Star (TV series)
Star is an American musical drama television series created by Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It revolves around three talented young singers who navigate the music business on their road to success and stars Jude Demorest, Brittany O'Grady and Ryan Destiny. The series, which is set in Atlanta, consists of original music, along with musical fantasy sequences, as dreams of the future. Queen Latifah, Benjamin Bratt, Amiyah Scott and Quincy Brown co-star.[1]
This article is about the American television series. For the Filipino television series title that translates to "star" in English, see Bituin. For other uses, see Star (disambiguation).Star
United States
English
3
48 (list of episodes)
- Lee Daniels
- Tom Donaghy
- Pamela Oas Williams
- Effie Brown
- Karin Gist
- Jason Richman
Michelle Fowler
Rodney Taylor
Joe Leonard
43 minutes
- Lee Daniels Entertainment
- 20th Century Fox Television
December 14, 2016 –
May 8, 2019
The series premiered on December 14, 2016.[2] With the premiere of the series, Amiyah Scott became the third openly transgender person to play a trans major character in a scripted television drama series in America, after Laverne Cox on Orange Is the New Black and Jamie Clayton on Sense8.[3][4]
Star is a joint production between Lee Daniels Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television. On February 22, 2017, Fox renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on September 27, 2017, and crossed over with other Fox series Empire.[5][6][7]
On May 10, 2018, Fox renewed the series for a third season.[8] Season 3 premiered on September 26, 2018, and aired on Fox Wednesdays at 9:00 PM.[9] Internationally, new episodes premiered on Netflix in Canada the following Thursday.[10]
On May 10, 2019, Fox cancelled the series after three seasons.[11]
Plot[edit]
Star Davis, a 17 year old orphan, leaves her foster home to save her younger sister Simone Davis, who Star has been separated from since their mother's death, from physical and sexual abuse at her foster home. While escaping the tragedy, Star finds muse in a singer/songwriter Alexandra Crane, a New York resident who lives in her celebrity father's shadow. Star offers Alex a proposal to escape and leave town with them to become a singing group. They move to Atlanta, Georgia and seek refuge in a surrogate godmother, Carlotta Brown, who is a close friend and singing partner of Star and Simone's mother. Carlotta made a promise to look after the girls after their mother's death and would protect them. She persuades the girls to work to make ends meet and wasn't enthusiastic about the girls chasing their dreams but rather attend and be active in church. Finding odds to make their endeavors come true, they struggled to find ways to get a record deal and find hope in a music producer Jahil Rivera, who took a chance with them. Within months developing themselves as rising new artist in Atlanta gaining the name of the group "Big Trouble", they face new multiple troubles in their relationships with each other and with their past coming back to haunt them. However they escape the many troubles of their past and starts to become successful in gaining recognition. 'Big Trouble' soon wins notable competitions that led them finances to get a major record deal. The girls eventually sign with a record label, Midtown Sound, as a favor from The Lyon Family of Empire Entertainment and soon begin their journey as professional R&B/Pop artists TAKE 3. Subsequently, they learn that the music industry is hard to navigate as they sacrifice a lot to stay on top and relevant while they tour with the labels' other artist and find themselves at constant war with each other.
Production[edit]
Development and casting[edit]
In August 2015, Fox announced it had ordered a pilot for a potential new musical drama series titled Star from Empire-creator Lee Daniels about three girls forming a girl group.[26] In October that same year, casting for the series began.[27] It was revealed that the series would feature a transgender character. On December 7, 2015, it was announced that Queen Latifah had joined the cast as Carlotta, Jude Demorest as Star, Brittany O'Grady as Simone and Ryan Destiny as Alexandra and Amiyah Scott as Cotton.[28] On December 11, 2015, it was confirmed that Benjamin Bratt has joined the cast as Jahil, a talent manager.[29] On December 14, 2015, Darius McCrary joined the series as the abusive foster father of Simone (O’Grady).[30] Production for the pilot began in December 2015.[27] The series was picked up, with a 12-episode order, on April 27, 2016.[1] On October 9, 2017, FOX ordered an additional five episodes for the second season, bringing the season total to 18 episodes.[31] On September 11, 2018, it was announced that Terrence J and Lyndie Greenwood are set to recur in season 3.[32]
Filming[edit]
On May 4, 2016, it was announced that Charles Murray would serve as showrunner during its first season.[33] On September 13, 2016, it was announced that Charles Pratt Jr. would replace Murray as the series' showrunner, following his decision to depart the series, due to creative differences.[34][35]
Following the conclusion of the show's first season, Pratt stepped down as showrunner and was subsequently replaced by Karin Gist.[36]
Cancellation and possible revival[edit]
After the series was canceled by Fox in May 2019, fans began a #SAVESTAR campaign on social media platforms. Multiple petitions were created on websites such as change.org to save the show from cancellation, and these petitions have collectively gained over 100,000 signatures. On May 29, show creator Lee Daniels made an Instagram post saying "Fighting guys! Will know this week... or top of next!" [37] The Hollywood Reporter reported that cable networks BET and OWN were possible contenders for picking up the show. However, on May 31, Daniels made another Instagram post stating that despite his efforts, he was not able to find another home for the show.[38]
In July 2019, Lee Daniels posted on his Instagram account that Star will receive a proper finale through a two-hour movie event.[39]
In February 2024, Lee Daniels responded to a lengthy viral social media post by Zoie Fenty, known popularly as @iamzoie, who expressed strong interests in the shows return due to the season finale being cut short without a resolve [quoting: "I NEED STAR BACK BECAUSE BAYYYYYY THE WAY I WAS INVESTED[.]” ]. Many other commenters expressed the same over the years and made many post about the untimely cancellation. Lee stated on his post: "Love you for this. It is being written. I appreciate everybody's love! It's just taken me FOREVER cause I have other projects…It's crazy, I had NO IDEA when I created this show the response would be like this. #grateful."[40] Also in an Instagram post made by Daniels himself in March 2024 while explaining about the challenges of completing his upcoming 2024 supernatural horror film The Deliverance, he hinted once again at 'STAR' potential return stating "...and then I gotta worry about STAR, I gotta put a writer's room together so I could keep y'all off my ass about STAR...it's crazy."
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a rating of 35%, with an average rating of 4.19 out of 10 based on 37 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite Queen Latifah's strong performance, the cast, and the songs, Lee Daniels' Star is weighed down by sloppy melodrama and overly cartoonish stereotypes".[41] On Metacritic, the series has a score of 42 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[42]