12 Miles of Bad Road

12 Miles of Bad Road
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
Starring	Lily Tomlin Mary Kay Place Leslie Jordan Gary Cole Katherine LaNasa
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No.of episodes	6
Original release
Network	HBO

12 Miles of Bad Roadis a television show originally created forHBOcentered on a Texas matriarch who must reconcile her booming real estate business and immense wealth with the day-to-day struggles of herdysfunctional familylife.

Cast

• Lily Tomlinas Amelia Shakespeare
• Mary Kay Placeas C.Z. Shakespeare
• Leslie Jordanas Kenny Kingman
• Gary Coleas Jerry Shakespeare
• Katherine LaNasaas Juliet Shakespeare
• Eliza Coupeas Gaylor Shakespeare
• David Andrewsas Saxby Hall
• Kim Dickensas Jonelle Shakespeare
• Cameron Richardsonas McKenna Hall
• Ivana Miličevićas Montserrat
• Sean Bridgersas Lyle Hartsong
• Leigh Allyn Bakeras Marilyn Hartsong
• Tara Karsianas Deputy Deborah Falcon
• Ron Whiteas Spain Dollarhyde

Production

12 Miles of Bad Roadwas created by writerLinda Bloodworth-Thomason,creator of the television hitsDesigning Women,Hearts Afire,andEvening Shade.It was produced by Bloodworth-Thomason andHarry Thomason'sMozark Productions,as well as HBO. The pilot was shot in 2007. Set inDallas,but shot inLos Angeles,the characters live in the wealthy north Dallas neighborhood ofPreston Hollow.

Ten episodes of the series were ordered by HBO, but because of the2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike,only six episodes were shot.On March 17, 2008, HBO announced that it was not planning to air the show and the creators were shopping the episodes around to other networks.

The title is a lyric from the song "Crush with Eyeliner"from the 1995R.E.M.albumMonster,which was itself a reference to the hit song "Forty Miles of Bad Road"byDuane Eddy.

Critical reception

Newsweekcalled it "a scabrously funny satire of real-estate magnates in Dubya's Texas".

The Los Angeles Timesreported that after HBO passed on the show, "despite its price and pedigree" of prestigious actors and producers, the critics got a look:

Sent out to critics by its creators, who hoped to prove that HBO was making a grave mistake,12 Milesis 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 ofTexas Monthly:

Critics be damned,12 Miles of Bad Roadis a blast, a hair-spray-spritzed, bourbon-soaked mash-up ofDallas,Desperate Housewives,and MTV'sCribs...12 Milesis 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, theToronto Starwrote:

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

1. - "Pilot"
2. - "The Dirty White Girl"
3. - "Tremors"
4. - "Collateral Verbiage"
5. - "Texas Stadium"
6. - "Moon-shadow"

External links

• 12 Miles of Bad RoadatIMDb