I’m glad I’m not the only one who couldn’t tell the male characters apart. I’m male, so I wonder if it works the other way around. Did any female viewers have trouble telling the two young blond female singers apart?
I think this is a problem because the network suits demand that all the lead actors must be generically beautiful/handsome.
No, because they’re 25 years apart, and because one is played by Connie Briston and the other by Hayden Panetierre.
Okay, then I’m confused about the girls,too. Was the young blond who sang the song with the guy in the bar at the end of the show the same girl who is played by Hayden Panetierre?
No, I misunderstood your question. The two young girls.
No, not confusing – slightly different hair color (the “other” girl’s is a whiter blonde), and different vibe (the “other” girl is not an evil backstabbing bitch … yet).
So the other blonde - who works at the Bluebird - is dating Jayna’s cousin or nephew? But that’s not the guy she was singing with at the end. Do I have that part right?
The non-evil young blonde (Scarlett) is Deacon’s niece.
Deacon is Connie Britton/Rayna’s former lover/lead guitarist/bandleader who was being seduced by Hayden Panettiere at the end.
Scarlett is not dating anyone related to Rayna. She is dating some “songwriter” who is probably dating her because of her uncle. The guy she was singing with at the end is Gunnar, who some up-and-coming guitarist somehow employed at the Bluebird, but not related to anyone.
My newest guilty pleasure. 
I think they tried to pack a lot into the first episode because they wanted to hit the ground running. The way things get cancelled these days a show has to grab the audience from the start. Looks like it worked.
I hope they round out Powers Booth’s character a little better or it will be a waste of an amazing actor.
You’re way better at this than I am.
Great little summary by lisacurl; didn’t see this addressed directly, so - Yes and yes.
And you can add me to the list of guys who had some difficulty at first distinguishing between Randy (producer, friend of Rayna (Connie) and now producing/presumably bedding Juliette (Hayden)) and Deacon (Rayna’s guitarist/bandleader/possible baby-daddy who’s also a songwriter and also presumably bedding Juliette).[ul][]Deacon is the one Juliette gushed over when she passed him backstage at the Opry; she made her play for him after she saw him perform at the Bluebird. Is being seduced by Juliette, but may (or may not) be going ahead with eyes open (love the exchange: “You’re a girl.” “That too.”)[]Randy is the one who was in Rayna’s initial meeting with the record company execs backstage, talked about the three songs Rayna rejected, and jokes about auto-tune while recording Juliette. Has apparently been smitten by Juliette, though it remains to be seen how he’ll handle her summary rejection of him at her door. In the rain.[/ul]
OK, so I’ve got too much time on my hands. Here’s a rundown of the major characters (names from IMDb).
Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton): Middle-aged country star with a long career entering apparent decline in the new digital music era. Is proud her past success helped build up her record company (Edgehill Republic) and dismayed they will not now support her under-performing album and under-selling tour unless she agrees to scrap her own tour and instead open (“co-headline”) for their up-and-coming starlet (Juliette). Has money troubles apparently due in part to her husband’s (Teddy Conrad) difficulties in the mortgage mess, but will not accept any help from her scheming daddy (Lamar Wyatt). Has a romantic history with her guitarist (Deacon Claybourne), who may be the father of one of her children. Daddy’s scheming forced her to abandon support for her preferred mayoral candidate (and presumed family friend) Coleman Carlisle in favor of her husband.
Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere): Manipulative, bitchy, auto-tuned young singer who has no compunction using people, not to mention her own body, to get what she wants. Overhears Rayna refer to her music as adolescent crap that sounds like feral cats. The record company loves her because she’s selling out arenas and stadiums across the country on her current tour, and would like Rayna to piggy-back on that tour. Mom is some kind of addict (meth?), and Juliette has all the attendant Mommy issues; would like to distance herself, but Mom apparently keeps finding her phone number.
Deacon Claybourne (Charles Esten): Rayna’s lead guitarist and bandleader. May be the father of one of her children. Is also a respected songwriter, though Rayna has never recorded one of his (because she felt they were about her). Seems to be world-weary and self-aware, but apparently succumbs to Juliette’s charms, at least superficially. Juliette has offered him a job as her guitarist/bandleader.
Teddy Conrad (Eric Close): Mr. Rayna Jaymes. Apparently lost his shirt when the mortgage bubble burst. Is manipulated by Rayna’s daddy into running for mayor, and harbors some little resentment at being on the sidelines of Rayna’s success. Remains to be seen if he will be a tool of Lamar’s or have his own opinions.
Scarlett O’Connor (Clare Bowen): Deacon’s neice; waitress at The Bluebird Cafe and poet/nascent songwriter. Big fan of Rayna Jaymes. Dating Avery, who she believes to be “the one” but writes heartbreaking poems about their relationship.
Avery Barkley (Jonathan Jackson): Scarlett’s boyfriend, musician wannabe fronting an “alt/country/punk” band looking for a break. (Deacon: “You know around here ‘punk’ is code for ‘can’t play at all’?”)
Gunnar Scott (Sam Palladio): Another Bluebird staffer and singer/guitarist; holds a torch for Scarlett and convinces her to put one of her poems to music. Deacon tells him he has real talent.
Coleman Carlisle (Robert Wisdom): Mayoral candidate opposing Teddy Conrad and apparent family friend (Teddy tells Lamar he’ll run, but doesn’t want to slam Coleman in the process). Had Rayna’s support until her husband was pushed into the race by Daddy.
Lamar Wyatt (Powers Boothe): Rayna’s daddy, wealthy man of means and local power broker (we first meet him as the current mayor is declaring “Lamar Wyatt Day”). Pushes Teddy into mayoral race in order to have a puppet in office to approve his plans to build a stadium in the city, and had more to do with Rayna’s early success than she knew or would like to believe.
Tandy Wyatt (Judith Hoag): Rayna’s sister and right-hand-person of their father. Rayna seems to have little respect for her as Daddy’s protegé (though she does show up for “Lamar Wyatt Day” at Tandy’s request). May or may not be person with her own viewpoint and power; unclear exactly what her position in Daddy’s company is.
Randy Roberts (Burgess Jenkins): Record producer working with both Rayna and Juliette. Apparently has somewhat of a womanizing past and so is easy fodder for Juliette. Is apparently more into Juliette than she is into him. Does seem to have some know-how in the business.
Watty White (JD Souther): “Legendary producer and songwriter”, apparent some time radio show host, and friend of Rayna Jaymes. Music biz realist who thinks Juliette will be around for a while. “Discovers” Scarlett and Gunnar singing in the Bluebird and calls Rayna with “an idea.”
I feel like there was already a season of this that I missed and I should go back and watch it before I dive into this one.
Thanks for the break-down Just Ed. I would have sworn that at least two of the male leads were played by the same actor.
I think this might be the only new show that I’ll be sticking with this year.
Mrs. Coach & Cy Tolliver (even though he is chewing scenery) are great. And that final song was really good.
Thank you so much** Just Ed** that was just what I needed. Mark me down as another woman who lost track of which guy was which a few times.
The young blondes are easy, partly because I know Hayden by sight and partly because their personalities are so diametrically opposed.
I liked it better when it was called* Dallas*.
I was just rereading this (and let me add to the chorus of thanks, Just Ed – great cheat sheet!) and was struck by the actor’s name.
Do you know who this is!?!?!?!
Chip Esten who used to appear on Whose Line fairly regularly!
Mind. Blown.
You mean back in post #11? 
Glad you guys liked the write-up. 
Huh. Somehow I never caught Whose Line regularly, but the pictures on IMDb do spur some vague memories. Is it me or does he appear to have aged considerably? Maybe it’s just the stubble/slightly unkempt look of Deacon? Either way, he did a very good job with the character in the pilot.
It kind of stands to reason as he seemed to be the one they used a lot to sing with Wayne Brady for the made up songs. So they knew he could carry a tune a little bit.
Sounds like I may have to start watching this show.
Were the Grand Ole Opry scenes at the now Grand Ole Opry or the original Grand Ole Opry (ie: the Ryman Auditorium)?
No, agree, I wouldn’t have figured it out based on looks – on Whose Line he was a really babyface – but you can see the resemblance in this pic, if you squint.
Huh. Guess he’s a real, yanno, actor.
Connie Britton, will you marry me?
That is all.