Round Two: Scream Queens

Scream Queens: Season 1, Episode 3 “Chainsaw” (C-)

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I wanted to like this show, but I was willing to give it a chance since I do remember that Ryan Murphy and his creative partners can be bitingly clever when they want to. Unfortunately, this show is just too absurd without enough payoff, and I don’t feel like I need to see people getting their arms cut off on a weekly basis especially if everyone who’s still alive is going to react by acting even less intelligently. Almost everything involving the Kappa house is nauseating, and incorporating other characters, like the idiotic boys who make suggestions like that Chanel pray for her pledges to be murdered so that she can go back to being popular, isn’t helping at all. It’s hard to get a read on just about everyone, particularly Dean Munsch, whose decision to come live in the Kappa house for a week with her absurd noise machine playlist was forced at best. Her being a third wheel to Wes and Gigi on their date was actually more tolerable, though I do question Wes’ commitment to tracking his daughter’s every movement, opting to teach a class he knew nothing about and then fretting when he realized he didn’t know where she was. Chanel #3 confessing that her father is Charles Manson was weird but about par for the course on this show. It didn’t take long for Hester to get made over, and I’m sure that won’t last too long. The one tolerable part of this show, for whatever reason, is Niecy Nash, who to me is far more Emmy-worthy than she was on “Getting On,” in a role that embraces the preposterousness of this show. I don’t think I’ll be back for take three.

Pilot Review: Scream Queens

Scream Queens (FOX)
Premiered September 22 at 8pm

Sometimes expectations about a show can be traced back most strongly to its creator if that person has enough of a reputation. In the case of Ryan Murphy and his partners Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, that is certainly the case. “Nip/Tuck,” “Glee,” and “American Horror Story” occupy three very different genres, but all include the same excess to whatever degree is appropriate in their categories, namely sexual explicitness, over-the-top high school parody, and grotesque horror. The newest show from this team seems to combine all three of those elements into something appropriate for a broadcast network audience (the first and third aired on FX, which allows more objectionable content than FOX). The best way to describe this two-hour pilot is that it’s a lot to take. Its portrayal of college sorority life is extremely exaggerated, taking on a “Mean Girls” attitude but pushing it to the extreme. Its incorporation of horror also involves such pleasantries as watching a woman get her face burned off and someone else having her head run over by a lawnmower. This show is supposed to occupy the place between comedy and horror, and for many, I’m sure it will be a success. The lead character portrayed by Emma Roberts, an AHS alum, is particularly excessive, but that’s what this show is designed to be. I lasted through about three seasons of “Nip/Tuck,” about the same of “Glee,” and one short disturbing episode of AHS. I’m inclined to give this show, which does include good performances from Abigail Breslin as a loyal Chanel and Niecy Nash as an absurdly ineffective security guard, another chance, but it’s so unbelievably irritating that I don’t know how much I can really stomach. There isn’t enough to make up for that annoyance in terms of its content, but I guess the mystery of who the killer is slightly intriguing.

How will it work as a series? There are only so many characters this show can kill off before it’s out of players, but I don’t think that will be too much of a problem considering the rate at which they seem to be coming back to life. Managing its excessive nature shouldn’t be a problem given that the creative team’s previous efforts have been similar indulgent.
How long will it last? The opening ratings were not much to write home about, and that could be a problem given that FOX was clearly banking on this show to be a big hit. Reviews were decent but I think FOX is going to want stronger numbers for this show to keep it around. Right now, I think it’ll be safe for the season but unlikely to get a renewal.

Pilot grade: C