dex14

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Goat3001

I'm going to check this out. I like the idea of a dark comedy-horror TV show and it'll be fun like Harper's Island was fun. My only worry is that it'll be aimed so much at teenagers that it won't click with me. We'll see.

dex14

Hopefully it is better than Scream.

Jadzia

I'm really looking forward to this one. Looks like it will be fun, and different from most of the other shows on right now.

Noonan

I don't know what to think of this. Big fan of older horror films as well as JLC but I'm not sure if this is directed at a much younger audience. JLC is enough to get me to watch though.

DRG

I'm looking forward to this, although Ryan Murphy's stuff is so inconsistent to me. I hope he can manage that perfect line between American Horror Story and his comedy shows. My worry is that he'll lean too far into campiness on this show... I'm not a fan of 'camp' in general and his version is just eye-rollingly bad to me.

starseed1981

Excited for this. Fingers crossed this is more American Horror Story: Murder House than American Horror Story: Freakshow.

Navinabob

So far reviews are about as bad as it gets.

dex14

No they aren't.

RichC2

When people say "Reviews are bad" they're usually talking about one of two main critics they like, in this case Roush and the guy from Grantland bashed it (he admitted to hated American Horror Story as well). The strongly negative reviews note how mean-spirited it is, the stronger and positive reviews all note how mean-spirited it is. Most seem to agree it's entertaining though, they're just hesitant toward where it could possibly go.

Jadzia

I just wish this wasn't a 2-hour premiere. I find those are hard to prioritize watching in the evenings. Hopefully I'll get to it tonight since there is not too much premiering tonight.

starseed1981

I think it's very clearly the pilot episode and the second episode back to back. So you might be able to just burn off one tonight and one tomorrow.

Navinabob

Aside from praising Curtis... For the most part these reviews are pretty poor.

TV Guide says:

… This mean-spirited and imbecilic cartoon feels concocted by 14-year-olds sifting through their ugliest tweets. …
The New York Times says:

The New York Times says:

... Ms. Curtis’s winking, merry performance is its own self-contained slasher-film trope. “Scream Queens” bogs down, though, when it enters another familiar Brennan-Falchuk-Murphy territory, which could be called identity entertainment — their penchant for making any story, regardless of its subject matter or genre, deal largely in representations of (and gags about) gender, sexuality, race, class and whatever other categories they deem worthy of breaking down. It’s an admirable impulse but turning it into comedy can be tough work…


The Washington Post says:

... almost prohibitively camp in tone, even for a Murphy show, scorching the campus of fictional Wallace University with any number of insults and derisive jokes aimed at every possible demographic, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and so on — all in the name of giddy fun and utter nonsense. Curiously, though, the humor here is not all that sharp; in its better scenes, “Scream Queens” verges on social commentary about political correctness and then turns tail once it gets a look at its own reflection in the mirror. Such pretty teeth and no real bite. …


The San Francisco Chronicle says:

... The performances are enjoyable, for the most part, but the script is surprisingly flat for a Murphy-Falchuk show. …

Las Vegas Weekly says:

... Ryan Murphy of Glee and American Horror Story fame (along with his co-creators on those shows, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan) brings the worst qualities of both shows to the abysmal Scream Queens, an alleged horror-comedy that’s horrifying in all the wrong ways. … Scream Queens is completely clueless about what’s actually scary, and its comedy is ugly and mean-spirited, full of hateful stereotypes and casual misogyny. Murphy is great at attracting a talented cast (which here includes Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis and Abigail Breslin, among others) and then saddling them with obnoxious characters and ridiculous dialogue. …

USA Today says:

... If only everyone else in Scream, and anything else about it was as assured and entertaining as Curtis's performance. But elsewhere, this blend of horror and comedy is a fairly typical mishmash of styles and tones that wavers between not doing enough and not leaving well enough alone. … Yet despite all its flaws, vulgarities and miscues, and for all the justifiable fear that, like many shows from this team, it will go screaming off the quality cliff, there is an energy to Scream most other new shows are missing. It's different. And it has Curtis.

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… has a high body count, but it doesn't try to convince you that the deaths mean anything other than giggles and gore — which is actually a relief. You invest only in the mayhem, which is ample. ... The optimistic viewer would say that Scream Queens episode 2 is just a show settling into a sustainable rhythm after an outsized premiere, while a cynic would point to the propensity of Murphy shows inevitably to decline. …

Variety says:

... the series simply feels too derivative to be truly exciting or particularly suspenseful. So while the casting and format should be enough to help “Scream Queens” make some initial noise ratings-wise, creatively speaking, there’s just not much here to shout about. …

RichC2

On that same line of thinking.

Los Angeles Times:
"Two things bear repeating: Curtis is glorious, and one hopes the show will quickly rise to meet her. More important, Murphy, Falchuk and Brennan know what they're doing."

Los Angeles Daily News:
"If crazed killings and macabre laughs aren't your thing, you may want to avoid the show. So far, though, Scream Queens is outlandishly fun."

Global and Mail:
"Murphy's acid humour about politics and pop culture pervades the show, which zaps just about everything. Total fun and done with smarts."

Fresno Bee:
"Campy fun at a campus where murder is everywhere. Trick is how well it can keep up the pace."

IGN:
"From the acting to the costuming to the writing, everything about this concept and execution works."

USA Today:
"Yet despite all its flaws, vulgarities... and for all the justifiable fear that, like many shows from this team, it will go screaming off the quality cliff, there is an energy to Scream most other new shows are missing. It's different. And it has Curtis."

New York Daily News:
"As in Glee or American Horror Story, Murphy delights in misdirection and abrupt shifts of tone, both of which he does well. The dialogue is snappy and no pretension escapes un-nailed."

Boston Globe:
"Murphy gives good pilot, and this one's no exception."

Hollywood Reporter:
"Fortunately, while Scream Queens boasts overlapping AHS talent on both sides of the camera, the Fox series is lighter, livelier and favors comic gross-out moments over the manipulative primal terrors of its FX cousin."

New York Observer:
"There is such a fun, old-school horror movie vibe to this show, helped in no small part by the presence of the original scream queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis."

Which is about what I thought was expected of it, definitely not "as bad as it gets." but

Navinabob

Okay... so mixed bag?

Jadzia

Yeah, I realize they are separate, but I think it is more of a psychological thing. When faced with watching a 2 hour recording versus a 1 hour recording off my DVR, I always choose the latter.

I have noticed in previous fall seasons that the shows that premiere with 2 episodes I tend to put off more. It might just be me, but I have always wondered if shows that start out with 2 hours suffer in the immediate ratings or not. So I have always wondered why networks always do it. Seems like a lot of a commitment to ask of a new viewer up front.

I am really excited about this show so it will probably be the first thing I watch tonight though. I am not sure I will watch the 2 hour Heroes immediately on Thursday night however.

Matthew Chmiel

Fuck the critics. We know how this is going to play out. We'll all love the first season and the rest of the series will be absolute shit.

Axeramm

15 minutes in and I am already making my own hit list.

dex14

to giving blumpkins being said on network TV.

RichC2

This show is gloriously stupid

whotony

I'm in love with Grace.

RichC2

This really is more Scary Movie than Scream

Jadzia

I think it's more Student Bodies:



Loved it.

RichC2

You know, I have but still have never seen Student Bodies, queueing that up.

VHS?

I dont know what to think actually. I think I'm 'meh' but enough for me to keep watching.