American Woman

I had high hopes for American Woman. The first episode was enough for me to set a season pass on my DVR, however, it seemed to go down from there. The actresses look great on paper, but not so much on the show. I also thought it would be great being set back in the 70s. There could be such great style and music, however, that also fell short. I'll continue to watch, but only when my DVR is empty and I have nothing left to pass the time away.

I was really looking forward to this after seeing the trailer. I really enjoyed The Deuce, and was looking forward to another stylish '70s show, and excited to see Alicia Silverstone in something other than a small part in an indie movie. Style is all this show has. The production design, costumes and hair are great but that's where it ends, unfortunately. Within a few minutes I was rolling my eyes. And that kept happening. The dialogue is terrible. They really don't want to leave anything to the imagination and spell out and show everything in pain-staking detail. This really is no Fargo with storytelling in subtleties. More like a hammer to the head. I get it, you're trying to convey that woman don't have all the options they have now. Got it. I really got the sense this was written by someone born in the '90s who has NO reference to the '70s and Goggled, "70s pop culture," and was sure to throw in a pop culture word in randomly here and there, making no sense at all, and not seeming to have any idea what they were referencing. This same person(s) also seems to be a big fan of Mad Men because they've got their eras mixed up in the culture for women, the divorce rate, and that they're always drinking cocktails. The '70s were pretty bucolic, especially for wealthy people. And if they'd bothered to do research for more than 5 minutes they could have seen the countless resources about the working class types, trying to move up in the world and having their family to lean on. Frankly, I didn't get the sense they watched anything from the '70s or ever experienced anything remotely close. If they did, maybe they should get checked out for dementia. I sensed a little Dynasty in there too, which, again, wrong era.

Also, the acting is bad. Basically, an extremely heavy-handed, poorly written, badly acted TV show that looks cool. Mena Suvari looked good. It's good to see her again. That's about the only other positive thing I can think of. If they fire all the writers, 'cause not a moment of the writing was good, fire the casting director, get a new director to get better work out of the three leads, maybe it would work. Too bad. Only production seems to have it together on this show.

*I just looked up the creator, writer, director. The majority of the show is done by two men. Seriously. One of the two is from England. Fairly ironic that the whole premise is about women being controlled by men, not able to think or act for themselves, and the show is done by two DUDES! I would say I'm surprised but I'm really not. The director not only doesn't know what it's like to be a woman but he was born in England in 1972 so what the heck does he know about the '70s in Beverly Hills, CA, and I can tell you his "improvising" isn't working. Alicia, Mena, and the other lead should get a refund on this BS. I can't tell you how sick I am of movies or TV about women empowerment written/directed by men who have no idea what they're talking about and are cranking out drivel they wrote at Starbucks in an afternoon. Probably just like that Michelle Wolfe skit where the show was originally written about men and the studio said, "You gotta make it about chicks. The networks are breathing down our necks about wanting diversity, or some garbage. Just change it up a little and we need the pilot script by tomorrow."

Soulless clap trap with stiff uncomfortable language, predictable cliches for dialogue and no pace. Where is the woman's voice? Won't last the full season.

I was really excited for this show when I first heard about it and saw the trailer. The premier was decent but I feel like it has fallen flat on its face, even after only two episodes. The premise is unique enough, and I usually always enjoy shows or films that tackle women's liberation, especially from an era before our own. But sadly, American Woman is just that- sad. The acting leaves much to be desired, the pace is too slow and despite its handful of semi charming moments, it quite frankly doesn't hold my interest. I will probably keep watching to see if it improves as it goes along but I am not optimistic. Perhaps if they gave Mena Suvari (whom I adore) more screen time I might feel differently, although she alone probably could not redeem the credibility of this hot mess. If the production team were a little league baseball team, I'd present them with a lame participation trophy and then call it a night.

I was curious to see this because I am a huge fan of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and so I saw several scenes with Kyle Richards connected to this project. She said it was inspired by her life as a child actress so of course, it made me want to check it out.

I think that the 1970's sets, props, costumes and attitudes were all very well rendered and this is by far the best aspect of this production. The story didn't grab me instantly but I kept watching and it eventually grew on me and I started to enjoy it a lot more as the season progressed.

The most interesting character to me is definitely Kathleen Callahan played by Mena Suvari who shines in the subplot with Cheyenne Jackson as her lover Greg Parker. The other best friend part played by Jennifer Bartels as Diana Vaughan is also interesting which brings me to the leads who are I'm afraid are the weakest part of the equation.

Alicia Silverstone is the main protagonist here as Bonnie Nolan and for some reason, I had a hard connecting with her portrayal. She felt annoying and whiny to me which might be the point but even though Silverstone is a fair actress, her choices in this part might not be my cup of tea.

As for the 2 kids, Makenna James as Becca and Lia McHugh as Jessica are competent but nothing great and I kept thinking that different actresses might have been better choice but I'm not in charge of casting so this is what we are dealt with and I can still enjoy the show.

This said, I was saddened to hear Kyle declare in Real House of Beverly Hills (episode 9.6) that the show was not picked up for a second season which is a shame because I felt like it was getting better but now we will never have a chance to find out if it had the making of a great show.

I can still recommend it and I gave it 7 stars mostly for the feel of going back to the wonderful 1970's and I must say, every detail was perfectly in place to let us wallow in a gone era when everyone smoked, use drugs as casually as drinking coffee and had spontaneous sex whenever they felt like it. I applaud the production side because they did their homework and even though the show is now done, it still represents a nice depiction of a world now gone by that we can revisit with great pleasure.