Direct from the pages of our brand new, just released, first annual, Fall TV Preview eBook appropriately titled “Thank Goodness It’s Fall” comes a closer look at ABC’s musically-infused nighttime sudser NASHVILLE.
In A Nutshell: Hitching her metaphorical wagon to bitchy rising star Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) may be the only chance fading country queen Rayna James (Connie Britton) has of saving her career.
Names You’ll Know: Britton (AMERICAN HORROR STORY, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS) continues to prove herself one of the small screen’s best assets; Panettiere does more with a simpering look than many can do with a page of bitchy dialogue; Jonathan Jackson (GENERAL HOSPITAL) gets a shot at primetime fame; and Powers Boothe (HATFIELDS & MCCOYS) does the kind of malevolent manipulations his characters do best.
What They Say: Executive producer R.J. Cutler hopes the fact that the show has a lot of moving parts will help it appeal to a wide range of viewers. “There’s music, there’s drama, there’s family story, you’re in the music business world, you’re in the political world. But at the core of it are these relationships, and they drive through everything.”
What Others Say: “While not as ostentatious and prurient with its drama,” writes TVLine.com’s Matt Webb Mitovich, “NASHVILLE should prove an able heir to relocated REVENGE’s Wednesday time slot.”
What We Say: It’s ironic that ABC, which has all but turned its back on soaps in daytime, continues to crank out fantastic primetime sudsers such as this offering, REVENGE, GREY’S ANATOMY and others. This one’s got it all: sex, politics, romance and more, all served up by seasoned actors who give the whole thing more heft than it might otherwise have. It’s too bad that we join Rayna and Teddy’s marriage in what appears to be the final stages of collapse, because while that makes for good drama, it’s tough to care a whole lot about the demise of a relationship that we have no investment in. But Panettiere is clearly having a blast shaking off her good-girl image, and Britton’s Rayna is a fantastic portrait of a life in crisis. 
For more great reviews, exclusive interviews with some of your favorite showrunners and actors, as well as printable calendars and Emmy ballots, please consider supporting theTVaddict.com by checking out our First Annual Fall TV Preview eBook.>>
