GCB - Season 1

Starring: Leslie Bibb, Kristin Chenoweth, Jennifer Aspen, Marisol Nichols, Miriam Shor, David James Elliott, Mark Deklin, Brad Beyer, Annie Potts

Creator: Kim Gatlin, Robert Harling

Rating: ****

Air Date: 2012

With one of my favourite shows, Desperate Housewives, coming to an end I have been longing for a replacement, and it looks like I have it. It has sex, bitching, gossip and most importantly Kristin Chenoweth.

Right so, we start the show off with Bill Vaughn, a successful business man, crossing the border with money in his pocket and a woman...on his crotch. Now such activities aren't exactly safe when driving, so of course as he climaxes, the car loses control and both perish. That pretty much sets the tone for the show. It turns out that he is the husband of Amanda Vaughn (Bibb), our star, and when it is revealed that he was involved in a Ponzi scheme, she loses everything and must move back to Dallas with her Mother (Potts).

When she arrives back 'home', with her two teenagers, she is hesitant about coming back but she is soon spurred onto stay after she runs into some old enemies form school. Four women who Amanda was clearly awful too during High School are now the queen bees and plan to bring her down, whilst remaining sweet to her face and hiding behind the lords name. There is no doubt in my mind that some silly people out there will take the religious side of the program and take it as a negative thing, like they're mocking the religion, but if they actually watch the show they'd realise that really isn't the case. The four women are fantastically cast, and the womens religion is just a small part of their characters.

Leslie Bibb as Amanda, is the mean girl turned good who's life has really gone down the toilet, and she plays her role really well. She brings that perfect combination of natural beauty and innocence that makes you believe she actually could have been a bitch once, but you still believe that she has learnt the error of her ways. Although, I did like at the end when we saw a flash of the old Amanda.

Amanda's former classmates, and the current Queen bees are, Carlene (Chenoweth ), Sharon (Aspen), Heather (Nichols) and Cricket (Shor). The characters are women that have much more than they have ever given themselves credit for. The trauma they suffered under the rule of Amanda in high school did such a number on them that they have tried to forget about, and taken it to the extremes. Each woman has her own special weakness and, as a group they make one whole, satisfied being, well almost.

They've been using the fact that Amanda was mean to them as an excuse to become the bitches they are today and what's worse is that they are cowardly enough to hide behind their faith to feel justified in their actions, no matter how terrible they seem to the naked eye. Given the delicious little glimpses we get into the souls of the ladies in question, I think it's fair to assume we will soon find out they have a lot of heart and their outward appearance is the real joke. I will quickly take this moment to have a geek out moment over Kristin Chenoweth. She brings sass, bitchiness, a sharp wit and some killer heels along with her, and each line she says is just perfect. Watching her teeter around in the way that's she does really brings the character to life, and I'm so glad she has her own show to show off her talents, rather than being a cameo star.

 

It's fair to say that GCB set up quite a lot in their premiere episode. By the end of the hour, you had a pretty good feel for the female bitches, their significant others, Amanda's mother and a good chunk of the town in which they live. For the first episode it is pretty impressive to do that, especially considering the size of the cast and the finer details of the characters involved. Annie Potts as Amanda's mother is an absolute riot, and snaps out one liners as if they are full stops in her sentences.

The writers really do a terrific job and manage to keep up the pace through out, hopefully they can keep it like that for the rest of the season. In my opinion it is the perfect successor to Desperate Housewives, and while I'll miss the ladies of Wisteria Lane, I'm glad I have my Good Christian Bitc...Belles to help me through my loss. It is full of laughs, well at least in the premiere, and the comedy really outweighs the dramatic possibilities of the series. I wish it had kept it's original title, but even if they're now belles, and not bitches, I am happy to see them on my screen, with all their southern flare and charm.

GCB - Promo