The Girls on the Bus

Political dramas can be very hit and miss. The West Wing and Scandal are the only two I have ever really enjoyed.

Seeing that this was starring and produced by Melissa Benoist I decided to give this series a shot.

The show is well acted and produced, with some interesting plot twists and a look into the flaws of candidates, bringing their more bright-eyed supporters back down to earth.

There are a few very obviously parallels to certain real life politicians, though thankfully there are no signs yet of a character like T**mp.

So far I have enjoyed the writing, but having just watched episode 2, there still seems to be something missing to really give it the kick it needs. Hopefully this will change in future episodes.

I just watched the 10th and final show (of season 1. The showrunner hopes for a season 2 - which is unannounced as of now.)

I love this show. I had to go back to watch the first minute of the first show - because it foreshadows the very end of the last episode.

Some criticize the characters as being stereotypes - and yes - but I quickly came to care about each character, even though there was one I looked down on and another I disliked because her politics were different than mine, but - the show did a great job of humanizing each journalist, and developing their history and motivations.

The show is so relevant to politics today.

Don't miss this great show. It deserves your attention.

In the past, I used to enjoy TV series and movies about elections and presidencies, not just the obvious "West Wing," but almost all of them (by the way, "Dave" with Kevin Kline is one of my favorite movies of all time). However, I don't feel the same anymore, especially considering the current candidates for POTUS and world leaders in other countries.

So, I was initially reluctant to watch "The Girls on the Bus," but I gave it a chance when I saw that Carla Gugino and Melissa Benoist were the two leads. So far, I've watched one and a half episodes and have decided to continue following the show.

I'm not entirely sure if I enjoy the plot that much, but I do appreciate the performances, especially Melissa Benoist's portrayal of an ambitious young journalist who can't catch a break. It's not an easy role, and another actor could have easily overdone it or created a caricature of the character, but she managed to keep it in control.

As I mentioned, I'm unsure if the plot will make sense in the end, but the script has managed so far to portray the personalities of the main characters with adequate complexity.

Overall: It is somehow interesting. Not deep as other well known series. Characters not paper thin. Good performances.

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.

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.