Nashville is a prime-time drama that definitely leans toward the prime-time soap opera category centered around the characters of Rayna James, played by Connie Britton (of Spin City and Friday Night Lights), who is an aging country music star whose career is on the downswing, and Juliette Barnes, played by Hayden Panettiere (best known for the series Heroes) who is the up and coming young star whose life is kind of a train wreck. The first season is really all about developing the characters and establishing storylines for the various characters. For Rayna, it is trying to inject new life into her career and dealing with her husband Teddy (played by Eric Close) who is resentful of her fame and decides to run for mayor on the back of her fame, and her ex-flame (and ex songwriting partner) Deacon (played by Charles Esten). Juliette is trying to make it big while dealing with issues in her personal family life that she tries to hide. The big appeal of the show is the musical numbers. Nearly every episode has one or more musical numbers with members of the cast actually singing. Even if you are not a country music fan, which I am not, the music is arranged in such a way that it is not tailored just to a hard-core country music fanbase. And, while not all the actors are great singers, some of them have a lot of talent, especially Sam Palladio who plays Gunnar Scott, and Clare Bowen who plays his girlfriend, and songwriting partner Scarlett O'Connor. Lennon Stella and Maisy Stella (who play Rayna's daughters Maddie and Daphnie are a real music duo out of Canada and are great singers who get a few chances to sing on the show.
For those who get the DVD set, the supplements are okay. There are a few behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel. What was included was okay, but the featurettes could be longer and it would be nice if at least some of the episodes included a commentary track.
Overall, the series is well-written and very well acted. The plot definitely gets a bit soap-opera-like when it involves the various character relationships. There is some sexual content, but nothing you do not see on any other prime-time dramas. Even so, the rest of the storylines are very good, and all of the actors, including the strong supporting and recurring cast which includes actors like Powers Boothe, Robert Wisdom, Jonathan Jackson (who came from the Daytime Soap Opera world), and Chris Carmack (from The OC). The season ends on a pretty large cliffhanger and does a good job setting up the second season. I definitely recommend this if you are looking for a good serial drama.
For those who get the DVD set, the supplements are okay. There are a few behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel. What was included was okay, but the featurettes could be longer and it would be nice if at least some of the episodes included a commentary track.
Overall, the series is well-written and very well acted. The plot definitely gets a bit soap-opera-like when it involves the various character relationships. There is some sexual content, but nothing you do not see on any other prime-time dramas. Even so, the rest of the storylines are very good, and all of the actors, including the strong supporting and recurring cast which includes actors like Powers Boothe, Robert Wisdom, Jonathan Jackson (who came from the Daytime Soap Opera world), and Chris Carmack (from The OC). The season ends on a pretty large cliffhanger and does a good job setting up the second season. I definitely recommend this if you are looking for a good serial drama.
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