Too Close to Home

So this one started off good and focuses on rural Alabama instead of urban Atlanta. It's a nice mix of rednecks, country bumpkins, trash (White and Black) and others. All around a protagonist trying to escape her miserable poor, dysfunctional, abusive, socioeconomically challenged upbringing to reinvent herself in Washington DC.

Which works until it doesn't work.

In typical Tyler Perry fashion shenanigans ensue on the first episode. Everyone is problematic and you end up hating all of the characters equally. Which works for the first season, until he introduces a bunch of new characters on the second season.

If you can forgive how racist, sexist, classist and xenophobic this show is you may actually like it. But everyone competes for attention and you quickly forget all about the protagonist. It's a downhill ride from there.

I know that title probably doesn't make sense, but...

Nearly everything said in the poor reviews is true. The dialogue is stilted and ridiculous, and the actors are doing the best they can. If Tyler Perry truly ACTIVELY wrote, produced, and directed this - all you can do is shake your head. man alive was it ever tedious at times... a lot of the time.

BUT, the plot lines have been very interesting, and I have been searching diligently to find out when it's coming back, only to have discovered recently it was cancelled. Which is truly disappointing because the plot had taken a really interesting twist, and I want to know how it ends. Even if it's a fan fiction written online.

The show is fine for a scripted TLC drama. The actors are, of course, quite lovely. The acting is not as bad as on some other Tyler Perry shows, but sometimes the dialogue has a tendency to be slightly clunky at best. The plot lines are mostly believable, but still have room to improve. Honestly, overall, the show is quite enjoyable. I enjoy most of what Tyler Perry produces, with a few notable exceptions. This show definitely has room to improve on a few aspects, but I can also definitely say that it does have promise (as long as it doesn't get too ridiculous). So far, the relationships are believable and the acting is good. I finished the first and second season (at least up to the last episode released so far) in the past week so my interest, to say the least, is peaked. Hopefully, it only gets better with time.

Pros: -definitely brings the drama -acting is good -story line is mostly believable and easy to follow -cinematography and wardrobe are well done -characters have thought out backstories with room to grow

Cons: -some subplots are iffy at best -dialogue shifts can be slightly clunky and stiff -conflict resolves are hastily done at times -music is overdone and more obtrusive than complementary -shifty accents (Shelby's accent is a little stereotypical at times)

I love Tyler Perry, and was excited to hear about the show. The concept sounded intriguing and the trailers looked exciting. Not often do we see a "rise above your raising" show that focuses on poor whites. However, the show has several problems.

The dialogue is ridiculous. The characters just say the same thing over, and over, and over again. It's evident that even the actors know they are delivering poorly written lines.

The story moves at a snail's pace, which would be fine if the show aired as a soap opera - more than once a week.

The guy who plays Brody seems to have only one emotion, and it is difficult to say what that emotion might be. He is flat - one dimensional. Either he needs acting lessons or better direction.

I see that the show has been renewed for a second season. After 6 episodes, the only way I'd watch it again is if Perry hires some new writers who have knowledge of the South and experience in the soap opera genre.

I really wanted to like this show. An Intern Gone Wrong premise, a comely cast with a Southern setting, the return of Heather Locklear...what's not to like? Well a lot, unfortunately.

Lets --- start ---with--- the--- excruciatingly---long ---pauses ---between ---words. Why oh why is that, do the writers get paid by the word? Then there is the cartoon-like, stereotypical characters. The overly solicitous waitress, the scrawny, screechy coke whore, the beefcake with the heart of gold, the twangy sheriff etc. The story line limps along at a snails pace with an episode's worth of "action" painstakingly dragged out for three episodes (writers paid by the idea?!?)

The only shallow reason why I give this a 2 instead of 1 is because of above mentioned beefcake Brody. His biceps are the breakout stars of the show. If you want to record these shows and then just fast forward to the Brody sections you won't be disappointed. If you want to watch the sections in between, don't say you weren't warned.