‘Queens’ review: Eve, Brandy headline a soapy ABC drama as a reunited girl group
The opposite members of the group, Naomi/Xplicit Lyrics (Brandy) and Valeria/Butter Pecan (Nadine Velazquez), had a bitter falling out, with the previous toiling away as a solo act — “nonetheless chasing the celebrity that you just discovered 20 years in the past,” as she’s instructed — and the latter having efficiently transitioned into morning TV, the place her unbridled ambition is on full show.
It is their supervisor (Taylor Sele) who suggests getting the band again collectively as a part of a televised occasion, and the lure of a fast payout is sufficient to erode the resistance on a number of fronts. However it is a sequence, in any case, so the reunion will not finish there, with the problem of mounting a proper comeback and all of the soapy doings that go along with it.
Produced by “Scandal” alum Zahir McGhee (who wrote the pilot) and directed by Tim Story, “Queens” seems to be in fairly good palms on that rating, even when the content material and actually-not-that-explicit lyrics can solely be as nasty as ABC’s requirements will enable. The present additionally figures to get a lift, in old style TV scheduling phrases, from having “The Bachelorette” as its opening act.
For now, “Queens” has carried out an admirable job assembling the items. Conserving them from flaming out the best way that the present’s fictional group did might be one other matter.
“Queens” premieres Oct. 19 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.