6 Reality Shows filmed in Nashville

It’s the start of a New Year, which means it’s back to reality—as in, the six reality television series that have recently or are currently being filmed in Nashville. (Jan 2014)

by Anastasia Brown

January 14, 2014

6:00 AM

A&E's Crazy Hearts: Nashville. The series follows several aspiring artists as they try to hit it big, falling in love along the way. Relationships mean everything in Nashville, and there is no shortage of love triangles in this town, states the show's website. Local reporter and photographer Heather Byrd is a cast member and invited me to a showcase that will be featured in one of the episodes. I must admit, I was impressed by singer-songwriter Hugh Mitchell. American Songwriter magazine called him a golden-throated troubadour;he skews the lines between country, blues, and rock, in the vein of Jeff Buckley, Steve Earle, and Jackson Browne. Watch the show for an introduction to more artists like him.
Crazy Hearts premieres this month; see aetv.com for details.

Thicker Than Water on Bravo is unique in the sense that it doesn't touch on the music scene at all. It chronicles the Tankard family, the self-dubbed "black Brady bunch" with a father who calls himself a "reacher" not a preacher. Being a preacher's kid myself, I find the devout materialism displayed without shame to be alarming. Um, isn't humility versus boastfulness advocated in the Bible? I'm just sayin'.
Thicker Than Water airs Sundays at 9 p.m.

Private Lives of Nashville Wives, which follows a group of opinionated, beautiful, and feisty women. Similar to the Bravo Housewives reality franchise, most of the cast members happen to be married to men who work in the entertainment industry. We'll be watching the drama with a bit of apprehension as they deal with professional challenges, family issues, and social relationships.
Private Lives premieres February 24 at 9 p.m. on TNT.

There’s the music-driven series Chasing Nashville on Lifetime, which follows four competitive teenage singers from Appalachia as they pursue their Nashville dreams. This show demonstrates just how naive many without experience can be. I nod in agreement with on-air producer and mentor Keith Thomas when he says that every young lady on the show needs more development, and I question if they have the work ethic, polished talent, and drive required to compete in Music City. Catch up on this series at lifetime.com

Cassadee Pope: Frame by Frame launched on CMT this fall and revealed a behind-the-scenes look as the winner of The Voice Season 3 and Big Machine Records artist released her first single, recorded her first solo music video, and performed at the CMT Music Awards. Watch every episode on cmt.com.

Check out our exclusive interview with Cassadee!

A more lucrative documentary for Nashville could be the BBC Worldwide Productions Junior Doctors, which captures 31 first-year resident doctors on 24-hour call rotations. The show was expected to spend $1 million here and is due to air later this year.