Scandal: Lessons in Chemistry and Arterial Spray

When I initially reviewed the pilot for Scandal, I was less than impressed but saw some definite potential if the show played its cards right.  Much to my delight, every episode since the pilot has been better than the pilot.  By a long shot.  I'm willing to wager Scandal will eventually fly off the rails, going the way of Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and every other Shondaland production, but as of the finale of the first season, it's an addictive soap with some captivating and even shocking drama at its core.

It took a few episodes for Kerry Washington to really settle into the role (a role which was tweaked here and there to better suit her strengths, methinks), but by the end of the season, I really found myself believing her as this character.  Early on, the show was a little to concerned with repeatedly telling me that she and her crew were badasses for me to believe any of it.  Subsequent episodes have decided to show me that they're badasses.  That's when I can believe it.  I don't need the show to tell me how to feel.  Present me with a compelling situation and I'll judge for myself.  To the show's credit, these last few episodes have been much less obnoxious in this regard and have let me determine the team's ability level. 

The show also delivered some much-needed backstory for these characters, particularly Olivia and the president.  In the pilot, it was hard to get a clear idea of their past or present relationship, but the show has definitely filled in a lot of holes and given a better foundation for their interactions.  This also helps me buy Washington as Olivia and makes her interactions with the president far less groan-worthy.  There's still quite a bit we don't know (why exactly did Olivia end it?  when?), but there's enough that I don't want to smack the characters in the face.  Even better, the chemistry between Olivia and Fitz is absolutely electric.  Seriously, the first couple of episodes didn't do them justice.  Shonda productions tend to focus a little too much on romantic entanglements for my tastes, but with Scandal, it really, really works.  The difference between a sexual relationship on Scandal and one on any other Shonda production is that with Scandal, it matters.  Random hookups on Grey's or Private Practice are only superficially consequential at best, but with Scandal, sexual dalliances form the fabric of the show's conflict and it affects everyone, the politics of the day, and potentially the country.
Indeed, the fact that Olivia and Fitz (a simply superb Tony Goldwyn) have such great chemistry only adds to the powder keg.  This isn't just some cheesy romance between an attending and a resident.  The consequences of a Grey's romance affects only those directly involved.  On Scandal, it could completly derail the entire US government.  It's not often that those kinds of stakes are tackled and I find I'm totally engrossed.  It has its soapy elements, to be sure, but at the same time, Scandal seems more grounded, more adult, and more sophisticated in its drama (even during it's most insane plot developments).  The flashback episode in particular helped establish not only the show's backstory, but the tone the series is trying to strike.  It had some cheesy elements here and there, but overall, the episode took its time, built a compelling foundation, and allowed the viewer to see these two characters interact before everything fell apart.  It wasn't some huge, crazy, over-the-top affair, but rolled out in a fairly logical way.  Indeed, Washington and Goldwyn have such palpable chemistry that it didn't need grand gestures.  It allowed itself to be slower and subtler, and that's definitely up my alley.  It also elucidated Fitz's loveless marriage to sociopath Mellie in a way that really helped explain the whole foundation of the show.  This is what the best flashback episodes should aspire to do:  inform the present narrative by fleshing out the past.  Not all the characters have received such a showcase yet, but Fitz and Olivia are the center of this story and are the most essential to everything that happens.  The flashback episode solidified their interactions and set up the crazy of the finale perfectly.

Seriously, I spent better part of the finale thinking, "Man alive, how are they going to make their way out of  this one!?" only to have the dominoes keep tumbling.  Billy's actions, in particular, have been pretty damn shocking, I must admit.  I totally didn't see it coming.  Any of it, really.  I liked him so much early on (they chose a particularly affable actor on purpose), so to see him plunge scissors into Gideon's neck was over the top, totally soapy, and completely awesome.  Except for the whole Gideon being dead aspect...  Note to Quinn (make that "Quinn"), DON'T PULL THE SCISSORS OUT!  Seriously, it's almost like she never appeared on all of Shonda's medical shows or something.  If you ever get impaled with something, for hell's sakes, leave it in!  Only medical professionals should be removing such things.  Anyway...  If nothing else, it proves that this show doesn't pull any punches and is absolutely willing to go several steps further than you'd ever expect.  At times, if felt like the writers had written themselves into such a quagmire that there was no way out, but Olivia would manage to find a way.  That's badassery I can appreciate.  And I didn't even need to be told.  Some of her plans seemed like truly terrible ideas, but by the end of  this season, I'm at the point where I trust that she has an endgame in mind and that she knows what she's doing.  Early on in the season, I would simply scoffed.  That's an impressive progression in only a handful of episodes.

As mentioned, only really Fitz and Olivia (and Huck to a certain extent) received a full showcase this season, but the over-arching narrative made up for it.  I'm confident they'll flesh out all the little clues we've received about these people over time, but for now, I'm too wrapped up in the scandal and intrigue to care.  Having seen the total destruction that Bill Clinton's affair spiraled into, not only for him and his presidency, but for the stability of the system overall, it makes Fitz's affair hit hard.  Knowing Mellie the way we do, no one can blame him for the affair, but as far as the public is concerned, he has the perfect marriage and any infidelity would be horrific.  Getting to see the behind-the-scenes events that led to the affair is extremely captivating.  I can't imagine Clinton's motivations were as complex or engaging, but it would be interesting to know just what needs to happen to risk your presidency for it.  With Fitz, the affair actually makes him more appealing as a character and more likable as a man and a president.  The final two episodes really hit this home.  He'd be totally willing to give up the presidency if it meant he could live a normal life, divorce Mellie, and finally be with Olivia.  Anyway you slice it, that's endearing, even if impractical. 

The show very wisely uses the politics of the day to shape the drama.  It also rather interestingly chose a conservative presidency to be at the center of the story.  There's something about the fact that he's a Republican that adds more layers to it (particularly his Bible-thumping vice president).  It manages to raise the stakes even more, knowing that an affair would hit Fitz's own constituency even harder than a more liberal president would.  The show uses Cyrus in a really compelling way to drive this home.  Some of his blustering edges on preachy, but overall, he raises issues in a realistic, salient way.  The fact that he's a gay man serving a Republican president tweaks the paradigm in a really pointed way that I appreciate.  Cyrus wants to make gains for the gay community, women, and minorities, and he's essentially working with the enemy to achieve this.  Fitz is technically conservative, which curries favor with a prominent sector of voters, but he's also open to civil rights issues in a way that most conservatives wouldn't be.  Cyrus is using this to his advantage and is willing to do anything to keep Fitz in office.  Arguably, I think he believes that a conservative president would have a better chance for making major civil rights advances than a liberal.  In modern American politics, senators and representatives are little children who will only side with their own.  Under Fitz's presidency, there's room for crossover that hasn't existed for years.  Cyrus knows this and is willing to kill people to protect it (the reveal at the end, that Cyrus had commissioned the hit on Amanda was fantastic).  As such, when Fitz just wants to tell the truth, resign from office, and live a normal life with Olivia, Cyrus is apoplectic.  His rationale is sound, and Olivia, a black woman, can see where he's coming from.  Fitz may very well be the key to social change and they both know it.

As a result, Olivia makes a deal with the devil (Mellie) to lie, fabricate, and manipulate their way out of this.  It was actually really heartbreaking when Mellie was outlining the plan to say it was her on the tape, to get pregnant asap, and retake her husband--all Fitz can do is stare at an embarrassed, beaten, crestfallen Olivia.  When he asks Olivia "Who are you?" it hits homes.  For as much relationship drama and soapy twists as this has in it, the consequences make it work.  It's not just romantic trouble, it's a matter of national policy, and that makes me care about it far more than I would an elevator ride with Derek and Meredith.  It also manages to pull the show out of the genre barrel and give it some teeth.  The show is willing to kill people off, destroy careers, and pull the rug out from under you, and I totally dig that.

The show isn't perfect, but it's a solid production with a clear vision and enough room to explore that it could very well provide many seasons of intrigue.  The "who is Quinn?" mystery brought up in the finale will likely be a centerpiece of next season, and I kinda can't wait.  Seriously, in terms of mystery, insane plot twists, and huge reveals, Scandal is giving Revenge a run for its money.  Its only 7 episodes in, but I think this could be a long-term contender.  If you haven't watch, or were turned off by the pilot, as I was, I'd suggest giving it another shot.  All 7 episodes are on Hulu, so if you're hankering for fairly delectable guilty pleasure, I'd highly recommend getting caught up.

TV Reviews: Scandal

(Bear with me, I actually watched this pilot over a week ago... The finer points might not have stayed in my brain. You know, like people's names and whatnot. Little stuff.)

This is going to be the short short version of my usual reviews. I'm trying to get back to blogging in a more active way, but life keeps preventing me from doing so.

Scandal stars Kerry Washington as a professional "fixer" who takes PR nightmares and makes them go away. She and her team are kind of the crew from Burn Notice, only instead of disarming bombs and getting rid of neighborhood drug dealers, she keeps compromising information out of the press and shuts up whistleblowers. This is a Shonda Rhimes production and aside from a lack of medical acumen, is exactly what you'd expect from Shonda.

Washington plays Olivia Pope, the best of the best, blah blah blah, who doesn't take guff from anyone and dishes it out with zeal. Again, not exactly blazing a new trail here. She's a former aide to the president and apparently used to be involved with him romantically as well. This is one of the many predictable elements of the pilot, but it also bears the most potential for the ongoing series. Having been spurned by her former lover, the most powerful man in the country, she has an axe to grind. This is where the ongoing story arc comes together. Aside from this, I suspect most of the show will be case-of-the-week type stuff which has never been of much interest to me in general.

The basic concept has some real potential even though the pilot itself was pretty bad. From minute one, the show is so hell bent on telling the viewer what complete badasses these people are that it forgets to give them much substance. Furthermore, if a character is actually cool, I don't need to be told. Raylan Givens is as cool as they come. The show didn't need to tell me that, they showed me that. Scandal simply tells the viewer what he or she is supposed to think about these people then hits them over the heads with it for 42 minutes. Yeah, yeah, I get it already! Telling me someone is cool pretty much automatically means I think they aren't which means that Scandal has a lot of work to do. The dialogue was so oppressive and clunky in this regard that is was actually laughable. Even after such a barrage and an A-plot to further convince me, I'm still not buying it. The cast is fine and all, and Desmond from Lost is particularly nice to have around (best part of the show, brother), but I'm still not convinced. I don't believe that Washington really is Olivia Pope. She didn't do a completely horrendous job and in general, she's a fine actress, I just don't think this was the right part for her.  At least not from what I've seen so far.  I don't know. I can see where she could convince me more over time, much like Mary from In Plain Sight did, but after just the pilot, not only do I not like her character, I don't believe in her character.

The supporting cast didn't get much chance to shine in the pilot and were mostly cookie cutter stereotypes that all such TV teams are required to have. We have the socially awkward computer genius, the attractive investigator, the no-holds-barred prickish alpha male, the charming, disarming womanizer, and the mousy new girl who's learning the ropes. Ugh. Speaking of mousy new girl, I realize it's not just Shonda who does this, but when a show so blatantly has a "I'm the new person who will act as the viewer's window into this world" it drives me absolutely crazy. For a writer, it's just a cheap, easy way to dump plot exposition with as little effort as possible. "I know, we'll just have a new person show up who needs everything explained to them a million times! Genius, I say!" Lazy, I say. I am more than happy to pick things up as I go along. I don't need it all explained from minute one, especially with a concept that is as seemingly obvious and straight-forward as this one. The supporting cast all did a decent enough job, I suppose, but honestly there wasn't much to judge. Desmond had the most prominent role and was by far the most likable character on the show, even if he is embodying yet another cliche. The characters are as basic as their inter-dynamics are and although there's certainly room to grow and adapt, the pilot alone didn't leave me desperate for more.

Oddly, the most promising aspect of the show and the most off-putting was Olivia Pope's relationship with the president, played by Tony Goldwyn. On the plus-side, establishing a universe for the show where the characters have such high-level connections opens some interesting doors and ups the stakes considerably. That said, if the writers don't tread lightly, they could easily write themselves into a hell of a corner. Hopefully though, they'll interlace high-level drama with the more story-of-the-week type elements and find a nice balance. While Tony Goldwyn does a very nice job as the president (and Jeff Perry does an even better job as the president's aide), some of his interactions with Olivia elicited an eye roll and a sigh. When they are talking in the oval office (or the like) and he backs her up into the corner, all her former bravado (that I was already having a hard time buying) melts away and she becomes this weak, simpering shell of a woman. Ugh. It was disappointing to say the least and only served to undercut her character in the most hackneyed way possible. It always seems to be the case with female characters. Oh, they can be effective and ballsy in one aspect of their lives, but they have to balance that with a vulnerable, pathetic side as well. I can appreciate that they were trying to give her some depth and layers, but for me and my brother, it just pissed us off. To go from a fiesty bulldog in your professional life to a scared, weak, almost submissive, doe-eyed idiot in your love life isn't depth. It's insult. Seriously, my brother was like, "Please tell me they're kidding." They were not. To the show's/character's credit, she managed to get away from the big strong man before completely compromising her position, but it was already teetering before she started breathily asking (not telling) him, "Please don't..." She seemed to get some backbone back toward the end, but the damage had already been done. When it comes to men, she's impressionable and weak-willed. The scenes from the coming episodes helped bolster my perceptions of her strength and character going forward, but here and now, I'm unimpressed. My brother and I spent pretty much the entire episode wishing that Gina Torres (Zoe from Firefly) were playing the lead role. Gina Torres is a badass. Gina Torres could put Ukranian mobsters in their place in a way I could believe. When it got to the scene with the president, I was like, "Oh man alive, now I really wish Zoe were playing this role. I'd love to see how she'd handle this (i.e. verbal evisceration or a knee to the groin)." To which my brother responded, "Zoe never would have been in this situation." Hear, hear. Kerry Washington is a lovely woman, and a fine actress, but this is just doesn't seem like the role for her (so far).

In terms of the story-of-the-week A-plot, it was predictable to say the least. In fact, at times it was so so obvious that we didn't think they would actually do it, but they did. There were no twists or turns or surprises that hadn't been telegraphed loud and clear at least a dozen times prior. The dialogue was fairly painful and clunky, but I'm hoping that's a product of the newness of the show. Maybe they'll settle in as the series continues? Here's hoping. Based on the potential of the concept, I'll give it another episode or two. There are a lot of shows out there that had terrible pilots and turned into excellent shows. The Vampire Diaries and In Plain Sight, in particular, come to mind. Can Scandal follow their lead? I'm skeptical, but willing to try.

I didn't hate this pilot, but I certainly didn't love it. My brother actively hated it. It has gotten to the point now that whenever a mediocre show comes on, he can't stop himself from saying, "You know, compared to Scandal, this is looking pretty good." I didn't hate it that much, but admittedly, I played Bejeweled during the really painful parts. Which... might mean I actually did hate it as much as he did...

On a final note, my brother and I happened to be discussing the lack of minority representation on TV prior to watching this pilot and while we very much appreciated that they cast an African-American woman as the lead, the cast as a whole is surprisingly white. We got to talking about it because we were noting the number of great characters on TV who are of Indian descent and it underscored to us how woefully underrepresented African-Americans are. What strikes me as odd is that Scandal, which is produced by Shonda Rhimes, an African-American woman who has frequently spoken out on this issue, has nearly as few minority characters as shows produced by a bunch of white guys (i.e. the vast majority of shows out there). Seriously, Scandal has two African-American characters. And that's it. The entire rest of the cast is white, which means the race ratio is nearly 3 to 1 whites to non-whites. Actually, make that whites to African-Americans. From what I recall, there were no other races included either. Now, I'm not saying that just because Shonda is African-American the whole cast should be as well, but I guess I would just expect a non-white writer to be more attuned to the problem and more devoted to representing faces of color on television, like she has with her other shows. Maybe it was a decision based on the politics of DC? Maybe it just kind of happened that way during casting? Whatever the reasons, I applaud Shonda for including casting an African-American as the basis for the show, but I would have liked to have seen (and expected) a bit more diversity throughout the cast.

Anyhow, it was disappointing pilot, but a promising idea. Here's hoping it settles in as the series continues. It has decent bones, and a promising concept, now it just needs to learn how to use them. If they can keep it more on the serialized side of format, I'm willing to forgive quite a lot. If they turn it into more of a procedural, I doubt I'll stick around for long.

So much for the short short version...

Pilot Grade: C-

ABC Pilots 2011: Volume 2 (fall comedies/midseason offerings)

It's dawning on me that the fall season is just around the corner and I'm in very real danger of not getting all the shows previewed in time. As such, I'm going to streamline and truncate the process. First and foremost, it has become abundantly clear that reviewing comedies in this kind of format is a lost cause. There just isn't enough to really indicate if a show is going to be funny or not (usually not). The 2 minute promo seems to do more justice to dramas, so unless there's a comedy that really stands out, I'll be sticking to their more serious, hour-long friends. I was tempted to keep the midseason slate to a minimum (what with them not showing up until January or February, but so many of the most promising options are relegated to winter that I can't.

ABC has several new comedies for fall, but most of them look to be hit or miss. Hopefully they pan out better in full than they do in the trailers, but some of them have no hope. I've linked to trailers for them in case you're really, really interested.

In short, Last Man Standing stars Tim Allen ('nough said) and looks unspeakably bad. As per his nauseating Home Improvement persona of yore, it's a show that has very little to say or do other than made broad, sweeping generalizations about the sexes and pretend they're hilarious. They are not. I have very little tolerance for the notion that women are in charge and men simply have to put up with them. No one forced you to get married and have kids, genius. Shows like this make men look stupid and useless and make women look like shrewish harpies. Um, yay? Not so much. Worst of all, I think I spied Caitlyn Dever (aka Loretta from Justified) playing one of his daughters. Geez, talk about trading down. Ouch.

Man Up follows in the men vs. women trend, but has a hell of a lot more potential. I'm not saying it looks like a surefire hit or anything, but after watching the Last Man Standing promo, this looks like pure gold. Again, with comedies, it's hard to tell, but this looks like it could be fun. It seems to be opting for men are children and women have to take care of them, which also does neither gender and favors, but at least it isn't as nauseating. Done in the right way, this could work.

Suburgatory appears to have the most potential of the bunch. My good friend Michael Ausiello really enjoyed the pilot, and based on the promo, it appears to have more edge and perspective than ABC's other options. A lot of the notes being hit seem to be aiming for Popular, which is a show I loved, but which have become pretty prevalent lately, so they don't seem quite as fresh. That said, asking if team spirit is something that will clear up on its own wins them a hell of a lot of points. I'm intrigued.

Work It features men in unconvincing drag, because, you know, there's nothing funnier than men dressed as women. I had a class in college called "Queer Theory" where we dissected why it's oh-so-hilarious for burly men to dress up as women and yet why when women dress like men, it isn't funny at all. What it boiled down to was that people see it as men reducing and degrading themselves for comedic effect, but see women dressing as men as powerful and confident. What could possibly be more ridiculous than a man wanting to dress like a woman? Hilarious, I say! Yeah, no. This looks absolutely terrible, and for more reasons than gender-coding, but its basic premise alone is completely cringe-worthy. Pass.

Midseason, of course, has the comedy I'm most excited about. Why or why are the networks doing this? See below for the sum-up of shows that won't premiere till January or February. Oy.

With the fall comedies quickly out of the way, here are ABC's midseason dramas:

THE RIVER

Description: Stars Bruce Greenwood (John from Cincinnati), Leslie Hope (24), Eloise Mumford (Lone Star), Joe Anderson (The Crazies) and others. Written by Michael Green (Kings) and Michael R. Perry (Persons Unknown). Executive producers include Oren Peli and Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity) and Steven Spielberg.



First Impressions: This looks like a solid production with an interesting bent, but I'm not sure it'll be my cup of tea. I've never been one for the Blair Witch-y, Cloverfield-y fake documentary format and I generally find thrillers to be less than thrilling. That said, it's not your typical network television fare and I'm always looking to add something new to my rotation. I have a feeling this will struggle in the ratings department, however, and that it will likely get lost in the shuffle. All in all, this feels more like a feature film than a television show, which, speaks to the production quality, but also speaks to the narrative. It's hard to tell from this particular promo, but I'm just not sure how good a series this will make. In short, it's too early to make a snap judgment with this one. It's the kind of show that will either be incredibly well done or will be a disaster. From what I've seen so far, it's likely the latter, but even if its a home run in general terms (good cast, interesting premise, high production values), it just doesn't strike me as the kind of show I'll be invested in week to week.


SCANDAL

Description: Stars Kerry Washington (Ray), Henry Ian Cusick (Lost), Tony Goldwyn (Ghost), Guillermo Diaz (Mercy), Columbus Short (Studio 60), Darby Stanchfield (NCIS) and others. Based on the career of crisis management consultant Judy Smith, who serves alongside producers including Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice) and Betsy Beers (Grey’s Anatomy).



First Impressions: First thought? Oooh, she's sassy! [in mock tone] Second thought? Desmond!!! Okay, so here's the deal. This is a Shonda Rhimes production. Citing a long list of precedent, there are certain aspects of the show which we can all assume will be there, whether you like it or not. That said, this looks to be a farther step out of her mold than usual. At the very least, viewers will be spared yet another medical drama and even better, we won't have to endure the trials and tribulations of newbies on the job. Kerry Washington is lovely and appears more than capable of anchoring the show. Her character has a bit too much in the "she's amazing, she gets the job done no matter what" department, but that's to be expected with this kind of concept. More importantly, Desmond. Oh, how I love Henry Ian Cusick and I'm honestly pretty excited to see him back in action, even if sans delectable accent. I'm also a big fan of Joshua Molina, but it doesn't look like he's a regular. What it does look like is that the show appears to value a good guest actor and that can mean the difference between memorable episodes or terrible ones, especially if this is in any way a procedural. I'm hoping, and from the promo it appears to be the case, that this is a serial drama and doesn't pen itself in by procedural conventions. If it can truly break out of Shonda's mold and take its own unique spin, this show could be pretty engaging. I'm not willing to bet the farm or anything, but this looks far and away like Shonda's most promising new project in years.

On the comedy end of the spectrum, ABC has some serious contenders slated for midseason. Why they're holding them to January, I'll never know, but I guess they got the memo that all the major networks seem to have gotten. Oy.

At any rate, here are the midseason comedies:

APARTMENT 23

Description: Stars Dreama Walker (The Good Wife), Krysten Ritter ('Til Death), James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek), and others. Nahnatchka Khan (American Dad) and Dave Hemingson (Traffic Light) penned the pilot and will produce along with Jeffrey Morton (Traffic Light).



First Impressions: Okay, I have two sets of first impressions for this one. When the new slate of shows was initially announced, this show didn't have a trailer so much as a hilarious clip of James Van Der Beek basically being himself on the show, and capitalizing on his Dawson days. It was pretty damn funny. The trailer certainly points to some potential, but it's that clip in my head that has me excited about this show. Well, not the only thing, but its front and center (and no, I couldn't find it on youtube--they seem to have scrubbed it from the internet). Anyway, aside from Dawson, we have Dreama Walker who, after devious turns on Gossip Girl and The Good Wife, has really proven herself as a formidable actress. She is an absolute pro at playing vengeful and cunning, so her battles with the equally wonderful Krysten Ritter should be kinda sorta awesome. Krysten is wonderful in just about everything and can play it straight, comedic, or completely insane at the drop of a hat. The website I pulled the cast list from has her main credit listed as 'Til Death, but that really shouldn't be her claim to fame. When I cite a love of Krysten Ritter, I'm talking about her roles on Veronica Mars and Breaking Bad, thanks. In short, I'm more excited about this show than I have been about a comedy in a long time. We'll have to wait a couple more months to see if it actually pans out, but so far so good. The only way I think Dreama could have more going for her is if she and Eli Gold were granted a spin-off. Now that's a show with an automatic spot on my ever-crowded regular rotation.


GOOD CHRISTIAN BITCHES
(which was retitled Good Christian Belles because the brass at ABC has no guts, and then retitled GCB, because Good Christian Belles was terrible... not as terrible as GCB, but once you've started that snowball rolling downhill, it's hard to stop it)

Description: Stars Leslie Bibb (Popular), Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies), David James Elliott (JAG), and Annie Potts (Designing Women). Robert Harling (Laws of Attraction), who penned the pilot, produces alongside Darren Star (Sex and the City) and Aaron Kaplan.



First Impressions: I'm super-excited for this one if for no other reason than Kristin Chenoweth. Okay, there are other reasons, but she's certainly the biggest one (and, conversely, the tiniest one as well). The original title, Good Christian Bitches, was enough to get me intrigued by this one. Indeed, that title is what would have assured the show some viewers come midseason. Sure, it would have offended some people, but at least you'd know what the hell the show was about. GCB? Seriously? Ooooh, I love it when those three letters are together! Can you imagine when G and B start talking about C behind her back! Dear ABC, I know you're prudes and that network TV is the last bastion of watered-down drudgery, but unless they're in the industry, no one is going to know what that means. Oy. Anyway, aside from the god-awful title, this looks like a soapy, sudsy, "mean girls" of the south and I kind of can't wait. I am a little confused over the concept exactly though... Apparently all those women supposedly went to high school together? Uh, they aren't even close to the same age, people... Oh, well. Suspension of disbelief if my middle name (Agnes was already taken). If this were airing anywhere by network, I'd be even more excited. My main fear is that ABC will be so afraid of offending anyone (which already appears to be the case) that the show will lose any and all edge it once had. Fingers crossed they somehow slip by, but I've been burned by network TV too many times to be confident. Even a bowdlerized version will still have Kristin Chenoweth, so that's what I'm really hanging onto. God, I miss Pushing Daisies.