I watched mainly because I love seeing Nashville sights, whether in person or on television. Plus, a friend who worked at the West End Starbucks until recently talked often about the regular (as in daily) visits several in the film crew made to pick up their dose of caffeine and give a tidbit on where/what they were filming that day. It all got me curious to know what it would be like.

Sadly, it’s just not worth watching. It has had great potential; a series exploring the lives of musicians/songwriters and the difficulties of breaking into an already crowded industry in a town where over half the population claims "singer/songwriter/musician" as their true profession (and the other half is either in health care or a student — or works for LifeWay). It’s an intriguing premise and could have not only been entertaining but very informative for all those aspiring musicians dreaming, hoping and planning to make the trek to Nashville to mine their golden futures some day soon.

Unfortunately the series completely misses this mark, settling instead for banal "dialog" (or what passes as dialog in these counterfeit reality shows) and junior high level "relationship issues." It is insulting to all serious musicians, in my opinion; portraying them as shallow and simple-minded rather than the passionate, deep thinkers I have known. And, frankly, the show is just down right boring to watch; slow-moving and uninteresting.

On the positive side, the music was good.

….

….[insert sound of crickets chirping here]…

I do have to say it was good for one thing. I got a huge laugh at the end of the hour when this montage of "coming up on ‘Nashville’" (ooooo!) came up. It had a clip of one of the Nashville "natives" (or at least "veterans") — I don’t remember what her name was — talking about how she was gonna teach the newbie "country girl" a lesson. She punctuated her declaration with, "Welcome to the big city!"

I about fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard! This dumb blond who obviously thinks she is too cool for color teevee was all up on her high horse — without the horse! You are real country if you think Nashville is "the big city," honey. Puh-leeze. Nashville ain’t no big city by any stretch of the imagination. I moved here from Los Angeles. Now, that’s the big city. But Nashville? Not hardly.

Here’s a tip for anyone considering watching an episode of "Nashville." Don’t. Skip the show and spend that time exploring the real thing instead. I promise you your time will be much better spent.