soapbubbles511

jbshmdfb

Reposting this from the previous season 5 wishlist topic with some updates :

My main wishes are ( I will try to be as positive as possible) :

I want an occasion where the whole main cast sings a song together. Cast centric episodes have always been my favs and been dying for them to all sing together on the show.

No more isolating the main cast with randoms of the week. Rayna, Deacon, Juliette, Avery, Gunnar, Scarlett and Will have all rich friendships that are barely explored anymore. It's time to have Rayna, Deacon and Juliette interact just as much as they did in season1. They use to sing and cowrite and tour together. That was awesome.

Have the main cast have the songs. Avery in season 1 used to have a musical career. Now we are suppose to believe that he has to take randoms gigs to pay the bills when he has all these high profile musicians as friends.

Have the cast perform together for fun. ZAG+Deacon, Juliette/Avery street singing in s2, Daphne/Maddie/Deacon singing at his house, Scarlett/Deacon singing at the piano... Bring that back.


No more real life diseases. PPD, Cancer, addiction etc were all badly represented and the show so depressing. Bring back the fun Bring back silly moments like Deacon/Avery with Juliette hiding under the bed or S/A/G road trip.


Cut the characters. There are enough with Will, Gunnar, Rayna, Juliette, Scarlett, Deacon, Avery, Glenn, Emily, Noel, Bucky, Daphne, Maddie (fix her please) and Cadence to give us the stories fans have been dying to see in ages. When a character has run their course, don't bring 100 randoms to make it have a story, their time is done, give them closure and go. The season 4 finale wrapped Layla's storyline perfectly IMO a good realistic of what happens when you screw over everyone to get ahead, she has success now but lost everyone (maybe minus Will and her label (eventhough she doesn't appreciate what they do for her)) and now that her ties to everyone are broken and the character wasn't very popular to begin with it's time to let her go. Luke could also be written out as he was redeemed in the end and was on his way to a happy ending with his ex. He could be managing his label from behind the scene or be recurring at most.


Remember the history. A lot of things have happen on this show that has had no follow up. Still wondering where Watty and Brent are. Now adding Vita to that list.

Be realistic. S1 was so much more believable in terms of what was possible in the music business. Now it's grey's anatomy finale disaster everyweek in terms of unbelivable, if I wanted to see that I would watch that show, not Nashville.


Give character big payoff. Aside from D/R getting a big wedding (that too had drama with the Maddie storyline) there has been so little of that. For example, J/A had a 1 min mariage with no honeymoon and as soon as Hayden was back from maternity leave they were already being torn apart by a disease. Give me happy happy moments.

No more triangles this series has had too many. The fans have made it clear they want together and there has been stalling for 4 seasons. Build those couples back up if they are apart and give them moments that make the fans remember why they invested so much in the first place.


More Kevin. I love that character with Will, make him recurring at least as possible with the actor's Schedule.

No more OOC moments. For example Luke never wanted to run a music business when we met him, making him a label head to keep him around was just weird. Other example everything Avery has been doing in s4B. The guy would never take a single look at the woman who tried to destroy Juliette in s2. And he has never been a coward/user. Nor would be ever produce a Jeff was all that album.


Let characters grow. Nothing like seeing the evolution of a characters through out series. A lot of them have regressed since season 1.


Just more songwriting moments with the core 3 couples (4 if you add Kevin/Will)

Give Will a story that has nothing to do with being a gay singer. Every storyline he has had since s2 has been his gay struggle. I want to see him have fun. Does Will want kids? Give the man some love instead of hate.


Instead of introducing and keep characters that the audience can't connect with, let us know more about the heavy recurring characters that have been here since s1. I would love to know more about the personal life of Bucky, Glenn, Emily and Noel since they are big part of major stars lives. Do these people have time to date?

Jjou

This ^ All this.

Telepath

The post I wrote over at previously.tv about what I think will happen with the move to CMT is also, interestingly, exactly what I want to happen.
As an example, while I'm sure there are people who would disagree with me, I'm fairly okay with limiting Rayna's song time. She's not primarily a singer but an actress. She has to be given good dialog and good, complex, believable stories, and this will make Connie happy and give her a chance to shine again like she used to. Jonathan is a special case as he's both a very talented actor and a good singer - this versatility should be put to use.

Clare Bowen and Sam Palladio shouldn't play hysterical drug addict or cliché bad-boy respectively, that's not who they are, they don't believe in that material, and they aren't chameleons - they're one-note actors who are good at their job when they're given a role close to their own personality. It's time to remember what they are on the show - "you're the only boy I met who could sing as high as me", indeed. Their relationship has been one of the most frustrating aspects of the show for years because Nothing Ever Happened, and I'm not even going to beg Zwick+1 to give them a "happily ever after" story - what I do want is simply one which makes sense and right now, after what happened in the finale, what makes sense is them sticking together and working through their issues. I don't mind them fighting, I'd just really like to have a believable reason why they would be fighting. Deacon and Rayna fight and they don't get divorced!

Unlike most people, it seems, I don't think Aubrey Peebles can really sell a believable "arch villain" role. Her acting simply isn't nuanced enough for me to take her seriously. However I am fine with keeping her in the role of the petty, scheming hypocrite playing the victim card every other hour, that's the only role I've seen her perform believably. It's just a matter of the show owning up to the fact that this is what she is.

Other than that I agree with everything that jb* said. I think as long as they aren't forced to make cuts in the main cast (which we've been assured they won't) the show will probably improve from budget cuts and get more streamlined. We don't need Elton John or Christina Aguilera on Nashville. If they want to throw in some guest performances, hell, why not hire John & Jacob? I'm sure they aren't too expensive.

soup333

Y'all have already listed a lot of things, but one thing I miss are the overviews of Nashville. In earlier seasons we used to get beautiful views of the city that are few and far between now. I made my first trip to Nashville solely because of this show and those views were a large part of why I wanted to go.

Another thing are the great background tracks that we used to get all the time. I don't remember exactly when they disappeared in favor of bland soap opera style audio but I actually purchased a lot of songs from artists I had never heard of just because of the show.

I wholeheartedly agree with them having the main cast involved in each other's lives like they used to. Some of the best episodes were ones where they were all in the same location. I'd love to see a jam session at Gunnar's with the younger crowd plus Kevin and maybe even Juliette.

The days of Will Lexington, Token Gay MUST end. This has gone on for far too long.

I'm 100% for dropping Layla off the same cliff as Cash, Frankie and Autumn, but if she must be around (again, why?) they have to settle on a personality for her. If they were to own up to her being the "petty, scheming hypocrite" that she is it might be better. But honestly, it doesn't matter because I'll more than likely be FF'g any scenes involving her anyway.

The show seems to have lost a lot of focus with all of these extraneous characters, guest stars and OTT storylines. Tighten the ship! Trisha Yearwood at the CMA's - fine. Christina Aguilera on several episodes? Why? Bring the focus back to the leading ladies. The rivalry between them may have evolved, but Rayna and Juliette are the heart of this show and there's no reason why they should have only had TWO conversations during this entire season.

We talked about this before, but it'd be great if they mixed up the music pairings.

Bring back the humor. Allow the characters to have more than fleeting happiness.

Something must be done about Rayna's incompetence and half-assery as a labelhead. In a way, I miss Edgehill. Jeff's dead, obviously, but they could have brought in someone else to be competition for Rayna besides Luke. And Wheeling Dealing Records (or whatever) really hasn't even been competition for her in the same way Edgehill was.

I might be the only one but I am so against expanding on the supporting character's lives. A lot of my fear is that it would turn into another Frankie situation, where that character's life becomes a majorly time consuming part of an episode I'd be rolling my eyes through. But maybe these writers would know how to do it in a way that would interest me. I doubt it though. I have ZERO interest in who Bucky is dating.

I almost hate to say this, but I'm hoping Avery's involvement with Layla's album will help launch a solid career for him. It's only been four seasons. I think it's time.

ETA: I forgot. It'd be nice if Rayna would own up to some of her mistakes. I'm tired of this version of Deacon. Tired of he and Juliette being the black sheep of the show and I'm hoping that changes this season.

Heart of Rhythm

One thing I was thinking about is the music. Going to be honest, I'm really not a fan of the pop country CMT is promoting. They will probably promote these kinds of artists a lot more in the show and fair enough, I can live with that. But I just hope it doesn't influence the original music, that they give them all freedom to continue as it's always been, that they don't push towards pop country. I want the quality of the original music to be the same it's always been.

JAL29

I would agree with the comment on more current music in the background. I, too, bought several songs that were background songs - Even If It Breaks Your Heart, Sin for a Sin, Emmylou. And the flyover shots - I love seeing those and wish they'd go back to some of that.

I liked Layla, but I would tend to agree that her story sort of seemed to wrap up in the season finale. She could still be an artist for Highway 65 without being on the screen or only appearing occasionally.

I also don't care about the secondary characters' personal lives - I don't need to know more about Bucky, Glenn, Noel, Emily than what we already see. They're perfect supporting characters - they give texture to the main characters they support and add context when it's needed.

I'd like to see Deacon and Rayna write that album they talked about and then going out on that tour. And, while I don't think they can sweep the Maddie business under the rug, they could use that as a way of teaching her about the business. Play up more of the parallels between mother and daughter, which would have been the more interesting story in the first place.

One of the things I think our new showrunners do well is relationships and the texture of those relationships, as well as the intermingling of characters with each other, so I trust they'll pull the main characters more into each others' orbits.

I would love it if they would spend some time, behind the scenes, creating the backstory and then sticking with it when it's needed. One of the things I hated most was the constant rewriting of history, particularly Deacon and Rayna's.

I would also like Rayna to take more responsibility for her own actions in her relationship with Deacon, so we can get him back to doling out his Deacon's Man Wisdom, instead of being a buffoon and saying "I'm sorry" ten thousand times.

jbshmdfb

I agree with that eventhough it was on my old list that I brought over, it's just if it's between that or new characters I rather have it be them because I love all 4 and it would relate to the characters we already have. But concentrate on Rayna, Deacon, Avery, Juliette, Scarlett, Gunnar and Will and I am one happy gal. No more randoms FTW.

Telepath

A competent writer can find ways to flesh out the minor characters in a manner that does not chew up the screentime completely. Small references. Say, Glenn making a passing reference to his former wife. Shooting a normal scene with Bucky where he's hitting the gym or playing squash. Simple stuff like that.

soapbubbles511

I want the new writers to come as advertised. No more soapy mess. Coherent stories and character development. Not jerking around characters or picking up and dropping things to fit the plot point of the moment.

I want the stories to focus on the music again. The music has become such an afterthought. I want characters writing songs. Characters making choices about their careers. DR talked about how important music was to their relationship like 500 times last season and yet we got nothing. Juliette doesn't need a movie career, she needs to focus on her music career. SG's career trajectory should be more than a backdrop to them bickering. Maddie does not need a solo career, get her back to performing with Daphne. Will's career being about his music and not him being gay. Avery having a career period.

Focus on the main cast. No more randoms. The stories should be about Rayna, Juliette, Deacon, Avery, Scarlett, Gunnar and Will. Nobody else needs their own stories. And these characters should interact. Get Juliette back around Rayna and Deacon. Deacon/Scarlett, Will/Gunnar/Avery etc etc

Telepath

I've always loved the few scenes with Deacon and Gunnar because they seem to like each other so much. I want the Deacon who said "you hold onto her." Where did he go?

Lily2003

Like jbshmdfb I"m copying what I wrote before because it hasn't changed much.

What I would like to see in Season 5 would be a focus on the 4 couples. I think it would be interesting because each of them are in different phases of their relationships.

D/R: Obviously they are the older, mature couple with years of history together. I'd like to see a focus on work/life/balance with them. First, collaborating on music. Writing, touring, finding new talent for H65. Writing a new album together then going on tour. They need to completely retcon Maddie then get her back singing with Daphne. Have them make that album with D/R's help then they can all go on tour together. And more romance!! Just because they are older and mature does not mean boring. No randoms. And more Bucky.

J/A: Would like to see these two focus on rebuilding their relationship and spending time with Cadence. They should culminate in a proper wedding just like D/R (without the drama). Avery should be Juliette's producer/band leader. Again, more romance no randoms and more music. Just Glenn and Emily and Cadence allowed.

S/G: Finally stop the on-again/off-again merry-go-round. Just put them together and be done. Would like to see these two figure out how to make a relationship work as they become more popular with their music and are more in the limelight. Deal with the pressures of all that with the ups and downs but ultimately remain together and get through it. Plenty of drama potential there without pulling them apart and throwing random girlfriend/boyfriends at them. More music, no randoms. Only Noel allowed.

W/K: Can we please have Will be happy for more than two seconds? Put him in this relationship and keep him there. New relationships are exciting and romantic. Lots of potential for misunderstandings and learning new things about each other. We don't really know much about Kevin. Flesh him out. These two should be writing songs for Will's next album. Maybe have them sing a duet together. KDM has an amazing voice - shame not to take advantage of that. Will being gay should be an undercurrent woven through his storylines but not the prime focus. Been there, done that, move on.

And yes to more interactions between the main cast. There are a lot of pairings that have great chemistry so take advantage of them.

Those should be the primary focus of Season 5 with maybe some of this:

Recurring Characters: Yes, let's know a little more about the core recurring characters that we know and love: Emily, Bucky, Glenn, Noel. Not big story lines but some filler stuff to move things along.

Layla: If Layla stays, keep her single. She needs to mature A LOT!!! Send her to counseling to figure out her issues and morph her into a strong, independent, kickass singer. That may be too tall an order but that's really the only thing that would make this character successful for me.

Luke: I actually like Luke. I think he is a nice counterpoint to Rayna. Bring in a strong female for him (ex-wife?). Someone strong who can keep him in his place. Luke gets sidetracked a lot. He needs someone to keep his moral compass pointing in the right direction.

jbshmdfb

I wouldn't mind seeing Luke's ex wife if they are keeping him as long as it's recurring at most and she doesn't sing. I want the songs on this show to go to : Rayna, Deacon, Daphne & Maddie (or Daphne alone no Maddie alone like Wild Card ), Scarlett, Gunnar, Avery, Juliette and Will. If they are keeping Luke, the occasional Luke song like ''Can't say no to love'' I wouldn't mind. But that's it.

Telepath

After the stunt Maddie pulled she's lost all right to a solo career for the next decade. However getting out of the contract might be tricky?

soapbubbles511

I'm perfectly fine with them coming up with some excuse to get Maddie out of that contract and when the season starts they've just backed away from that entire plot.

I would say make her suck it up and fulfill her contract, she wanted to be emancipated and make grown up decisions now deal with it... except I really really do not want another season of Maddie stories or Lennon solos. So yeah, let's just back away from the mess that was S4.