'Queens' gets the band back together for a soapy ABC drama
CNN
"Queens" is an extremely familiar idea, elevated not quite to the level of royalty by being slickly cast, packaged and produced. Like Peacock's "Girls5eva," the concept hinges on an all-girl group reunited and again pursuing stardom 20 years later, rediscovering the spotlight and its perils after years spent braiding hair and burning breakfast.
Those last mundane activities are how we meet Brianna (Eve), once known as Professor Sex, who is now raising five kids. Methodically, the show goes about introducing the rest of the quartet once known as the Nasty Bitches (a name itself rooted in the past), who, as Jill a.k.a. Da Thrill (Naturi Naughton), notes, "stood on top of the world for a hot minute."
The other members of the group, Naomi/Xplicit Lyrics (Brandy) and Valeria/Butter Pecan (Nadine Velazquez), had a sour falling out, with the former toiling away as a solo act -- "still chasing the fame that you found 20 years ago," as she's told -- and the latter having successfully transitioned into morning TV, where her unbridled ambition is on full display.
