Bunheads (ABC Family) - Series Premiere: Synopsis and Review

On June 11th a new drama series called ‘Bunheads’ premiered on ABC Family. Stars of the show include Sutton Foster (‘Shrek the Musical’) as Michelle Simms and Kelly Bishop (‘Gilmore Girls’) as Fanny Flowers. The show is produced by Amy Sherman-Palladino, who also created the hit series ‘Gilmore Girls’.
‘Bunheads’ follows the story of Michelle, a Las Vegas showgirl, who marries a man in an impulse. She moves in with him and his mother (yes, they live together), in the sleepy coastal town Paradise. She ends up working with her mother-in-law, Fanny, at Fanny’s dance school.
The pilot episode starts off with Michelle ready to give up her lifelong dream of becoming a dancer in the musical ‘Chicago’. When she finally gets to audition, she gets rejected before she can even dance. The next day a man, Hubble (Alan Ruck, ‘Spin City’), who comes to watch her perform every month asks her to marry him and she, being drunk, says yes. When they arrive in Paradise, Hubble’s mother Fanny isn’t amused, but she throws them a party the same night anyway.
Michelle admits to Hubble that she doesn’t love him, but Hubble already knows this, but he doesn’t care. He thinks he can make her love him by understanding her, since he feels no one understands her, which keeps her from loving someone. Michelle also meets Fanny’s ballet students, who she helps prepare for an audition. After a rough start for Michelle and Fanny they finally seem to get along when a horrible event changes everything.
‘Bunheads’ is received quite well among critics. The show is, indeed, surprisingly pleasant to watch. Even though it is a show about ballet, we don’t see endless pirouettes or other ballet moves. This means that people who have no interest in ballet could still enjoy this show. Since this show airs on ABC Family, it is aimed at teenage girls and young women. If you don’t fall in this category you’ll probably won’t like the show, otherwise you might want to give it a shot.
What do you think of the show?
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