The TV Chick

Hart of Dixie premieres tonight on the CW, and this pilot totally won me over. The show centers around Dr. Zoe Hart, who thinks she has her entire life planned out. She’s going to follow in her dad’s footsteps and become a cardio-thoracic surgeon. But first, she’s going to win a prestigious fellowship in that field. Her dreams don’t turn out the way she planned them though. Her boyfriend dumps her because she cares more about being a doctor than being in a relationship, and she gets denied the fellowship because her professor tells her she needs better bedside manner. Then she recalls an older man, Dr. Harley Wilkes, who offered her a job at her medical school graduation in Blue Bell, Alabama. He keeps sending her postcards to come down there, but she keeps ignoring them. But when she’s left with no job options, she decides to give Blue Bell a chance.

Zoe gets to the small town and immediately meets George Tucker (a lawyer, played by Scott Porter), who is lovely and cute and promises not to murder her, and gives her a ride to town. When she gets there, she learns that Harley passed away recently but his secretary kept sending her postcards. Zoe decides that despite the girls dressed up in crazy costumes, celebrating the confederacy and the alligator she hilariously runs into in the middle of the night, she might just give the town a shot. Add into the mix, Lemon (George’s fiancee, played by Jamie King), Lavon Hayes (famous athlete and Mayor of the town, played by Chris Williams), and Wade (the gatekeeper of Lavon’s plantation, played by Wilson Bethel) and you have two love triangles (Zoey/George/Lemon and George/Lemon/Lavon) and some very interesting people. Also, Dr. Wilkes is not just a random man who liked Zoe’s graduation speech, but I don’t want to spoil too much. The pilot episode focuses a touching story where Zoe helps out a young woman in town, Mabel, through childbirth. If you don’t tear up during this scene, you may honestly have no heart. (Or Hart…get it?)

Hart of Dixie is a throwback to shows like Everwood, Gilmore Girls and Dawson’s Creek. It is everything the WB generation wants in a show. Rachel Bilson is a great lead and the supporting cast is just as great. If you are like me, and you are looking for that show that reminds you of the best shows of your adolescent years, then check out Hart of Dixie. It is one of my favorite new shows of the season and I am very excited to see where it goes after the pilot episode.

Hart of Dixie premieres tonight at 9 PM on the CW. Be sure to tune in!