Meadowlands: Showtime's Newest Series

I have been a subscriber to the cable network Showtime for a few years now. They have some of the best shows out there for cable television. I love all of their original series and their newest star, Meadowlands, is very promising as well. It is set in a town called, Meadowlands. No country or origin is mention, but all the actors and actresses seem to have an English accent. There are no known stars in this series either.

The series opener starts out with the Brogan family being dropped off, blindfolded, to their new home. They are a family of four, with a mother, father, and twin teenagers, a male and female. The mother's name is Evelyn. Danny is the father. The twins' names are Zoe and Mark. They walk into their home and claim their bedrooms. Zoe seems too smart for her age, yet witty and sarcastic at the same time. Mark on the other hand is a mute and doesn't talk to anyone. He and his sister have a way of understanding one another, nonverbally though, due to them being twins.

The Brogans then begin to venture out to learn about their new neighborhood and neighbors. Every house is perfect looking, and almost identical to every other house in the neighborhood. Their next door neighbor is a Brenda who is out going, patronizing, and nosy. She boasts about how her daughter is not currently at home, but will be in a few days and about how beautiful she is and how Zoe doesn't quite match up to her daughter, Jezebel. The next person who comes along to introduce himself is the neighborhood handy man, Jack. He is quite the ladies man, and immediately begins to be friendly with Zoe. He helps many ladies in the neighborhood fulfill any needs she may have, along with his own personal animal instinct needs. He's like the gigolo of Meadowlands.

Brenda, who is a lonely woman, begins to start undressing in front of her bedroom window each night. This window just so happens to be directly across the yard from Mark's bedroom window. At first she is thrown back by it and almost ashamed. By the next day she begins to feel flattered by it and get soff on the fact that a young man is so interested in seeing her naked. She begins to have a secret attraction to him. Jack the handy man comes over and offers Zoe a test of his services, not before her father walks in on them and quickly kicks Jack out of the home and puts him in his place. You see several scenes of Jack being intimate with other women in the neighborhood throughout this first show.

Moreover, the first Meadowland show ends with the Brogans having a welcome/housewarming party for themselves and the entire neighborhood is all invited. They are all socializing and dancing. The nosy neighbor's daughter finally comes home. Jezebel is far from how her mother described her. Instead of her being God's gift to men, she's more like a gift to buffet restaurant owners. She is a very heavy set girl. Despite this, Mark walks up to her and tells Jezebel that she is beautiful. This is quite a breakthrough moment for him as he hasn't spoken in years and when he finally does, it's to a complete stranger. It is revealed by Danny to his wife that everyone in Meadowlands is part of the witness protection program and that nobody is who they really say they are. Each family has their own secrets. Evelyn is immediately upset with this and thinks that they are surrounded by criminals.

I personally think this show has high hopes of being a hit. It seemed a bit odd at first, but with the twist at the end of the entire neighborhood being in the witness protection program, the directions this show can seem very intriguing. This is the second new series in a row for Showtime to have all English actors in it, with the other being The Tudors. Meadowlands has something for everyone. Teenage angst for the younger crowd, family issues to deal with for the parents, and a balance of mystery for everyone to try to figure out.