Before Monarch premiered in September, the executive producer of the series, Jason Owen, reportedly contacted the Judd family about Monarch’s storyline, which drew eerie similarities to beloved country artist Naomi Judd’s death earlier this year. Monarch, created by Melissa London Hilfers, premiered on Sunday, September 11, after getting pushed back from its original January 30 air date because of impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Deadline was first to report that the show would not return to Fox after season 1, as viewership apparently didn’t take off. The season finale aired on Tuesday (December 6). The show also featured a star-studded list of special guests throughout its 11-episode run, including Shania Twain, Martina McBride, Little Big Town and Tanya Tucker. ET (after football) on Fox.Monarch, the country music drama starring Trace Adkins, has reportedly been canceled after its first - and, apparently, final - season.Īdkins starred in the series as Albie Roman, the patriarch of the family, alongside onscreen wife Susan Sarandon (Dottie Cantrell Roman) and his onscreen children, played by Anna Friel (Nicolette “Nicky” Roman), Beth Ditto (Gigi Taylor-Roman) and Joshua Sasse (Luke Roman). “Monarch” premieres September 11 at 8 p.m. (As a footnote, Sarandon’s daughter, Eva Amurri, appears as Dottie in the flashbacks, reflecting that this is a family affair in more ways than one.)Īs the premise makes clear, “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.Ī country-craving crowd might be ready for that rather slim wrinkle, with the understanding that when it comes to serialized dramas built around family dynasties, “Monarch” won’t be anybody’s first rodeo. That said, Sarandon fills a relatively modest role, and even in the ensemble context it’s primarily Friel’s show, with Adkins delivering most of his lines in a cranky, bear-like growl. Indeed, there are so many country cliches, the biggest shock might be that there isn’t drama built around a rodeo sequence until the fourth episode.Īs noted, the setting creates the opportunity for the likes of Shania Twain to pop in during the early episodes (Martina McBride and Tanya Tucker will show up later), and for Sarandon to play the imperious “queen” of country. Yet it’s all steeped in overly familiar soap-opera flourishes, to the point where when one of the characters tries to halt a possible sexual encounter by saying, “This is wrong,” that’s a pretty sure-fire clue that they’re going to go ahead and do it anyway. “I’ve been preparing for this moment my entire life,” Nicky says when presented an opportunity to shine, but of course, that comes amid a family crisis that also opens up issues for her sister Gigi (Beth Ditto), who has stayed outside the spotlight and brother Luke (Joshua Sasse), who essentially runs the family’s business interests.Ĭreated by screenwriter Melissa London Hilfers, “Monarch” contains the usual family feuds and secrets, teasing out the latter, “How to Get Away With Murder” style, by counting down toward revealing what happened when the story began. Still, the hits keep on coming, as the show goes about illustrating the fractious relationships holding together the first family of country music, the Romans, with matriarch Dottie ( Susan Sarandon) and her hubby Albie (Trace Adkins) both established stars, while daughter Nicky (“Pushing Daisies’” Anna Friel) yearns for a level of stardom that has thus far eluded her. And that’s all in the first three minutes. Just to sum up the familiar tune on display, “Monarch” – which, after an eight-month delay, will be introduced after Fox’s NFL coverage before shifting to its regular Monday time slot – begins with a flash-forward that involves a dead body, and a flashback showing an arson fire. If ever a show had its “elevator pitch” written on its sleeve, it’s Fox’s “Monarch,” which was pretty transparently sold as “ ‘Empire,’ but with country music!” That backdrop opens up obvious possibilities – starting with a list of country cameos – but it can’t make this family drama take flight, or feel any fresher than another iteration of a “She done me wrong” song.
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