There’s a lot of surface appeal to “Hart of Dixie” (8 p.m. Central Mondays on The CW), including beautiful people (Rachel Bilson, Scott Porter, Jaime King) and beautiful settings (rural Alabama).
But there’s almost no depth or genuineness. Bilson as a doctor? Porter as a lawyer? Cress Williams as a small-town mayor? Really? (King as haughty Southern belle Lemon Breeland rings a little more true.) Most of the pilot episode feels like the actors are reading a script that they don’t believe in. That would be somewhat forgivable if “Hart of Dixie” was original, but it’s clearly an attempt to create the next “Everwood,” which this same network canceled a few years ago. I’ve also heard “Gilmore Girls” comparisons, which makes me shudder; have we already forgotten what a fresh voice “Gilmore Girls” was? It takes more than a pseudo-quirky small town to be “Gilmore Girls.”
If you’ve seen “Northern Exposure” or “Everwood,” you know the plot: Big-city doctor moves to small town, culture clashes ensue. But you have to watch “Hart of Dixie” to appreciate how painfully bad it is. For example, the mayor of Bluebell always refers to himself in the first person as Lavon. OK, so that made it through all the script phases; fine. But it should’ve been dumped the first time Williams said it on set — it’s obnoxious, and I don’t think this character is supposed to come off as obnoxious.
It’s hard to say the exact moment when “Hart of Dixie” jumps the shark. It might be when Zoe (Bilson) starts making out in the backseat of a car with the local charmer. It might be when the mean rival doctor (who is off hunting at first, while the other characters assure Zoe he’s mean) finally shows up … and acts mean. Or it could be the utterly squirm-inducing having-a-baby scene that — of course — gets the two rival doctors to work together as a team.
More generally, it’s sad to see this stellar cast getting subpar material. The good news is “Hart of Dixie” will likely be canceled soon; it’s aimed at “Everwood” fans, and I suspect they will hate it even more than casual viewers, if they bother to tune in.
The only thing original about the show is that the soundtrack uses pop-country songs (most shows, even those set in the South, use just-plain-pop songs). That little dose of flavor, along with the natural appeal of the actors — especially Bilson and Porter, whose characters will obviously get together at some point despite the fact that his character is engaged to Lemon — almost makes me hold out hope for “Hart of Dixie.”
But my real hope is that Bilson, Porter and Williams all get better shows after this one gets the ax, and King goes back to voicing Aurra Sing on “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” You don’t need a degree in medicine to see that “Hart of Dixie” is DOA.
Any “Hart of Dixie” apologists out there? Share your thoughts on the pilot episode below.