TV review: BET+'s FirstWivesClub
premiered in 1996, the splashy feminist revenge comedy was a surprise overnight hit and eventually grossed six times its modest budget. Although the film directly appealed to middle-aged women — many of whom could relate to the plight of three seasoned protagonists who are ditched by their philandering husbands for younger ingenues — it became a cult classic for generations of young women to come.
But that's about where the parallels end. Instead, executive producer Tracy Oliver uses the franchise name to launch a new story centering successful black women suddenly tossed aside in favor of shinier prospects. It's a winning conceit for a TV reboot, but the broad, blue humor — which works well in a 100-minute film — renders each half-hour episode a slog.
Singer-actress Jill Scott stars as the show's analog to Goldie Hawn's character in the film, a resident diva navigating the betrayal of her producer husband. Trading an aging movie star for an aging R&B artist,uses Hazel's histrionic split from gaslighting Derek as the dramatic locus from which most of the story's pathos and hijinks spring.
Faring just as badly is Bree, a harried Fort Greene surgeon and mother whose stay-at-home husband cheated on her with a neighborhood mom. Michelle Buteau, a standout from Netflix film, brings bubbly energy to the role of a bottled-up woman getting her groove back after decades of placid monogamy. Unfortunately, the show reduces her newfound sexual liberation to flat, farcical mischief, including a scene where she dons a fedora and trench coat to purchase Plan B at a local drugstore.
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