I’ve been watching the show BUNHEADS on ABC Family because I loved Sherman-Palladino’s other show — GILMORE GIRLS. This was also supposed to be about dancers though there is precious little dancing on the show which is one reason I’m disappointed.
I’m also disappointed because they seem to be trying way too hard to keep the dialog smart and quippy, and it’s starting to feel more than a bit forced.
I’m also getting whiplash because they just keep adding characters with no indications which ones are important, will become important. Should I connect with any of these folks? The eccentric millionaire? The guy with the dance supply store? The gorgeous hunk at the Oyster Bar? The pushy real estate agent?
If the point of the show is that Michelle (our leading lady) is about to become a dance teacher, then I wish to hell she’d start teaching and we’d get to watch some dancing.
It’s also just so… female. Estrogen levels are so deep on this show you could drown. There isn’t one interesting or useful male in sight. We’ve got Michelle’s eccentric mother-in-law, we’ve got this gaggle of three or four girls from the dance studio, we’ve got Michelle the “fish out of water” Vegas show girl in small town C.A. The only other regular character we seem to see is the insane Truly who was in love with the man Michelle married. Oh, and that guy. He dies at the end of the first episode. Convenient.
Also, there sure are a lot of boys at this dance studio. We not only know nothing about them, but they literally never say a word. They seem to be there just to heft ballerinas into the air.
I was a serious dancer. Danced point. We were lucky if our entire studio had two men at any given time. So who are these boys? How do they feel about all this craziness? Are they all gay? Why aren’t any of them pursuing the perky ballerinas?
I want to love this show because Sutton Foster who play Michelle is really appealing, but she hasn’t been given much to work with. And please, I want to see those mile long legs kicking up a storm.
And here’s my real writer’s critique — what am I supposed to take away from this show? All of these episodes just feel like they are throwing quirky at a wall to see what will stick. I need to have a sense that these episodes are taking me someplace. Finally, this week it became a bit clearer that it’s about getting Michelle to teach, but damn it’s a long time for that to become apparent.
