The Girls on the Bus

It's been a while since MAX (formerly HBO Max) released an original show that I've actually liked.

That's finally changed though. The Girls on the Bus is incredibly enjoyable to watch. The talent and chemistry amongst the cast is magic. Melissa Benoist shines in every scene she's in.

MAX's marketing for the show is pretty much non-existent which makes me believe this is the only season we will get. I feel like if this was in any other streaming platform or network it would have gotten a press junket. I don't think MAX was the right distributor for this series but I hope this series leads to more future easy-to-watch content to their platform.

Off course, it depends on what you were expecting, but as someone who did not have any expectations at the beginning, I actually enjoyed frist 3 episodes. They picked a subject that is enought serious and important, but not too heavy, and treated it with a dose of fun and colors which I really like. There is a need, in my opinion, for such shows for many reasons. First and foremost, because they can reach more people and make them hear different views without even realizing that, without breaking a sweat while maybe even having fun. Second, because it is much harder to make interesting content about serious maters that is not overly dramatic, pursuasive and/or pervasive. Most of them make you feel like somebody is pushing their point of view on you all the time.

I also like characters.

Well, So far😁

The show is co-written by Amy Chozick, a journalist who spent years of her 20s and 30s on the campaign trail and was struggling to balance personal life with her work. The show is essentially about this. Since people of different ages struggle with different things, and this show takes place during one campaign season, they have four main characters who are at different ages in their life, each facing a different set of problems. The show does this well, the actors are excellent. The weakness I'd highlight here is the unlikely friendship of the characters, but some reality bending is acceptable in television.

On the politics front: the show follows the Democratic primary election. People with some political knowledge will be able to identify the real politicians who the nominees are based on, all were nationally known at some point. To get an idea: the show also invents new newspapers for its fictional story, the "The Washington Union" and "The New York Sentinel" as well as the cable news network "Liberty News". Can you guess which companies these stand in for?

The political discussion in the show is shallow and hyperbolic (not unlike a campaign). What is a little disappointing is that the journalists sometimes also seem to have very naive ideas about politicians, about one level above the black and white characters in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (a movie the show also references). And they do so while navigating the complex economic and political environments in their own lives.

The show is also noticeably left leaning (I had no problem with this, because so am I).

To sum up, the lived experience and lived politics of the show is nice, the abstracted politics and scoops are pretty thin. If you want to watch a journalist dramedy, you'll probably like this, but if you want Lincoln level political drama, you probably won't.

Watch the first episode for yourself. At first glance an overall rating of 5.3 at the time of this writing would suggest one of the worst shows of all time. Click on the rating number and you see a huge number of 1s. How can this be? Simple. Certain people don't want you to watch. And then you will miss something worth watching.

I've only watched the first episode but I plan on watching the rest of the season. If you like shows that involve the political process then you should find this interesting. But if you are triggered by seeing one sort of character or issue you don't agree with then maybe you only watch one episode.

However you feel, it would be nice to give an honest rating. Almost nothing ever produced has deserved a 1 (or a 10). The people who hand out 1s likely do so often and somehow thinking their opinion reigns supreme.

First, let's acknowledge that all of the actors on "Girls on the Bus" are incredibly talented. What has me hooked is the show is the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson. It's such a new twist in a political dramedy. The character gives context to the time frame and is a great vehicle into the mind of Sadie. It's also almost scary how the actor playing Hunter Thompson looks and acts like the real Hunter S. Thompson.

This show is definitely worth a watch. It's rare to find shows that have complexity with superb acting and a the ghost of a journalist who was himself a very complex person. I agree that it's not for everybody (what show is?). However, the 1 ratings don't even acknowledge the excellent talent or the ingenious Hunter S. Thompson character. Maybe some people don't know who he was or his defining contribution to journalism.