attempts to tell another side of their story, one that digs deeper into the crafted mythologies of George Jones and Tammy Wynette to reveal Glenn and Virginia, the two flawed individuals underneath the rhinestone facades. But the series consistently falls flat in this goal, often relegating the troubled stars to hollow representations of drug addiction and alcoholism.
With each of the miniseries’ six episodes named for a song, the show falls into a trap of its own design. In Episode 2, “Stand By Your Man,” George is already slipping away from Tammy and deeper into the bottle. By “Two Story House,” they’re recording from two booths separated by a thick piece of soundproof glass.
In Shannon’s portrayal of George Jones, the outside-the-tabloid story is more generous. Jones is chronically unhappy—allergic, in fact, to any semblance of joy or contentedness. As soon as he sees any bit of happiness in his life, he has to be the first one to destroy it before anyone else gets the chance. The George Jones reported on at the time was an erratic drunk and a jealous, jilted lover. His violent alcoholism tore their relationship apart, yet fans still screamed his name at her shows.
Where George Jones has a full off-stage journey throughout the series, making peace with being “just the man” Glenn, Tammy never recovers any sense of self. She was too broken down, too shattered to recover, and then shattered even further. It’s a shameful choice for Sylvia and Hillcoat to remove any motivations for her own success beyond supporting her kids and her husbands who swarmed her success like vultures.
Kristen Reid is a writer, covering television for Paste Magazine and Vulture. She’s been known to spend too much time rewatching her favorite sitcoms, yelling at her friends to watch more TV, and falling in love with fictional characters. You can follow her on TwitterFor all the latest TV news, reviews, lists and features, follow