Reviews

It's a decent movie. It has a few great belly laugh moments and pretty much the expected dose of cheese and will-they-won't-they (I don't know what the word for that is. Suspense? No. Anyway...) I don't regret watching this one bit but I wouldn't have picked the cast I mean through the entire movie all I kept thinking was that Drew's character wouldn't have picked Justin Longs in a million years I mean, I don't even see Drew herself playing opposite Justin Long, he's too... small... for her somehow. it's not the height or the fame but more presence or charisma or something. He and his character both just seem too... small for her somehow. That bothered me.

Oh! and Day and Sudekis were really playing such clichés, I mean they did it well but I really don't know if that's a compliment or not. I liked Applegate's character. Totally, no complaints there.

In summary, I would've swapped Drew for Lauren Graham, or Melissa McCarthy, Ellen Page, Evangeline Lilly or Eliza Dushku or Mila Kunis! then maybe Justin Long would've made sense.

All I'm saying is it's a good movie but I think it could've been better.

Long story short, do watch it, you deserve the laughs.

I like this show because it's steeped in darkness. It would have been easy to be crass or break out the vitriol but these guys chose to be gentle instead.

Don't get me wrong, I could do with some swearing. I wish it was a little less nice and clean but this is NBC not HBO and hey, I like what they've written. I've watched every episode.

The series takes a while to gear up but every episode got slightly better for me until episode eight where all of a sudden, out of the blue comes not one but two big ol' belly laughs! Seriously, there are whole seasons of comedy shows that manage only one or none at all preferring to just make do with smaller laughs. Oh but this was hilarious! Go On Season 1 Episode 8 really did it for me.

Now as for the rest of the show I admit I could do with more grit, they seem to move from one set piece with a few minutes of set-up and then comes the punchline, rinse & repeat.

I wish there were more punchlines in the set pieces and sometimes I'd rather they started with an already hilarious visual image and then maybe got absurd or normal or poignant. Too much Big Bang Theory, not enough 'jewish comedian' I'd love to see Go On channelling Ruby Wax or hosting cameos from Marc Maron (a funny crazy with great opinions and rage issues) or Stephen Fry (who would make a great depressed professor) Laura Prepon (pretty bully) Felicia Day (great smile dammit) Mary Lynn Rajskub (as guest writer, producer or actor I don't care), and of course Maria Bamford (c'mon, that one's just obvious! She'd make a great homeless lady)

Okay so I got a little carried away and anyway they have plenty of time to jiggle their casting wands but there's My unasked-for opinion.

In summary, I've got lots of issues with this show but it gives me hope.

NB: When I wrote this I had just watched episode 8. Episode 9 made me very happy indeed.

This is a very satisfying story.

I like the slow pace of the piece, I like the director's choice to show and not tell. I really like the way the whole plot isn't vomited up in the first five minutes. That's not an invitation to really scrutinise how it all hangs together, just an appreciation of the fact that it's different.

There's no RomCom cheese, no cheap laughs, no protracted boyfriend/girlfriend clichés here, just a meaty hunk of family shenanigans centred around the death of the man of a family, which leads to the outing of his biggest secret and that's where the plot thickens... into a hearty... broth? I'm just torturing innocent similes now. Just go watch the film.

This show leads with the script. The plot works beautifully and the jokes come thick and fast. Dennings just kills it as Max Black, a broken, hopeless waitress with no confidence or ambition.

Channing executes her poor little rich b!tch schtick with aplomb. I'm glad they did away with the dumb-blonde angle in favour of a fuller character. Bher may have been privileged but she is also intelligent.

And props to the props; Channing's figure hugging designer ware, the music, the set, the clothes and new props almost every episode highlights the writer's attention to detail and on almost every aspect of the show.

Clichés are neatly sidestepped and fresh bits are included to give the show a slightly more surreal edge. Like the inclusion of a suburban horse, a DJs saxophonist who hardly DJs or plays the sax and a lecherous Russian weirdo in the form of Jonathan Kite who just says everything we're thinking(!) awesome.

Now I just hope those artless, oblivious incompetent, maladroits over at CBS don't cancel or delay yet another awesome show before it's had the chance to kick ass.

Its detractors mostly fault it for what it's not- it's not your typical doctor-drama and it's not trying to portray a real-life surgeon.

If you judge the show on what it is trying to do- provide 40 minutes of heart-warming entertainment, then I think Rachel Bilson's nice-chick schtick and Lemon's bullying friendship along with great support from the rest of the cast, provides a nice alternative to practically every other TV programme out there.

I love that Hart of Dixie lets you take it with a pinch of salt. I like watching a medically oriented programme that doesn't recycle those ER clichés that every such show from Third Watch to Grey's Anatomy has to hobble through for the plot. 'Get the paddles! clear!', 'he's gone into v-tach', tacky-cardia. I mean gimme a break. I'm sorry but the fake blood, fake body parts, fake killing and murdering all have their place but if a show wants a lighter take on living, outside of Vegas, Miami and LA with fewer guns, more food, flirting, and dating and then what's not to like? I wish them many happy returns.

Hart of Dixie definitely deserves a second and third season as far as I'm concerned. I think the show has plenty of material to explore with relationships, farce & fancy and the fish out of water element. I really hope it gets renewed.