Television Review: Nashville

I will start out by saying that I actually liked Nashville --- the city and the television show. Having actually traveled there it was nice to see some places I remember visiting or at least driving by.

Now on to the show Nashville ---

Connie Britton plays Rayna Jaymes, a 40 year old one time country music star, who is being pushed aside for a younger, newer, more heavy on the cleavage, Juliette Barnes ( Hayden Panettiere).

The two first meet backstage and the claws start coming out. Juliette remarks that her Mama listened to Rayna when she (Juliette) was still in her Mama's belly, and after Juliette sashays back out of the room, Rayna asks "What the hell was that?"

We quickly learn that THAT was Rayna's newest competition. The men love her, the fans love her and much to her dismay, even Rayna's girls love her. Rayna at first thinks Juliette is just another flash-in-the-pan, but when she learns that her record label wants to combine her tour with Juliette's, she realizes that this young girl is a real threat.

Since this was a pilot, (and as usual) a lot of characters are thrown at us and we have to quickly figure out who is who and what is what. We first meet the men in Rayna's life --- her husband, Teddy (Eric Close) and her bandleader,  Deacon Claybourne (Charles Esten), and her estranged father Powers Boothe (Lamar Wyatt).

Then we start to learn a little about Juliette. She knows she's hot. She knows men want her and --- as we discover --- she is not above using what she's got to get what she wants. We also find out that she has a vulnerable side and her mother (an apparent drug user) wants to be in her life, but it appears to be more for getting money from her famous daughter than love for her daughter.

There were a lot of little subplots brewing in tonight's show. I'm not sure which ones will play into the series and which ones are window dressing, but we learn that the record label wants to combine Rayna's tour with Juliette's (which Rayna is none too happy about), Rayna's husband wants to run for Mayor of Nashville, Rayna apparently had a fling with Deacon (and possibly a child), and Juliette seems to be determined to not only take away Rayna's stardom, but Deacon and anything else she can get her hands on as well.

As I mentioned at the beginning --- I like this show. I do kind of wonder how it will hold up week to week as a drama. It seems like there will only be so much that can occur without it turning into a daytime soap opera. For now, however, I'm along for the ride and the great Nashville scenery.