Move over Regina George because a new queen bee and her posse have taken the stage: Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) and the sisters of Kappa House. The new FOX series, “Scream Queens,” premiered last week, and though the horror-comedy was long-anticipated by many, even the all-star ensemble could not make up for the offensively crude humor of the writers.
The show takes place in modern-day — 20 years after the death of one of Kappa Kappa Tau’s sisters — when a killer disguised as a red devil is on the loose and no one is safe.
Fans were excited to see what new creative product Ryan Murphy, co-creator of “Glee” and “American Horror Story,” and his team would conjure up this time, but “Scream Queens” fell short due to its exhausting and mean-spirited comedy. The campy show’s only humor is centered around racist, stereotypical “jokes” — calling the sorority’s housemaid “White Mammy” and having her state that she “don’t know nuthin’ about birthin’ no babies” — that are far too low and inappropriate when considering the intelligent wittiness that was “Glee.”
It is understandable that Murphy wants to portray the sense of superiority that stereotypical sorority girls have, but the constant vileness becomes tiresome, and the only sense of excitement comes from the mystery of who will be murdered next.
Overall, “Scream Queens” had major potential to be comedic gold with such an all-star cast and creative writing staff, but ultimately failed due to its overplayed, indecent humor. Despite this, viewers will most likely stick around long enough to uncover the answers to the mystery surrounding Kappa.