Hart of Dixie

Shot in Wilmington, N.C., by Fake Empire in colaboration with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Galleries. Executive producers, Leila Gerstein, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Len Goldstein, Jason Ensler producer, Kelly Van Horn director, Ensler author, Gerstein.Dr. Zoe Hart - Rachel Bilson Lemon Breeland - Jamie King Lavon Hayes - Cress Williams Wade Kinsella - Wilson Bethel Rose - McKaley Burns George Tucker - Scott Porter People on tv tend to be more beautiful, we are told, explaining away all of the runway models playing cops and prosecutors. Still, it's difficult to consider a wider gap between actor and role than Rachel Bilson being an ambitious thoracic surgeon in "Hart of Dixie," a seafood-out-of-water concept that handles to become condescending towards the seafood and pond alike. This CW show is really silly and light-weight it could possess unpredicted appeal because of its sheer camping factor, along with the chance to determine the South portrayed like a place as exotic because the negative side from the moon. If you wish to be considered a heart surgeon, then you need to work by yourself,Inch a mentor informs Bilson's hard-charging physician Zoe Hart in early going. Well, she did not obtain the promotion she wanted despite her gifted hands, and she's just split together with her boyfriend. How to proceed? Oh wait, there's the old country physician who keeps writing, advocating her in the future have a job at his small practice in Alabama ... In no time, Zoe disembarks a bus in the center of nowhere, putting on a comically short skirt. Fortunately, the very first person the "new lady physician" meets is George (Scott Porter, "Friday Evening Lights"), a dreamy galoot inside a pickup who assures her small-town folk are actually wonderful should you just open and become familiar with Them. Therefore it goes, with Zoe aghast through the cotillion gowns she encounters and getting a chilly reception, a la "Everwood," in the town's only other physician (Tim Matheson), while taking in maternal advice in the office manager (Nancy Travis, who's departing due to dedication to ABC's "Last Guy Standing"). Zoe will prove her mettle, obviously, although not before several awkward encounters, winning her buddies such as the town mayor (Cress Williams) but instantly attaining a bitchy rival (Jamie King). About all that's separating the second from Scarlett O'Hara may be the exclamation "Fiddle-dee-dee." Granted, the CW has gained its stripes with exaggerated youth-oriented soaps -- including "Gossip Girl," where "Hart" author Leila Gerstein has strained. Even though Bilson -- reunited with "The OC" producer Josh Schwartz -- certainly sticks out like a potential CW star, she's so miscast and psychologically scattered there's nary an opportunity to subscribe to her character, however lovely she may be. A whitened lab coat just makes her seem like a resident in Barbie's medical dream house. Clearly, Zoe's missionary operate in Hicksville (production really changes to Burbank following the pilot) is supposed to mature her like a physician -Body able to seeing patients as "individuals to help," not problems to resolve, that is heart-warming within an old-fashioned way. More practically, it's tough to determine this latter-day "Eco-friendly Acres" baling much hay in a single of TV's best timeslots. Which is not just whistlin' Dixie.Camera, Robert Gantz production designer, Mayling Cheng editor, Shaun Granzow music, Jeremy Adelman casting, Molly Lopata. 60 MIN.Hart of Dixie With: Nancy Travis, Tim Matheson, JoBeth Williams Contact John Lowry at john.lowry@variety.com