FOX’s new show Scream Queens is killer fun. The show is a dark comedy, something like Heathers (the original Mean Girls) meets a slasher horror, like Halloween or Friday the 13th. SQ kicks off in the year 1995 at the Kappa Kappa Tau house, where a bathtub baby has just been born and through the neglect of her fellow sorority sisters, the baby’s mother dies shortly after. Flash forward twenty years, someone, wearing a red devil disguise, is going after KKT sisters, perhaps in revenge.
The show has a strong female cast, outnumbering the males 4:1 and the girls are seriously bringing it. Butting heads right away are Chanel Oberlin, Kappa Sorority President played by Emma Roberts and Cathy Munsch, Dean of Wallace University, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. These ladies are here to kick butt and take names. They are not waiting for any boys to come and rescue them as Emma Robert’s character explicitly states. So here are 8 reasons Scream Queens is the best new thing on TV.
1. Jamie Lee Curtis Is the Scream Queen OG
Having JLC, the original “Scream Queen,” on this show is too perfect for words. Her mother, Janet Leigh, starred in one of the best horror films of all time: Hitchcock’s 1960 Psycho. Curtis became known as the “Scream Queen” when she starred in Halloween as Laurie, the survivor girl, along with other scary classics, like the original Prom Night. She doesn’t just do horror flicks well, though; she also delivers amazing comedic performances, like in Freaky Friday and, more recently, You Again. In You Again she faces off with a longtime frenemy, so we know she is no newbie to Mean Girl-style comedy. So far on SQ, she has certainly delivered.
2. SQ Soundtrack Is Perfection
This show is brought to you by the creator of Glee and American Horror Story, so you know the music choices will be on point. Already we’ve heard TLC’s “Waterfalls,” Bat for Lashes’ “What’s a Girl To Do,” Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years,” and Frida’s “I Know There’s Something Going On.” The way the show is going so far, I would buy the soundtrack, but I already own it.
3. Fast-Paced Killer Action
The show moves so fast that the first 15 minutes would have been the entire pilot of another show. It is not the kind of show where you can surf Tumblr while you watch. There is not a lot of time for characters to walk around scared as the killer stalks them. When someone is going to die, no commercial break, they do.
4.Snarky with a Side of Snarkier
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The snarky dialogue of SQ is perhaps the best part of the show. The writers seem to pump out an endless assembly line of hilarious meme-worthy lines. The witty dialogue is sure to be as quotable as Mean Girls. It’s that good.
5. Pop Culture References
We have not seen this amount of excellent pop culture references since Gilmore Girls. Characters make awesome references like they are playing a trivia game, and you can play too if you are quick enough. I can’t wait to see what lines will be thrown in there next.
6. Chanel
Emma Roberts, loved since her days way back on Nickelodeon’s Unfabulous, stars in SQ as Chanel Oberlin, Kappa sorority president and Queen Bee of Wallace University. Chanel is a fierce pistol, nastier than a Regina George and Heather Chandler love child. Do not mess with her, or she might melt your face in a fryer. Her “no foam, pumpkin spice latte, two shots, 212-degree, no foam” rampage is sure to become a classic line, not to mention all of the other amazing lines her character’s given.
7. Rag-Tag Pledge Class
Due to Dean Munsch’s new mandate that Kappa Kappa Tau accept anyone who wishes to join the sorority this year, the incoming pledge class looks like a nod to the Pitch Perfect gang. Grace Gardner is leader of the pack and foil to Chanel No. 1. Grace is played by Skyler Samuels, who starred in The Nine Lives of Chloe King. Zayday, Grace’s cool new roommate who joins Kappa with her, is played by Keke Palmer, who starred in the Nickelodeon show True Jackson V.P. There are those who Chanel crudely nicknamed “Predatory Liz,” “Deaf Taylor Swift,” and “Neck Brace,” the latter of whom is played by Lea Michele from Glee. Rounding out the group of oddballs, and selected to be in the house by the Dean herself, is Jennifer the candle vlogger. These girls are sure to bring plenty more laughs and awkward moments throughout the show.
8. Denise the Security Guard
Niecy Nash from Reno 911! plays a hilarious standout character, Denise Hempville. Nash stole the show as the worst security guard ever. Every moment she is on screen will have you in stitches. She doesn’t carry a gun; but, if you are in danger, well. . . she would give you her number, but her cell phone is off right now.
Catch the show Tuesdays 9/8c on FOX.
If you missed the premiere, you can still watch it at www.fox.com/scream-queens.