12 Miles of Bad Road

"12 Miles of Bad Road" is a television show originally created for HBO cite news
first =Devin
last =Gordon
coauthors =Johnnie L. Roberts
date= 2007-05-21
title =A Whacking Leaves HBO in Crisis
work =Newsweek
accessdate=2008-04-19
url =http://www.newsweek.com/id/34756 ] centered around a Texas matriarch who must reconcile her booming real estate business and immense wealth with the day-to-day struggles of her dysfunctional family life. As of April 2008, HBO has passed on the show and the producers are looking for distribution.

Cast

The cast includes:cite news
first =Nellie
last =Andreeva
date =2007-01-23
month =January 23
title =HBO Ready for 'Road' Show, 'Treatment'
work =BackStage
accessdate=2008-04-19
url =http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/multimedia/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003536414 ] imdb title|0804432|12 Miles of Bad Road]
*Lily Tomlin as Amelia Shakespeare
*Mary Kay Place as Amelia's sister, C.Z. Shakespeare
*Leslie Jordan as Amelia and C.Z.'s cousin Kenny Kingman
*Gary Cole as Amelia's son Jerry
*Katherine LaNasa as Amelia's daughter Juliet
*Eliza Coupe as Amelia's daughter, Gaylor
*David Andrews as Juliet's soon to be ex husband, Saxby Hall
*Kim Dickens as Jerry's wife, Jonelle
*Cameron Richardson as Juliet and Saxby's mentally handicapped daughter, McKenna
*Ivana Milicevic as Montserrat, Saxby's fiancee
*Sean Bridgers as Lyle Hartsong, the Shakespeares' handyman
*Leigh Allyn Baker as Marilyn Hartsong, Jerry's mistress and former secretary.
*Tara Karsian as Deputy Deborah Falcon, an officer who Lyle is attempting to corrupt
*Ron White as the wealthy Spain Dollarhyde, friend to Jerry & Saxby

Production

"12 Miles of Bad Road" was created by writer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, creator of television hits "Designing Women", "Hearts Afire", and "Evening Shade". The production company is Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason's Mozark Productions, as well as HBO. The pilot was shot in 2007. Set in Dallas, but shot in Los Angeles, the characters live in the wealthy north Dallas neighborhood of Preston Hollow.

Ten episodes of the series were ordered by HBO, but because of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, only six episodes were shot. On March 17, 2008, HBO confirmed that it was not planning to air the show and the creators were shopping the episodes around to other networks. cite news
title = HBO won't run '12 Miles'
work = The Hollywood Reporter
first= Nellie | last = Andreeva | date = 2008-03-18
url = http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3icdc37db19c2bf2ef4b46813026b824e7
accessdate=2008-04-19 ]

Critical reception

"Newsweek" called it "a scabrously funny satire of real-estate magnates in Dubya's Texas." [cite news
url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/34756
work=Newsweek
title= A Whacking Leaves HBO in Crisis
first=Devin |last= Gordon
date=2007-05-21 |accessdate=2008-06-02 ]

"The Los Angeles Times" reported that after HBO passed on the show, "despite its price and pedigree" of prestigious actors and producers, the critics got a look: [cite news
url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-hbo19apr19,0,3333375.story
work=The Los Angeles Times
title= HBO, after the revolution
first=Mary |last= McNamara
date=2008-04-19 |accessdate=2008-06-01 ]

quote
Sent out to critics by its creators, who hoped to prove that HBO was making a grave mistake, "12 Miles" is a nightmare tug of war between the bold, the brilliant and the really, truly terrible. The tale of a Texas real estate dynasty, it cries out not for a review but a psychiatric diagnosis -- schizophrenia? Bipolar disorder? Never have so many Emmy-deserving performances been trapped in such a muddled mess of a more than occasionally offensive storyline.

From the June 2008 issue of "Texas Monthly": [cite news
url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/2008-06-01/hollywoodtx.php
work=Texas Monthly
title= Frozen Asset
first=Christopher |last=Kelly
date=2008-06-01 |accessdate=2008-06-01]

quote
Critics be damned, "12 Miles of Bad Road" is a blast, a hair-spray-spritzed, bourbon-soaked mash-up of "Dallas", "Desperate Housewives", and MTV’s "Cribs"..."12 Miles" is post-camp, a knowingly sincere (or sincerely knowing) attempt to resuscitate a genre that was long ago drowned out by our über-ironic culture...it qualifies as the most underrated show of the decade that almost no one has had the chance to see.

On the producers' decision to send the un-aired episodes to critics, the "Toronto Star" wrote: [cite news
url=http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Television/article/407428
work=Toronto Star
title=The Road Not Taken
first=Rob |last=Salem
date=2008-03-31 |accessdate=2008-03-31]

quote
A risky proposition, depending on prevailing opinion, with one thin-skinned critic having already weighed in, objecting to the show's somewhat cynical characters and tone. I beg to differ. The show is beyond hilarious, cleverly written and flawlessly cast.

Episodes

# Pilot
# The Dirty White Girl
# Tremors
# Collateral Verbiage
# Texas Stadium
# Moonshadow

References