MovieChat Forums > Hart of Dixie (2011) Discussion > 'Don't judge a book by the cover' is a p...

'Don't judge a book by the cover' is a phrase that comes to mind

posted 9 years ago by buffy1234515
5 replies | jump to latest

Let's be honest, the synopsis doesn't really help this show gain attention

I love me some dramas (OTH, Dawsons creek, The OC, FNL to name a few) so i got the complete boxset of HoD for christmas and what a pleasure it was

GREAT characters (from Zoe to Wade to Levon to Lemon (Post-S01 of coarse))
Very Funny
Light-hearted
Feel Good
And not as depressing as other dramas

Now, it wasn't the best drama i have ever seen, but it definitely filled a void left by the lack of teen/family dramas out there - because let's face it, it is lacking lately, the ones that are on TV now all have mysteries in their plots, and although i love PLL, i kinda just wanna sit back and watch a typical teen drama without the convoluted mysteries that take up most of their plots

Season 1 was my favourite (even if i did hate Lemon in that season)
Season 2 was great
Season 3 dipped in quality IMO but not as bad as people claim on here and i actually liked Joel :/
Season 4 was great

and a great (albeit, VERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY cheesy Greased-Lightning) ending and a funny final one-liner from wade about the big love triangle pre-Zoe/Wade/George

Speaking of George - this is probably the first drama i have ever seen were one person of the love triangle actually doesn't get the girl at least once in the entire run - yeah they came close but not once did George and Zoe date and that actually shocked me, considering how big that storyline actually was - i have to commend the writers for that decision because i can't recall it ever happening in another show - but i kinda wanted them to get together just once

People keep comparing HoD with Gilmore Girls but i only got half-way through the first season of GG before giving up (the characters sucked, the writing wasn't half as good as given credit for (people actually called the creator the female version of Aaron Sorkin which made me laugh) and the stories just didn't mesh with me)
Now that i have watched HoD, should i give GG another try? can someone explain how they are similar because i didn't get that comparison at all
I think it was more like Everwood - Brick was even like Dr. Abbott

[–] dyseskytten 9 years ago

I think the comparison to GG is that it was also a romantic drama/comedy. It was also shot in the same lot. Stars Hollow is BlueBell. I never watched a lot of GG so I can't give more comparisons beyond that.

As for George and Zoe, I believe the showrunner, Leila Gerstein, had season 1 mapped out but didn't have a clear direction beyond that. I think she originally wanted to have Zoe with George in S2 but, because of the fan's reaction to Wade, they decided to go with ZW and found out they loved writing for them. Since ZW got together first, the way it ended and because Wade had an inferior complex towards George, having Zoe with George after ZW ended would have prevented them from going back to ZW. It's why they brought in Joel whom I initially liked as an obstacle but grew to hate because season 3 became all about him - he had more screen time than anyone besides Zoe. Had they kept him in the background and focuses on the other characters then season 3 wouldn't have suffered as much as it did.

Funny note, I believe George got his name because of G.E.O.R.G.E in The OC. It was the organisation Summer joined and it was the name given to her as her true love when speaking to a fortune teller. Summer was also played by Rachel Bilson. Another note is that Dr. Zoe Hart was originally suppose Olivia Green a lawyer from NY (Autumn Reeser name and occupation in the finale). I assume it was to give Zoe a connection to George and maybe start out as enemies. It's just a theory but the change was the downfall of ZG imo since there was no conflict between them and why people were drawn to Wade since there was plenty of conlict/tension between ZW from the very first time they met.

[–] buffy1234515 9 years ago

Bluebell and Stars Hollow is also the backlot of Rosewood from PLL too

There are many connections to OC because it's the same writers - It is also were Wilson Bethel had his first acting job, but was fired for turning up late, which i find ironic considering he is essentially the breakout star of this show

I don't believe in shipping but I genuinely believe Rachel and wilson had the best chemistry - so i understand why fans would gravitate towards Zoe/Wade, than Zoe/George but i don't think Leila Gerstein should have caved to fans demands about what relationships should have happened - they Zoe/George should have been together at least once during the run - nd Zoe/Wade been end game wouldn't have been ruined at all because no matter how they got back together, it would have made the fans happy

But i still commend them for no going through with one part of the love triangle

[–] bbmorrin 9 years ago

I have watched all of Gilmore Girls, and to be honest there isn't as much in common as they make it sound!
You have the small town dynamics; your mixture of rich people & poor (at least not billionaires); and Gilmore Girls has a bunch of love triangle, but what sitcom doesn't!

Gilmore girls is about 3 generations of women from 1 family, with the main focus on the daughter & granddaughter. I will admit I did like Gilmore Girls, but Heart of Dixie was much funnier! And, GG was more drama than comedy.

[–] k_m_simpson 9 years ago

I, too, only got through a few episodes of Gilmore Girls before giving up on it. I do not see the correlations between them other than the small town aspect. HoD had me hooked enough to binge watch fairly non-stop. Yes, it's cheesy, but it it excels at comedy. I haven't seen many shows that I truly appreciate the romantic comedy aspect involved, but HoD was definitely worthwhile. And having lived in extremely small towns for much of my life, they definitely got that part right.

"Life is short, eat dessert first."
Robert Heinlein

[–] LordManhammer 9 years ago

Light-hearted and feel-good? The premise of this show is that a (supposedly) brilliant surgeon-in-training was told she's not womanly enough to pursue her career. Seriously? She needs to stop practicing stitches in the skills lab and start reading to patients?

Bilson acts like she thought she was hired to play a sorority girl and found out the truth right before the camera started rolling, and had to make due.

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