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 like the story line, but this show suffers more from script and directing issues than from poor acting. No one on this show is so bad that his/her performance can't be helped with better writing and directing. I'd go as far to say that of the two, the writing is the greater handicap - especially when it comes to disagreements between characters. There doesn't seem to be any commitment to depth - just overplay the lines. To assume your audience at large is shallow enough to buy into dialogue that even a soap opera wouldn't touch is a loss for everyone. I don't just want eye candy - I want heart and soul, and that has to exist in the script and in the direction. Even the best actors can only do so much.

Wow. I am wondering how these actors got their gig w/ Perry. I mean, I cannot tell whose acting is worse...actually yes I can: that Fabio looking guy. it's like he doesn't know what to do with himself while reciting the same lines over and over and over again. He also reminds me of someone who has either worked in porn or would be more suitable to work in porn. And how is it possible that almost every main guy character is SUPER ripped? I mean, come on! Anna has no backbone and keeps saying "sorry" over and over and over again. Heather Locklear's makeup was AWFUL. She looked terrible! Whoever did her makeup ought to be fired. I don't know what happened, but I don't see this show lasting too long.

I scanned some of the other reviews. I do not agree. I enjoy it. I've enjoyed Tyler Perry's other shows--The Haves and the Have Nots and If Loving You Is Wrong. I can no longer watch them as I don't have the channel anymore. Some of the acting could be better, but I still plan on watching it if it continues. I like the fact that I knew one of the actors--the one that plays Bonnie. I like seeing her do this kind of role. I may not know all the other actors but I like them. All of the characters and the struggles of them are relevant to what goes on in small towns. I like the fact there is a gay story line as well as the story line about a parent leaving their child with family while they try to improve their lives.

I thought it might be a bad show because it was kind of a repetitive idea, but God I was wrong. It is BAD, really bad. I was happy with the idea of a gay storyline, but it's not worth watching. Actors can spend 10 minutes repeating the same thing: "don't do it", "I will", "don't do it", "I will", "don't do it", "I will",.... For Real. After 3 episodes it seems it's going worst. The main character has no reason to exist, it's lame, flat and makes you hate her. The rest of the cast is boring. The acting is cringeworthy, really bad. Reality TV shows have better acting. There is no plot, the story goes nowhere. It's really sad to watch episode that don't go anywhere. I had to speed up the episodes and guess what It was easy because they can spend 10 mins doing the same, so you can speed up and don't lose information. TLC, just quit of trying this shitty TV.