‘Scream Queens’ boasts strong stars, weak plot

“Scream Queens,” created by Ryan Murphy (“American Horror Story,” “Glee”) is a new, over-hyped, horror-comedy show for Fox’s fall lineup. The two-hour pilot episode premiered on Sep 22. The show began with a flashback to a 1995, Kappa Kappa Tau party depicting a sorority girl giving birth and then bleeding out, while the other selfish sorority members partied. The scene is supposed to be funny and is used to set up the mystery of the show.

Flash forward twenty years to Kappa Kappa Tau. Emma Roberts stars as Chanel Oberlin, the president of the sorority with a nasty, narcissistic attitude. She rules the sorority with her minions who are introduced as Chanel number two (Ariana Grande), three (Billie Lourd) and five (Abigail Breslin). As pledge week rolls around, the girls prepare to pick only the most beautiful, egotistical girls they can find. Their plans are foiled when Dean Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) explains that the girls are required to accept every pledge.

With the new rules for Kappa Kappa Tau, the usual pledges flee and the unusual flood into the house. A resentful Chanel then begins the grueling cycle of hazing. When hazing goes wrong, the body count begins to climb due to a mysterious figure in a red devil costume.

I watched the first episode as an excited fan of Ryan Murphy’s previous endeavours. As the two-hour premiere came to a close, I was left underwhelmed. I hoped for a better outcome the following week. I made it about halfway through the second episode, giving it a fair chance, but I felt as though I was wasting my time.

Murphy seemed to think that throwing big-name actors into the show would automatically make it a hit. To me the most misplaced actress was Ariana Grande; she had few lines and was probably cast because of her fan base. The plot is almost such a parody of horror movies it loses the mystery and suspense I was craving.

“Scream Queens” is kind of like the “Scary Movie” for TV, although it doesn’t directly spoof well-known horror films, it still resembles the classics. The writing reflects movies like “Mean Girls” and “Heathers” with degrading humor that can sometimes seem more mean-spirited than funny. The show is six episodes in, and while it grabbed over 4 million viewers in its first episode, viewership has been decreasing through the month of October.

“Scream Queens” is on Fox, Tuesdays at 9/8 central.