Bunheads Will Dance Its Way Into Your Heart
Show: Bunheads, which airs Mondays at 9 PM on ABC Family.
Plot: Retired showgirl Michelle (Sutton Foster) reluctantly adjusts to a new life in the tiny town of Paradise, California with her mother-in-law, Fanny (Kelly Bishop), the owner of a dance school for teens.
Soapy Intrigue: Michelle impulsively marries Hubbell (Alan Ruck), a fan verging on a stalker, only to discover when they consummate the marriage that he might end up being a decent husband after all. Then he dies in a car accident. Fanny, in whose house Hubbell lived, is (somewhat justly) suspicious of Michelle and her motives; Fanny also maintains a friendship with Hubbell's mousy ex, Truly (Stacey Oristano). Meanwhile, the girls who study dance at Fanny's school have their own stories: Sasha (Julia Goldani Telles) has the most natural talent (and best build for ballet) but rebels against adults' expectations of her; Boo (Kaitlyn Jenkins) has the opposite problem, struggling to remain competitive with her peers despite her curvy figure; Ginny (Bailey Buntain) breaks her single mother's heart by breaking up with her longtime boyfriend.
What It Will Remind You Of: It comes to us from creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, so it's basically Gilmore Girls with ballet. In addition to Bishop, who played Gilmore grandma Emily, tertiary GG performers like Sean Gunn and Rose Abdoo pop up all the time.
What’s Best About It: Foster and Bishop have great frenemy chemistry; the girls are very well cast; the dance numbers are lots of fun to watch.
What’s Worst About It: As a real-life Tony-winning Broadway star, Foster might benefit from a firmer director; her performance can sometimes be a little...big. And while it is common for TV episodes to end with characters in more or less the same position they started, Bunheads plots progress verrrrrrrry slowly. Probably the first half of the series run involved Michelle thinking about leaving Paradise and then deciding to stay after all.
But If I Save It Until Friday, Don’t I Risk Having Someone Spoil It For Me Before I Watch It? See above. This is not a plot-driven show. The only surprise -- Hubbell's accidental death -- happened almost immediately; since then, the pleasure one will take in the show is directly proportional to one's affection for watching the characters go about their day-to-day lives.
Finally, And Most Importantly, Do the Female Leads Wear Cute Outfits? When they're in their civvies, the girls and ladies sport a few cute pieces (Fanny, in fact, wore a very cute top to the Oyster Bar in Monday's episode). But most of the time, it's tights and leotards, unrelieved even by legwarmers.