be able to. It wasn't a stretch that Sean figures things out, or that Bev and Matt seek to get away with it. Other shows would have lowered themselves to spell things out more explicitly, but not this one. I have a hard time finding just the right words to write this, but somehow the whole series of events seemed more natural and true than I've ever seen the situation done before. And boy, has that situation been done over and over before!

 

     Which is why I want to see more Episodes. It somehow scratches an itch I didn't even know needed attention. It's comedy at its best, and simply one of the best made shows on television. Please, please, please renew Episodes!

Article first published as TV Review: Episodes - "Episode Seven" (Season Finale) on Blogcritics.

For frequent mini-reviews and occasional TV news, follow Jerome on Twitter.

Episodes - "Episode 1"

For frequent mini-reviews and occasional TV news, follow Jerome on Twitter.


     I love the concept of Showtime and BBC2's Episodes. As someone who likes both British and American television, and will gladly watch both versions when one of the 'across the pond' shows is remade here, a tongue in cheek look at a remake is clever. I'm not sure about the execution, though. After only viewing the first episode (of seven), I felt like the whole story barely got started.

     The episode began when Beverly (Tamsin Greig) left her husband, Sean (Stephen Mangan) after catching him wanking to another woman. Beverly then almost crashes her car into Matt LeBlanc (Matt LeBlanc, as a pseudo version of himself). The sequence is extended, taking up a good portion of the episode, but fairly unconnected to the rest, which takes place seven weeks earlier. I'm sure that the scene is going to be the end of the season, but it should have been much shorter, or left out entirely. It was too long to be a simple hook, and didn't explain anything at all.

     Most of the episode concerned Bev and Sean coming to America to remake their popular British show, Lyman's Boys. They are wooed into a deal by Merc Lapidus (John Pankow, Mad About You), a shady Hollywood exec who just tells them what they want to hear. He hasn't actually watched their show, though he raves about it, which does provide one funny line after they find out that tidbit. He also presents the show to them as a done deal that they will control, and when they arrive, they discover otherwise. In fact, they don't learn the truth from Merc, who has little time for them, but from Carol (Kathleen Rose Perkins), who is really going to be working with them on a regular basis instead.

     The first big obstacle, and apparently the main story of the first episode, though it got only a small portion of the screen time, is that Merc won't sign Julian Bullard (the legendary Richard Griffiths) to reprise his role as the star of Lyman's Boys. According to Bev and Sean, Julian is the show, but Merc, again, only pretending he'd watched, insists Julian fly all the way out to L.A. to audition for the part, and then proclaims him 'too English'. When Julian tries re-reading with an American accent, even he knows it's a disaster. Instead, Carol suggests Matt LeBlanc for the role, which the couple are less than thrilled about. I couldn't even tell if they knew who he was.

     And that's really all we got. There was barely any Matt in the episode, even though this has been billed largely as his vehicle. A confused couple shows up in America and doesn't get what they expect. That's how I felt as a viewer, confused and my expectations not met. I'm not saying this is a bad show, but I don't know that it's a good one. I'm more left with, 'That's it?' than a solid opinion. I feel like more of the series must be viewed before I can render judgment. I like Bev, Sean, Carol, and even Merc as characters, but I don't feel I've even met Matt yet.

     There is another cast member as well, Head of Comedy, Morning Randolph (Mircea Monroe). Perhaps because she was not yet fleshed out either, I felt like she was a one-joke comic relief player. Not that there's anything wrong with that, if it's done well, and I saw no reason to complain as of yet.

     I guess my biggest criticism is that I expect a pilot to set up the series for me, introduce me to the characters, let me know what to expect. As a pilot, "Episode 1" failed in most of that regard. It sort of felt like it assumed the viewer had prior knowledge, and just took off, not at a fast pace, but at an unexplained one. I'm interested enough to check out next week's offering, and hopefully I will have a better understanding then.

     Episodes airs Sunday nights at 9:30 p.m. on Showtime.

Article first published as TV Review: Episodes - "Episode 1" on Blogcritics.