One of the perks of running theTVaddict.com, aside from the millions thousands hundreds tens of fans and the occasional trip to Hollywood, are all the interesting things I get in the mail. For instance, yesterday I received the first six episodes of the recently cancelled HBO series 12 MILES OF BAD ROAD accompanied by a hand written note [see above photo].
Revolving around a wealthy Texas matriarch who must balance her booming real estate business and immense wealth alongside her [surprise!] dysfunctional family, 12 MILES OF BAD ROAD, at least on paper, seems like the perfect fit for the cable network that brought us THE SOPRANOS, SIX FEET UNDER and BIG LOVE. Unfortunately, HBO didn’t think so and decided to shut down production following the recent WGA strike. But not before six episodes were already in the can [which is TV speak for completed].
To their credit, executive producers Linda Bloodworth-Thomason [DESIGNING WOMEN, EVENING SHADE] and Harry Thomason are not about to give up so easily and have sent out the six completed episodes to critics across the country with the hopes of generating positive buzz and finding a new home for their fictional family.
The strategy may be paying off, with The Toronto Star’s Television Critic Rob Salem calling the show, “…beyond hilarious, cleverly written and flawlessly cast.” While Texas Monthly claims that BAD ROAD qualifies, “…as the most underrated show of the decade that almost no one has had the chance to see.”
Not having had the chance to watch the show in its entirety, I’m not about to weigh in just yet. But I will say this. In what is shaping up to be one helluva dreary summer in the TV department, would it have not made sense for HBO to fill the void left by the untimely delays of ENTOURAGE and BIG LOVE courtesy of the WGA strike by giving us a few hours to spend with the likes of 12 MILE’s Lily Tomlin, Mary Kay Place, Leslie Jordan and Gary Cole?
I mean at the very least, you know it’s going to be better than the train—wreck that was JOHN FRON CINCINNATI. 
