User Reviews

It's amazing what some people think will succeed as a television series. Then again, the way some of the most hare-brained concepts have turned out to be mega-hits, who can blame a person for trying? Here, the producers attempted to take an enduring story about a likable farm family who pins their hopes on the yearly Iowa State Fair and turn it into a weekly series. Did anyone wonder how a weekly series could be called "State Fair" when that event only lasts so long yet a show runs for most of a year? First came the source novel and then a 1933 film starring Will Rogers and Janet Gaynor. Then in 1945 it was musicalized by Rodgers & Hammerstein. In 1962, the story was re-fit to coincide with the Texas State Fair and to accommodate Ann-Marget's swiveling hips. In each of these versions, the Frake family had everything riding on the big event. Father Abel was entering his prize hog, Ma Melissa entered the mincemeat contest, Wayne wanted to win at the carnival games and Margy simply wanted to be swept away by a romance. In this pilot, the name Frake has been changed to Bryant and the names Abel and Margy have been dumped in favor of the less evocative Jim and Karen. Jim and Melissa run a ranch and Karen is staying there with her young son while she's getting divorced (!) while Wayne yearns to be a singer. Only Wayne has any interest or reason to attend the State Fair. An additional sibling named Chuck is added in to no particular effect. The hour-long show mostly centers on Vogel (of the waning years of "Bonanza") as he tries to win his way into a talent contest. He's distracted to a certain degree by fellow student Purl who has visions of her own country music stardom in her head. Her awe-inspiring (for all the wrong reasons) singing presentations are a testament to the power of remaining almost stationary during up tempo numbers. Still, the actress adds the only life to the proceedings; all the others being forced to enact an earnestness that is stifling. Cobb has little to do but whine about her divorce and her problematic kid, though she does manage (in a blasé and uninteresting manner) to hook up with an old schoolmate at the fair. O'Connor and Miles are old pros and handle their scenes with reasonable depth and comfort, though they have very little of interest to keep them occupied. Cotler, as the troubled child, is about as unappealing and uncharismatic a person as could be hired for the job. In fact, aside from a bland, ugly presentation and a lame script, casting seems to be the biggest fault of the pilot. O'Connor and Miles are too inherently sophisticated to represent the simple farm couple they are meant to be. Vogel just looks plain freaky with his massive mop of fuzzy red hair and a pair of jeans that tell everyone everything they will ever need to know about him! He does get to perform one of his own original songs as well as another, so for fans of his, this is a must. The rest of the regular cast just fades away into nothingness. It's fun to briefly see the ubiquitous Gregg as a jaded teacher, though. Available for viewing in the new 2-disc "State Fair" DVD, it's ingenious as an extra and much appreciated, but leaden as entertainment, ultimately coming off as rather depressing. It's sad to think that the simple and joyous characters that entertained audiences for several generations (even in a short-lived Broadway production that starred John Davidson and Andrea McArdle) have been reduced to dreary, renamed, run-of the mill props for a dull TV show. And the question remains. How could a series have been called "State Fair" and continue for a full season's run??