Monarch

Wouldn’t surprise me a bit if “Monarch” becomes a hit — but it’ll be like one of those sanitized, country-rock, overproduced chart-toppers. Catchy and slick, more about the toe-tapping and the easy hooks than true heart.

“Monarch” is a decidedly old-school, broadcast network prime-time sudser.

Monarch is an objectively mediocre show that is also undeniably watchable — just call it Smashville.

Some of the twists you can see coming from the next state. ... Much more fun are the cameos by true country-music royalty. [26 Sep - 9 Oct 2022, p.4]

You feel like you're at a karaoke bar with an elaborate costume closet, or watching Glee: Y'all. What might keep viewers coming back is Monarch's commitment to stuffing each episode with ridiculously fast-paced drama.

“Monarch” doesn’t intent to reinvent the wheel, but rather simply to wrap the rich-family soap template in a slightly different package, garnished with an assortment of country standards, sequins and cowboy hats.

Because “Monarch” (which is the name of the family company) doesn’t really dig beneath its “Dallas”/”Dynasty” trappings, there are plenty of moments that ring false. When the performers are on stage, they seem real. When they’re insulting each other at home, they look phony.

Monarch is a soap that’s all suds and no substance, and its most compelling character might possibly have the least screen time going forward.

In working so hard to write around the frequent absence of the show’s biggest star and in embroidering brief time jumps to suggest something sinister is happening, “Monarch” has an antic, uncomfortable energy, as if it’s not confident being what it is or about what it’s about. Sarandon’s absence is only the beginning of the show’s problems, but one senses, in the end, that she had the right idea skipping out.

Monarch is actually just protracted mediocre karaoke. ... The soapy stuff is badly developed, and I kept thinking I might have accidentally skipped whole episodes that explained the back-and-forth bickering with Gigi and Nicky or in several of the flat relationships.