Scream Queens (2015)

The show operates at such a constant, rapid-fire level that it’s almost exhausting.

The referential humor of Scream Queens tends to be better on the “Halloween” side of the equation than on the “Heathers” side, and some of its sendups of horror movies--or of horror-movie sendups--are pretty funny.... Scream Queens bogs down, though, when it enters another familiar Brennan-Falchuk-Murphy territory, which could be called identity entertainment

This one’s just so relentless. 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.

Scream Queens is just too dumb to be fun.

The writing is sharp, but sharp-edged too. Overwhelmed with venom, Queens tends to be more mean-spirited than free-spirited. The cast is energetic, particularly Roberts and Curtis, who look like they're having a great time. But they can't quite convey that fun to the audience.

It’s a very energetic two-hour premiere replete with cartoonish screams and schemes. But a cesspool runs through it in the person of the noxious Chanel.

Ultimately, with its ceaseless meanness and barrage of put-downs, Scream Queens is more exhausting than exhilarating.

The satire is sharp, including a scene in which one sister texts with her killer as he's trying to kill her. But the two-hour premiere does itself no favors, so overstuffed with scares, silliness, intrigues and occasional moments of real horror that it fails to coalesce into something resembling coherence.

Even Murphy apologists may cool to Scream Queens, a patchwork of his earlier series that barely feels like a new show, much less a new genre.

Get past the baubles, though, and 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.

Robust but repetitive.

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

It's too silly for real horror fans and too gross for the fainthearted.

I loved every minute of tonight's two-hour premiere of Fox's new horror-comedy, Scream Queens, except for the ones Jamie Lee Curtis wasn't in.... This is a show that's gathered an impressive lineup of young names, including Emma Roberts as the ultimate mean girl, Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine"), Keke Palmer ("Akeelah and the Bee"), Billie Lourd (a newbie who'll also be in the new "Star Wars" movie with mom Carrie Fisher) and, of course, Michele, and then cast them as cliches.