Rodeo Girls

Rodeo Girls so far has stopped short of giving its stars and their story lines enough rope to hang themselves. Instead It manages to jingle jangle jingle its way toward an overall entertaining first hour of animal desires occasionally played out on horseback.

Combining the flashy trashy aesthetics of reality TV and the rodeo circuit, Rodeo Girls is at its best in the ring itself, as the camera speeds around the barrels with horse and rider.

Sort of a Real Housewives with saddles. [16 Dec 2013]

It starts by focusing on the riders’ determination and training. That’s good. Then it segues into the infighting and personality clashes among the competitors. That’s not so good.

Footage from the actual races is compelling. But race footage accounts for a minimal portion of the otherwise dragged-out show, edited for suspenseful teases, sexual tension, dramatic reaction shots and maximum personality clashes.

It sits at the intersection of just enough sincerity and just enough script, which made shows like Laguna Beach famous. But clearly, the show hasn’t done enough to hide its PR tracks.

There’s nothing much going on here besides flirting cowboys and lots of beer-drinking, the producers pile on the supposed “drama” with the requisite reality show staples: forced conflict augmented by quick-cut editing and doomsday music and staged scenes.... Hoof it away from here ASAP.