"GCB" Premieres on ABC Tonight

By now you've all heard the buzz about GCB. It's the new TV show that premieres at 9 p.m. tonight on ABC and it's based on the book titled "Good Christian B****es," by Dallas native  Kim Gatlin. (Purchase it at Amazon.com.) For a brief time, the working title was Good Christian Belles but when it didn't fly, GCB became official name for the show -- because we can all read between the lines.

The show is set in Dallas -- and as we are expected to believe from the promos -- the Park Cities area specifically. Well that ought to make some good TV. (We could use another show about rich housewives/widows of wherever). It stars Leslie Bibb as Amanda Vaughan, a woman whose husband has passed on and she comes back home to Dallas. Let's see how that works out for her. Can you ever go back home?

Kristen Chenoweth plays her former classmate Carlene Cockburn, and my prediction is that she will steal the show. Chenoweth is a talented singer and actress who's from Oklahoma. (No, not Frisco -- the state of Oklahoma)! A veteran of Broadway, she originated the role of Glinda in Wicked and won a Tony award for her role as "Sally" in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. Her vocals will blow you away like a West Texas dust storm. When performed the Fleetwood Mac song "Dreams," with Matthew Morrison on Glee, it was so amazing that she was nominated for an Emmy. (It was also one of my favorite episodes!)

But with her chicken-fried roots, Chenoweth probably still has the accent in her back pocket -- ready to pull out whenever necessary. I know I do. I've been asked if I'm from the midwest. That was probably the biggest compliment anyone's ever paid me. I took a college class called "Voice and Diction" to lessen the severity of my Texhoma drawl. And it's nice to pull it off the shelf when the need arises (like when you're trying to get out of a speeding ticket in West Texas, for example).

Oh dear. I just said something to my daughter and it sounds like my Texas accent is coming back. It never left -- but sometimes it does make its presence known just a bit more. Oh darlin', I meant a tad bit more. Where are my manners?

What: GCB
When: 9 p.m./CT
Where: ABC
Why: Because bless her heart, Kristen Chenoweth is highly entertaining -- and Dallas is hot like the summer of 2011 hot right now! Hallelujah!