TV Review - Perfect Harmony (2019)

This series airs opposite CBS' The Unicorn. I point that out because both shows are about men who are widows. Both men have lost their wives. The man here though is significantly older. Therefore, it can't be about that male widow entering the dating scene again. It's not to say that this series, written by Lesley Wake Webster, can't go there. Maybe the protagonist will date again, but this series has other things it wants to address first. One of those things is this pastoral idea that puts country life or people who live in the country on a pedestal, elevating above people who live in the city. It speaks a bit to the red state versus blue state divide that we see in politics, the divide between liberals and conservatives and the divide between middle, rural America and the coastal, urban areas. It's mostly annoying as rendered here. Some of that is due to the writing. A bit of it though comes from the performance from the main actor.

Bradley Whitford (The Handmaid's Tale and The West Wing) stars as Arthur Cochran, the chair of the Princeton University music department. He resigned after receiving complaints. He was suicidal and acting out in the wake of his wife's death. To honor his wife's wishes to be buried in the town in which she was born, Arthur goes to Conley Fork, Kentucky. There, he meets a bunch of people with strange and quirky traditions and habits, akin to life in a rural country-area that bemuse him every second of every moment he's there. He's a bit of snob or comes off as a bit arrogant, so he's probably not the best representative of the liberal, urban dweller, but it makes the contrast here all the more striking.

He's like an older version of the character in NBC's A.P. Bio (2018). For some reason, he decides to stay in Kentucky and lead the choir at Second First Church of the Cumberlands. The choir consists of five, ragtag people. They're probably not so ragtag. They're members of the community who fit into Conley Fork a whole lot more than Arthur does, but, in various and small ways, they're misfits or don't have the best social standing, even in this small town. In that regard, even though it's not a perfect comparison, this show reminded me of Glee (2009). Several of the members are diverse in their ethnicity and racial background.

Whereas Glee was mainly about criticizing bullying, specifically that of homophobia, endearing us to LGBTQ people, this series seems more about endearing us to people in red states. It feels a little bit clunky though in its execution. A better tactic would have been to mimick that of ABC's The Conners (2018) and just center us on the people who live in Kentucky. Having Arthur there trying to fit into this community is an admirable idea but feels too contrived and inauthentic. Plenty of shows have taken a city guy, even an older city guy, and plopped him in the middle of the country. Everwood (2002) did that very thing and it was brilliant. The difference is that the city guy in that 2002 show wanted to live in the country. Arthur doesn't. He's resistant at first. Even if the point is he's slowly warming to the place, it makes embracing this series a bit more difficult.

NBC's Trial & Error (2017) had a young city guy plopped in the country and he was a bit resistant, but his character wasn't as arrogant as Arthur. That series had a more involving plot that also helped us to engage with the people and the place more than here. Many of the supporting cast of Trial & Error were over-the-top caricatures, which helped with the comedy. The supporting cast here is more down-to-Earth and not as over-the-top. They're not as wacky. As such, hopefully the series will treat them more seriously.

Anna Camp (True Blood and Pitch Perfect) co-stars as Ginny, a waitress at a diner that's known for its biscuits. She's divorced and has a son. She sings on the choir with her ex-husband and his best friend who's also interested in her. She's trying to move on with her life, but a love triangle seems to be in the works there. Will Greenberg also co-stars as Wayne, the ex-husband to Ginny. He's a redneck stereotype or at least a more red state version of Matthew McConaughey. He's basically an idiot.

Geno Segers (Banshee and Pair of Kings) plays Dwayne, the best friend to Wayne who has feelings for Ginny. Despite that and his lumbering size, I hope that the series digs into his character, instead of being just the friend to Wayne. Similarly for Tymberlee Hill who plays Adams, a black woman. I don't want her to just be the friend to Ginny, which is so far what she's been propped up to be.

Rizwan Manji (The Magicians and Schitt's Creek) plays Jax, a reverend at the church who knows a lot about American films, despite being an immigrant, but only sanitized versions of those films. His references in that regard are probably the funniest aspect of this series. Yet, I would love for the show to dig into his character as well, instead of having him just be this silly figure.

Rated TV-PG-DL.
Running Time: 30 mins.
Thursdays at 8:30PM on NBC.