RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
TV showrunner Lee Daniels struck gold with the hit Fox show "Empire." Now, he's putting a little bit of pressure on himself by trying to do it again. He's got a new show premiering on Fox. This one has a lot of music in it, too. It is called "Star." NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says the series combines Daniel's trademark taste for drama with characters rarely seen on network TV.
(SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED SONG)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Singing) Who shot you?
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: The new series, "Star," shines with the trademark touches Lee Daniels used to turn "Empire" into a breakout hit.
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UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Singing) Who shot you? Who Knocked you? Point them out. Let them know I'm coming for them.
DEGGANS: There's slamming hip-hop and R&B-inspired production numbers centered on three girls trying to make it as a singing group in Atlanta. There's a tough female protagonist called Star. She's a talented singer with dreams of stardom. She scooped up her half-sister from an abusive foster home in Pennsylvania and hit the road with a plan.
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JUDE DEMOREST: (As Star Davis) I got a plan. We're going to start in Atlanta. The music scene there is ramping.
BRITTANY O'GRADY: (As Simone Davis) Where we going to live?
DEMOREST: (As Star Davis) There's this lady named Ms. Carlotta. She's been writing letters to Social Services saying she's our godmother.
O'GRADY: (As Simone Davis) We still got family left?
DEMOREST: (As Star Davis) I guess.
DEGGANS: And there are big names, including Queen Latifa as Ms. Carlotta Brown, a former singer and beauty salon owner who takes in Star, her sister and a third group member. She was once in a singing group with Star's mother, who died of a drug overdose. When Carlotta's shady former manager, played by Benjamin Bratt, also tries to manage Star's group, Carlotta steps in to convince him otherwise.
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BENJAMIN BRATT: (As Jahil Rivera) She's good, Lotti. I'm telling you right now, she's really good. And if those other girls are half as talented as she is, we've got the makings of a super group.
QUEEN LATIFAH: (As Carlotta Brown) My father always said to me, you only need three things in life.
BRATT: (As Jahil Rivera) Oh, yeah? What did your daddy say?
QUEEN LATIFAH: (As Carlotta Brown) He said you needed your Bible, your word and your gun.
DEGGANS: That clip also shows that "Star" has another element that Daniels brought to "Empire" - high drama. But unlike "Empire," "Star" doesn't have as many skilled actors who can deliver over-the-top moments and more subtle shades. The show itself is messy and barely plausible. Star and her friends graduate from singing at a dive bar's open mic night to MTV-level music videos in a flash. And cameos by sometimes-actors like Lenny Kravitz and Naomi Campbell don't help much.
Where "Star" does impress is the world it lives in - unapologetically black and working class. The salon is a gem in a tough neighborhood filled with compelling characters who support and snipe at each other like a black-centered, round-the-way version of "Steel Magnolias." And Carlotta has a transgender daughter who she suspects is helping Star meet music industry people while working in a strip club.
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AMIYAH SCOTT: (As Cotton) We was just at the club dancing. That's it.
QUEEN LATIFAH: (As Carlotta Brown) You better not be doing what I think you doing.
SCOTT: (As Cotton) Mama, we was just at the club.
QUEEN LATIFAH: (As Carlotta Brown) Stop lying, boy.
SCOTT: (As Cotton) Girl, mama.
DEGGANS: The show also flirts with race and class politics. Star is white. Her sister's biracial. And their third group member is black. As a white girl raised in black culture, Star occasionally has to deal with prejudiced black people, especially when the other salon workers criticize her.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) She can't even work a shampoo bottle, nasty attitude, always something wrong with her.
DEMOREST: (As Star Davis) Why is it that you think you know anything about me - where I was raised, who raised me, who was good to me, black or white?
QUEEN LATIFAH: (As Carlotta Brown) Star...
DEMOREST: (As Star Davis) Because of what I look like?
QUEEN LATIFAH: (As Carlotta Brown) ...Come on upstairs. Let's talk.
DEMOREST: (As Star Davis) You're a racist.
DEGGANS: But these moments of significance are outweighed by the series' many flaws, and the total is much less than the sum of its parts. Like a friend who's fun to hang with but eventually drags you down with their messy drama, Lee Daniels' "Star" delivers a scrappy mix of influences and stories that don't quite shine brightly enough. I'm Eric Deggans. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.