Nashville

San Jose Mercury NewsCharlie McCollum

The show could grow on you quickly because those involved are actually talented and engaging on- and offstage. One upside to Nashville is that it doesn't feel as staged as "Laguna Beach" or, in particular, "The Hills," a spinoff of "Beach."

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

Many of its real-life characters display a lot of talent. They also are so transparent about their emotions, whether sincere or calculating, that their social interactions play more like a scripted soap on fast forward.

Hollywood ReporterRay Richmond

It's clear that this new Fox original series has its class act together as it follows singers both on the verge or stardom and just starting out as they chase their dreams in the capital of country music.

The New York TimesVirginia Heffernan

As a self-aware show, perhaps too self-aware, Nashville attends closely to the money-country nexus, mindful that it’s not your daddy’s, nor Robert Altman’s, "Nashville."

VarietyPhil Gallo

The show is as directionless as its stars.

NewsdayDiane Werts

This show is slickly packaged and unchallengingly trite in its slavish reality-show construction.

Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland

It takes a while to connect to these characters, and those who show up might not be willing to stick around until the melodrama kicks in.

Washington PostJohn Maynard

All the slick production values and some decent music in Nashville can't make up for these one-dimensional subjects, and their angst over their fledgling careers grows tiresome.

Los Angeles TimesJon Caramanica

Almost every scene on Nashville feels ploddingly staged. Every conversation is alarmingly, and unconvincingly, topical; no scene is wasted.

Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman

My name is Clint, and I'm a big stupid doofus from Texas starring in a new "docu-soap" called Nashville, where me and a bunch of other country singers try to become famous, like those girls did on "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County."

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

It all seems painfully staged and contrived.

Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin

The show's dialogue feels scripted, its frequent hookups and breakups abrupt and phony, and its scenes from the music business out and out fraudulent.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

Even if you're a shameless lover of "Laguna Beach" and its spinoff, "The Hills," you should probably avoid this country-flavored iteration of the semi-scripted reality soap formula. It's pretty doggone dull.