Disclosure: This post is part of an all expenses paid press trip to Los Angeles provided by Disney.  All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.  All giggles and squeals will also belong to me while attending these events in LA!

Are you a Nashville fan?  Are you waiting for the Nashville Season 2 finale this week?  I have been saying for a while now that I wanted to start watching Nashville but hadn’t found the time to do it yet.  It was on my list of shows to (hopefully) watch over the summer.  Until I was invited to LA last week to meet with Executive Producers Callie Khouri & Dee Johnson and to view the season 2 finale.  So I was frantically trying to watch both season’s before my trip so I’d be up to speed.   But I found it impossible to do in such a short amount of time.  I mean my kids wanted to eat, and they needed clean clothes… lol  I had a lot of other things to do besides watch TV.

Each season of Nashville has over 20 episodes!

Despite the amount of episodes (which is not a problem for me, the more the better), I did manage to get the entire season 1 under my belt before my trip so I at least had an idea of what was going on.  Oh and I was hooked!  Trust me, I would have preferred to keep watching until the end of season 2.

NASHVILLE – ABC’s “Nashville” stars Chris Carmack as Will Lexington, Clare Bowen as Scarlett O’Connor, Jonathan Jackson as Avery Barkley, Sam Palladio as Gunnar Scott, Maisy Stella as Daphne Conrad, Eric Close as Teddy Conrad, Lennon Stella as Maddie Conrad, Connie Britton as Rayna Jaymes, Charles Esten as Deacon Claybourne and Hayden Panettiere as Juliette Barnes. (ABC/Bob D’Amico)

Fast forward (or rewind) to last Monday when I met with Executive Producers Callie Khouri & Dee Johnson along with 24 other bloggers (mostly Nashville fans) and we watched the last two episodes together.  It was a little bit of a spoiler for me with season 2 since I hadn’t started it yet,  but well worth it.  Tomorrow night is the Nashville season 2 finale on ABC and I don’t want to give any of it away but I will say this…. make sure you watch until the very end – it’s pretty shocking, and really good!  I surely didn’t see that coming!

“On The Other Hand” — As Will Lexington’s album climbs the chart with the help of Jeff Fordham’s deep pockets, Rayna enlists Teddy’s help to plan a huge, free concert at LP Field to draw attention to her Highway 65 debut. She will perform with Luke Wheeler and duet with Juliette before thousands of fans. Zoey, Avery and Gunnar rock out at a benefit for Deacon’s favorite charity, Sober House, and Avery plans to serenade Juliette with a song he wrote for her. But when he attempts to sing it, he doesn’t understand why she is not present. And Scarlett makes a decision about her future in Music City, on “Nashville,” WEDNESDAY, MAY 14 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET) on the ABC Television Network.

So there we were after the show sitting at a table with Executive Producers Callie Khouri & Dee Johnson.  So who are these ladies and what have they done?

Photo Credit: (ABC/Rick Rowell)
Caption: DEE JOHNSON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, “NASHVILLE”), CALLIE KHOURI (CREATOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, “NASHVILLE”)

Dee Johnson is the executive producer of Nashville who began her writing career on “I’ll Fly Away” and continued to rise in the ranks, writing for some great shows including an old favorite of mine “Melrose Place,”  along with “Homicide: Life on the Streets,” “The Profiler,” “Any Day Now” and “Southland.”  Dee Johnson has also served as executive producer on “Commander in Chief,” the Emmy Award-winning series “ER” – another of my favorite shows and “The Good Wife.”

Callie Khouri is the creator and executive producer of Nashville.  Chances are you’ve seen her work before this.  Callie Khouri is responsible for bringing us the hit movie “Thelma and Louise,” in 1991, which was her her screenwriting debut.  I think we’ve all seen Thelma and Louise, right?   Callie has been nominated for six Academy Awards and she received the Oscar, the Golden Globe, the Writers Guild of America Award and a PEN Literary Award for Best Original Screenplay for “Thelma and Louise”.  It also took home the London Film Critics Circle Award for Film of the Year, and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.   Her second picture, “Something to Talk About,” starring Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid and Robert Duvall. was released in August 1995.   Her directorial debut was in the “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” which starred Sandra Bullock and Ashley Judd.  In 2006 Khouri collaborated with legendary television producer Steven Bochco and wrote and directed the television drama “Hollis and Rae.” She has directed her second feature film, entitled “Mad Money,” starring Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes and Queen Latifah.

“On the Other Hand”, the Nashville Season 2 finale was written and directed by Callie Khouri.

So it’s safe to say both of these ladies have amazing resumes which explains why Nashville is so good!  They’ve done this a few times, and well!

And then we got a GREAT surprise.  As far as we knew, we were only meeting with Executive Producers Callie Khouri & Dee Johnson.  But they actually had a surprise for us.  There was someone waiting outside the door, someone from the show and that person would be walking through the door any minute now.  The anticipation in the room was building up and we were all excited and wondering who was it going to be.  My first thought was I wanted it to be Deacon and then I thought “heck it doesn’t matter how it is, I would love to meet any of them!”.  And then in walked …….

…. the very handsome Eric Close!!!  When I tell you the room went wild, THE ROOM WENT WILD!  He’s incredibly handsome in person and equally as nice!   I personally just love his smile!

In case you live under a rock (the one I used to live under) and don’t watch Nashville, Eric Plays Teddy Conrad – the ex-husband of Rayna Jaymes (played by the very talented Connie Britton).    He has a great story line on the show and I love his charactor.   Heck if Rayna can’t be with Deacon, then I think she should get back with Teddy.  But that’s just my opinion.

Full caption & photo credit details:
The “Nashville” season finale, “On The Other Hand,” airs WEDNESDAY, MAY 14 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. Photo credit: (ABC/Mark Levine) From L-R: MAISY STELLA, ERIC CLOSE, LENNON STELLA, CHARLES ESTEN

I’ve only seen season 1 so far and still working on season 2.  Season 1 really introduced all the characters with a lot of different story lines going on.  Not that it was confusing.  Since there were over 20 episodes, there was plenty of time to explain everyone’s stories.  Dee and Callie explained that in season 2 they worked hard to integrate the cast more so their worlds crossed over a bit and were more focused on their central cast.  I think that was a great move to keep everyone focus and to keep coming back.   So who else is going to date?  This could be interesting as time goes on!

Speaking of “time going on”, did you hear the GREAT NEWS?  Nashville has been renewed for a third season!  I can’t wait to see what happens next.

And the music on this show is amazing!  What I didn’t realize was that everyone sings their own songs!  Dee and Callie said they knew right away they wanted to cast Connie for the lead.  I can see why, she has an amazing voice, not to mention she’s beautiful!  She looks like a country singer.  They told us that Scarlet was the hardest one to cast.  I love Scarlet!!

They also told us that the show is pretty true to how things happen in Nashville and there are a lot of singers that never really get noticed other than the small local places.  Nashville is a place for them to showcase the talent that Nashville has.

If you aren’t already a Nashville fan, I highly suggest you check it out this summer.  You can stream both seasons on Hulu.  And for those of you that are already fans, make sure you tune in tomorrow night (Wednesday, 5/14) for the Nashville season 2 finale on ABC.

For more information about “Nashville” visit ABC.com/Nashville and be sure to follow Nashville on Facebook and on Nashville on Twitter and if you are watching along with the Finale one Wednesday night use #NashvilleFinale when tweeting!