Saturday, January 19, 2013

Inexplicably: Malibu Country


I am not exactly sure why but after catching an episode last fall, I have been DVR'ing ABC's Malibu Country. The show is not especially well written nor at all original. It is fact almost a replica of Reba McEntire's first sit-com Reba, including a recently divorced Reba as a single mom with a wacky neighbour and annoyingly cast teenage daughter. There are three things however that set this show apart.

Above: Hudson Thames and Sara Rue

First off, the comfort factor. Malibu Country reminds me of the sit-coms on TGIF I watched as a teen. Predictable, but family oriented story lines that were enjoyable and never required too much brain power. The actors, including McEntire, Rue and Lily Tomlin are all known and although Tomlin hams it up a bit too much, all usually deliver.


Secondly, the show full of odd, but interesting contrasts. A 2013 family sit-com laced with current themes set in 1984 format for situation comedies. Tomlin's weed smoking grandma, Jai Rodriguez as Reba's gay friend. The show is filmed with a nostalgic, if outdated, feel, almost like if on The Brady Bunch, Alice rolled her own joints and Peter kissed girls but insisted he was not straight. Hudson Thames plays the boy next door who may or may not be gay. I have met a few guys like Thames character and hope the show does not take the easy way out and either keeps him gay or leaves his sexuality ambiguous for a long while.


The third reason is easier to pin point, and that is actor Justin Prentice. To me, Justin simply exudes a sexual energy, hard to explain, but easy to see when you watch him. It is in the way he walks, moves and stands and how you just know that body must be so hot under the clothes he insists on always wearing to cover it.


Prentice doesn't have to fake his country look or accent, he is a Nashville native who besides acting, loves music and sports. Since moving to California, Justin has appeared on Criminal Minds, The Middle, Melissa & Joey and iCarly and the movie Me Again.



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