A familiar family drama, relying on plot twists that any regular viewer of the genre can see coming from a mile away.

“Monarch” is a decidedly old-school, broadcast network prime-time sudser.

Some of the twists you can see coming from the next state. ... Much more fun are the cameos by true country-music royalty. [26 Sep - 9 Oct 2022, p.4]

“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.

Because “Monarch” (which is the name of the family company) doesn’t really dig beneath its “Dallas”/”Dynasty” trappings, there are plenty of moments that ring false. When the performers are on stage, they seem real. When they’re insulting each other at home, they look phony.

In working so hard to write around the frequent absence of the show’s biggest star and in embroidering brief time jumps to suggest something sinister is happening, “Monarch” has an antic, uncomfortable energy, as if it’s not confident being what it is or about what it’s about. Sarandon’s absence is only the beginning of the show’s problems, but one senses, in the end, that she had the right idea skipping out.

The problem is that when Sarandon isn’t on screen, the other characters do little more than wander around with their hands in their pockets waiting for Mama to return. That’s how bad the show’s thinly written plot structures and rote, soapy twists are. ... The show’s grand musical moments do, however, provide a handful of bewitching moments.