2008 Winter TV Preview: Gone Country

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Gone Country - Season 1

Premieres: Friday, January 25th at 8:00 p.m. EST

Network:CMT

Producer(s):David Garfinkle and Jay Renfroe

Starring:: John Rich, Bobby Brown, Carnie Wilson, Dee Snider, Diana DeGarmo, Julio Iglesias, Jr. Maureen McCormick and Sisqo

Website: cmt.com

In this new CMT reality series, seven famous performers have the opportunity to try and be the next big country superstar. In this seven episode series, Bobby Brown (New Edition), Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips), Diana DeGarmo (American Idol), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Maureen McCormick (The Brady Bunch), Sisqo (Dru Hill), and Julio Iglesias, Jr move into a house together and work with country music star John Rich and a team of writers to see if each of them have what it takes to make it in the country music business.

In addition to showing off their music abilities, the group will also participate in challenges related to the world of country music (ATV off-roading, southern cooking, etc). At the end of two weeks, Rich will decide which of them he thinks will best impress country music fans and will assist that person in getting their new country song recorded and played on the radio.

I had the opportunity to view the first episode of this series and despite the fact that I don’t have a huge interest in country music in general, I was surprised at how entertaining it was to see this group come together. Everyone (except for maybe Dee Snider) seems pretty enthusiastic about the opportunity they’ve been given and are ready to go country. Snyder appears to still have a bit of the old rock-star attitude and manages rub Rich the wrong way right off the bat. Despite the fact that everyone gets along with each other right from the start, there definitely appears to be a bit of drama on the horizon.

Gone Country looks a lot like The Surreal Life except somewhat cleaner, with a country twist. I’m curious enough to see how stars like Sisqo and Maureen McCormick do at singing country music that I’d actually be willing to DVR this series on Friday nights, if only to have something fun to watch on Saturday mornings.

For the full 2008 Winter TV Premiere Schedule: CLICK HERE

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.