Claws

The first season of Claws was excellent. It was a well written, campy dark comedy about a nail salon crew led by the hilarious and over the top Niecy Nash. It follows her various small time criminal shenanigans and her ambitions to grow an empire. Sort of a mix of Breaking Bad, Weeds, and Pushing Daisies. And it worked.

Season 2 got a little weird. They started throwing in these completely random musical interludes, moderated presidential style debates between characters, just random nonsense. I can see and appreciate them trying to play around creatively, but I personally just found it unfunny and distracting from the actual storyline. If you skip those parts though, still pretty good.

Season 3, they throw in the politics. There's an entire episode that can basically be summed up as "Orange Man Bad." We get it. The orange man is bad. Just enough already, seriously. So many quality shows and movies have been absolutely ruined by this childish, vapid nonsense. Whether I personally agree with the positions or not is completely irrelevant. If I want to be disingenuously pandered to and/or pretentiously lectured to about irrelevant political topics, I'll sign up for Twitter. I watch TV to be entertained.

I don't even want to know the political leanings of the writers, directors, actors, extras, or whoever is holding the boom or serving the coffee.

Being that the worst of it was only one episode, it wasn't enough to completely give up the series yet. I'm just hoping it's like the bizarre musical interludes in that it's something they were trying out, they'll realize it's distracting and idiotic, and they'll get back to the storylines (which in a lot of cases are actually pretty interesting and well executed).

TBT continues to dazzle. They promoted the hell out of this, somebody spent a lot of $ - and it shows, in a raunchy and engrossing noir comedy. But - a little puzzled that some seem surprised by the graphic (and witty!) vulgarity - "prurient"? yep, definitely! anyone who had seen a promo, or looked at the first 2 minutes - would know that this was not going to be Downton Abbey or The Good Wife. South Florida is a strange & wonderful place - and Claws is worthy of that milieu.

The cast: Niecy Nash has been a particular favorite since the wonderful Reno 911 - happy to see that she has found a perfect showcase. Carrie Preston, sometimes a bit too twee in her Good Wife stint. is letter-perfect,often raunchy funny but also deeply moving in her fragile gentility. Judy Reyes is always a welcome sight - a world away from her Carla on Scrubs. Great secondary characters -eg, the brilliant Dale Dickey, with her face for the ages. Dean Norris and the other males are all good, but the women rule here.

Nash's clothes, like her attitude, are magnificent, the stripper biker funeral in Episode 2 has to be seen to be believed, and Florida looks great.

A last note: "Tailored to a very specific audience" as the last line of a rather hateful 1-star review - really? Seems to be flirting with racism ... altho, I'm surely part of that target audience, and I'm a middle aged white man from the south, so yeah - target away!

Mrs. Shullivan and I have not missed a single episode of this sleeper series and I must say...we just love the many great surprises this newest campy kind of television series that has brought much joy each week to our household. If anyone does not appreciate camp/dramedy/crime and a bit of risky language and sexy innuendo then just stick to your hospital themed life threatening weekly series or the many predictable Law and Order spin offs.

This series has an over abundance of great character regulars. My favorite character though is the recently released from prison Polly, played exquisitely by Carrie Preston. She brings an unrelenting POP to the show Claws with her quirky but menacing weekly performance that just shouts out loud and proud "I can be very nice to you, but if you screw with any of my lady friends there will be hell to pay!"

The story lines are so varied and they hold our full attention. We just love each episode and how all the ladies who work in the CLAWS salon interact and deliver their unique characters. Of course each lady has at least one man sharing in their lives, and/or in the case of the butchy Quiet Ann character played by former Devious Maids actress Judy Reyes, she has an endless stream of lovers of the female persuasion.

I have no other television series to compare Claws to, as this series is uniquely creative in a category all to themselves, it is so unique, and simply just a breath of comedic fresh air. I hope this dark horse camp/dramedy/crime series wins at least 4 Emmy's during the awards season as not only are the female lead characters terrific the supporting male actors also add a lot of character depth and diversity such as Roller Husser (Jack Kesy), Bryce Husser (Kevin Rankin), Uncle Daddy (Dean Norris) and I simply cannot forget the over the top mentally challenged performance of Dean Simms (Harold Perrineau). If Harold Perrineau does not win a best supporting actor award(s) it would be a crime.

I hope Claws receives sufficient support for a second season as I am dying to see what direction the series transforms to next year. Mrs. Shullivan and I give Claws a favorable 8 out of 10 rating.

I absolutely loved this show! Right from the start it had me. From the genuinely interesting and eclectic mix of main characters to the plot twists. Its great to watch a show where females are given less predictable story lines. I wouldn't categorize it as a comedy, it seems to be more of a thriller drama based show. I cant wait to see what happens next...

It's like a comedy-drama that draws you in. It's Orange is the New Black meets Empire, meets Star, meets Breaking Bad, meets Power. Not for everyone, but I love it! Great acting and cast. Needs a bit more developing, but Empire did too in the first few episodes. The show definitely needs a chance. Claws could be a "sleeper" and I look forward to each new episode.