State of Grace

I love this show, it is slightly predictable but is a goodhearted show. Its hard to find shows like that and it is one of the few good shows ABC family has to offer. The characters and easy to like and laugh at. Good hearted comedy is needed more then ever in a society were television is made up of sex, swearing and death.

Ok, so I may be WAY behind on my television watching, but I have just recently found the delightful program entitled, State of Grace. What a pity that this has been cancelled!!

The show centers on two 12-year old girls growing up in the South in the mid 60s. I can speak with authority about this because I was 12 years old, growing up in the south in the mid 60s. Great attention has been paid to detail of the period - from the behavior, to the costumes, to the sets. The incidental music is from the mid 60s and fits right in with the situations that are occurring at the time. For instance, in the episode "Saving Grace", Grace is rebelling a little against the school dress code. When she walks down the hall wearing her mini dress with pop art material, groovy metal flower pin and textured hose, the music that is playing is "England Swings". Carnaby Street fashions were all the rage at that time. I nearly choked when the "sister" made Grace get on her knees in the hall while she measured the length of distance from her hem to the floor. How many times did I have to do that??

Nay-sayers have criticized this show for ripping off "The Wonder Years". I have tried to watch that show, but it is not an experience like "State of Grace" is. TWY just doesn't transport one back to the time like SOG. I just don't get the feeling of the era as I do watching Grace. Also, just because someone has an idea, does that mean no one else can ever expand on that idea? What if we complained that the telephone had been invented and no one else should tamper with it? Where would most people be without their beloved cel phone attached to their ear? In this case, someone took the idea of The Wonder Years, and MADE IT BETTER!

Every actor in this show is absolutely perfect for his or her part. The script is tight and well written - sometimes funny, sometimes poignant. When it's funny, it's really funny. I loved the part in the episode, "Eve of Discussion" where the Rayburns were writing a big ad for the newspaper. When they checked the morning paper for their ad, they found that instead of reading, "You'll sink in our sofas!" it read, "You'll STINK in our sofas!" (I'm chuckling as I write this - OK it sounds a little sophomoric, but you just had to be there.) KUDOS to everyone involved in this production, and thank you for giving me a slice of my youth, if only for a little while.

What makes "State of Grace" so appealing to me (besides May Whitman and Alia Shawkat, who are ideally cast and so cute!) is its natural flow and ability to capture different brands of humor and customs within the contexts of Hanna and Grace's respective upbringings without being offensive. I think the show has been carefully researched, well-written and the cast has a really good synergy. I especially get a kick out of Erica Yohn as "Grandma Ida". She gave an equally down to earth and warm performance in "Corinna, Corinna". It's nice to turn on the TV once in a while to no courtroom, gunshots, emergency room or police station. Good, clean fun!

I've been watching State of Grace since it first came on, and I can safely say that it's one of my very favorite shows.

All of the actors seem fit for the parts. You'd expect that modern twelve-year-olds would not be able to act well in a 1960s setting, but Mae Whitman and Alia Shawkat do a great job. All of the characters are very well cast.

Another thing is that they seem like normal people. Grace and Hannah worry about normal things that typical seventh graders do. They don't try to behave beyond their years or sit around and gossip about boys. Neither of them seem stuck up, and they're people that normal kids would like to know.

The show has also improved a lot in the past year. Some episodes were kind of boring in the first season, but now I wouldn't miss one! There is a lot better of a balance concerning air time between the Rayburns and the McKees. In the first season, the plot would usually focus on one of the families, but it's so much more interesting now that they're both featured in every episode. It makes it a lot more fun to watch.

I'd give this show a 10/10.

I miss this series. When the show debuted, it was on the Fox Family cable channel. I found the series to be very well written and well acted. I looked forward to seeing the young characters getting older and dealing with the issues in the 1960's. After the show was renewed for a second season, Fox sold the network to Disney. I knew the show would not last beyond season two and it did not. It was canceled. How did I know it would be canceled? Disney likes to put its own programming all of its channels and the show was not a Disney property. The official reason it gave for canceling the show was that it did not attract enough adult viewers. So, children are not enough to make a "family network" a success anymore? I don't buy that reason. Anyway, it did remind me of the "Wonder Years" but as I recall, "Wonder Years" was added to the ABC schedule after "Stand By Me" was a hit in theaters. If, as some posters here have suggested, this show is a "ripoff" of "Years", is "Years" a ripoff of "Stand By Me"? The bottom line is "State of Grace" deserved more of a chance than it was given and every time I watch the episodes I recorded, I'll miss it even more.