''Daytime Divas'' is an American

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series developed by

Amy and Wendy Engelberg Amy and Wendy Engelberg are an American television writing and producing team who are sisters. They wrote and produced for '' Maybe This Time'', ''Clueless'', ''Lizzie McGuire'', '' What I Like About You'', ''Sonny with a Chance'' and ''Drop Dead ...

for

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

. It is based on the 2011 book ''Satan's Sisters'' by former co-host of '' The View''

Star Jones Starlet Marie Jones (born March 24, 1962), better known as Star Jones, is an American lawyer, journalist, television personality, fashion designer, author, and women's and diversity advocate. She is best known as one of the first co-hosts on the ...

. The show stars

Vanessa Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She resigne ...

Chloe Bridges Chloe Marisa Suazo Bridges, (born December 27, 1991), known professionally as Chloe Bridges, is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Zoey Moreno in the sitcom '' Freddie'' (2005–2006) and as Dana Turner in the Disney Channel orig ...

Camille Guaty Camille Guaty (born June 28, 1976) is an American film and television actress. She is known for several roles: as Daisy in ''Gotta Kick It Up!'' (2002), for playing Maricruz Delgado, Sucre's girlfriend, in '' Prison Break'' (2005–2007), and ...

Fiona Gubelmann Fiona Victoria Gubelmann is an American actress. She has appeared in a number of single-episode roles in television, including ''CSI: NY'', ''My Name Is Earl'' and ''Knight Rider'', as well as a handful of films including '' Employee of the Month ...

, and McKinley Freeman. Principal photography began in August 2016 in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The series premiered on June 5, 2017. On November 1, 2017, VH1 cancelled the series after one season.

Premise

Maxine is the creator and lead host of the popular daytime television talk show ''The Lunch Hour'', which also includes co-hosts Mo, Kibby, Nina, and Heather. On-air, they are great friends, but behind the scenes, they live in a world of power struggles and super-egos. Meanwhile, Maxine's former assistant, Anna, returns as the hard investigative journalist working for a great magazine, who wants to expose the truth about Maxine.

Cast

Main

as Maxine Robinson, the creator and lead host of the daytime television show ''The Lunch Hour''. She is one of the greatest personalities on American television and mother of Shawn *

as Kibby Ainsley, a former child star and recovering addict who is one of the co-hosts *

as Nina Sandoval, a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning investigative journalist and one of the co-hosts *

as Heather Flynn-Kellogg, an outspoken conservative and one of the co-hosts *

McKinley Freeman McKinley Freeman (born June 9, 1973) is an American actor and producer. He has appeared in films and on television series, including the starring role of Derek Roman in the drama series '' Hit the Floor'', portraying the role of Dominic in the OWN's ...

as Shawn Robinson, the producer of ''The Lunch Hour'' and Maxine's adopted son

Recurring

Tichina Arnold Tichina Rolanda Arnold (; born June 28, 1969) is an American actress and singer. She began her career as a child actor, appearing in supporting roles in '' Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986) and ''How I Got into College'' (1989) before being cast as ...

(credited as a "special guest star") as Mo Evans, an eccentric comedienne and one of the show's co-hosts * Niko Pepaj as Leon, an ambitious head production assistant * Sarah Mack as Ramona Davies, a production assistant *

Tammy Blanchard Tammy Blanchard (born December 14, 1976) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as teenage Judy Garland in the critically acclaimed television film '' Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows'' (2001), for which she received ...

as Sheree Ainsley, Kibby's scheming mother * Ness Bautista as Andrew Weller, Nina's husband and a rising politician * Rich McDonald as Brad Kellogg, Heather's husband and a race car driver * Adam J. Harrington as Jason Abel, a network president *

Norm Lewis Norm Lewis (born June 2, 1963) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in Europe, on Broadway, in film, television, recordings and regional theatre. Productions that he has been involved in include '' Dessa Rose'', ''Miss Saigon'', '' T ...

as William Tomas, the doorman at Maxine's co-op building, who knows some of her darkest secrets *

Kristen Johnston Kristen Angela Johnston (born September 20, 1967) is an American actress. Best known for her work on television sitcoms, she twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sally Solomon in ...

as Anna Crouse, Maxine's former assistant and current editor-in-chief of a great magazine, who wants to expose the truth about the behind the scenes of ''The Lunch Hour'' *

Cassady McClincy Cassady Marie McClincy is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Lydia on the AMC horror-drama television series '' The Walking Dead'' since 2019. Life and career McClincy was born in Ohio and raised in Georgia. She got an agent a ...

as Tandy Ainsley, Kibby's younger sister * Scott Evans as Julian, a celebrity

sober coach A sober companion is a human services-related career path with the goal of helping the client maintain total abstinence or harm reduction from any addiction, and to establish healthy routines at home or after checking out of a residential treatment ...

who helps Kibby keep her life on track

Guest

* Tamera Mowry-Housley as herself *

Kelly Osbourne Kelly Michelle Lee Osbourne (born 27 October 1984) is an English television personality, singer, actress, model, and fashion designer. The daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, she appeared on the reality show ''The Osbournes'' (2002–2005) w ...

as herself *

Tasha Smith Tasha Smith (born February 28, 1971) is an American actress, director and producer. She began her career in a starring role on the NBC comedy series ''Boston Common'' (1996–97), and she later appeared in numerous movies and television series. ...

as Portia Camden, a popular lifestyle guru and the ladies' counselor who is brought on to guest host *

Debby Ryan Deborah Ann Ryan (born May 13, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She started acting professionally onstage at the age of seven, and was later discovered during Disney Channel's nationwide search for new talent. Ryan's work for Disney Ch ...

as Maddie Finn, Kibby's rival and former ''Lacey from Outer Spacey'' co-star, who wants to ruin Kibby's life *

La La Anthony Alani Nicole "La La" Anthony (née Vázquez; born June 25, 1979 ) is an American television personality and actress. In the early 2000s, she worked as an MTV VJ on ''Total Request Live''. She was the host of the VH1 reality television reunion ...

as Isabel Carlisle, a crisis management expert hired by Maxine to help handle a situation in behind the scenes *

Joy Behar Josephine Victoria "Joy" Behar (; née Occhiuto) is an American comedian, television host, actress, and writer. She co-hosts the ABC daytime talk show '' The View'', where she is the only original panelist still regularly appearing. She hosted ...

as herself *

Sunny Hostin Asunción "Sunny" Cummings Hostin (; born October 20, 1968) is an American lawyer, journalist, and television host. Hostin is co-host on ABC's morning talk show '' The View'' as well as the Senior Legal Correspondent and Analyst for ABC News. ...

as herself *

Jedediah Bila Jedediah Louisa Bila (born January 29, 1979) is an American television host and author. She is known for her time as a co-host on the daytime talk show '' The View'' from 2016 to 2017 and an anchor on the weekend edition of the morning news and ...

as herself *

Sara Haines Sara Hilary Haines (born September 18, 1977) is an American television host and journalist. She is known as a co-host of the ABC daytime talk shows '' The View'' and ''Strahan, Sara and Keke'' and game show '' The Chase''. She has also worked as ...

as herself *

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

as Cecile James, a bestselling author of books about alpha women who guest hosts, and who initially wants to become a permanent co-host *

Richard T. Jones Richard Timothy Jones (born January 16, 1972) is an American actor. He has worked extensively in both film and television productions since the early 1990s. His television roles include '' Ally McBeal'' (1997), '' Judging Amy'' (1998–2005), '' ...

as Ben Branson, a charismatic real estate mogul who is set up on a blind date with Maxine *

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

as Gloria Tomas, the mother of William, who also has secrets *

Janet Mock Janet Mock (born March 10, 1983) is an American writer, television host, director, producer and transgender rights activist. Her debut book, the memoir '' Redefining Realness'', became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. She is a contributing edit ...

as herself, who appears as a guest host on the show *

Jillian Rose Reed Jillian Rose Reed (born December 20, 1991) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Tamara Kaplan in MTV's TV series ''Awkward''. Early life Reed was born in Hollywood, Florida, and raised in Coral Springs, Florida. Sh ...

as Kali Z, a millennial

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

brought on as a guest host *

Rob Estes Robert Estes (born July 22, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Harry Wilson on the teen drama series '' 90210'', as Sgt. Chris Lorenzo on the crime drama series '' Silk Stalkings'', and as Kyle McBride on the primetime soap ...

as Vance Gordon, an actor and Kibby's former ''Lacey from Outter Spacey'' co-star *

as herself * Ashley Graham as herself, who appears as a guest host on the show *

Zeeko Zaki Zakaria Sherif Zaki (born January 18, 1990), commonly known as Zeeko Zaki ( arz, زيكو زكي), is an Egyptian-born American actor best known for his role portraying Special Agent Omar Adom "O. A." Zidan on Dick Wolf's ''FBI''. Early life ...

as Cab Driver

Episodes

Production

On February 18, 2016,

announced a television adaptation of

' best-selling book ''Satan's Sisters'' for 2017. The series is based on real behind-the-scenes events of '' The View'', which Jones appeared on between 1997 and 2006.

was announced as lead role on March 1. The show's head writers are

; it is directed by

J. Miller Tobin John Miller Tobin (born January 13, 1961) is an American television director and producer. As a director, Tobin has worked on the television series '' Oz'', '' The Agency'', ''Numb3rs'', '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'', ''Supernatu ...

. Production began in August 2016, and the series was retitled ''Daytime Divas''.

and

were announced as the other co-lead roles on August 22.

Reception

On the review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 60% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 6.45/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "These ''Divas'' try a little too hard achieve genuine camp, but fans of prima donnas will find a catty enough array here." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the show has a score of 53 out of 100 based on four reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * {{VH1 original programming 2010s American comedy-drama television series 2010s American LGBT-related comedy television series 2010s American LGBT-related drama television series 2010s American satirical television series 2017 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings English-language television shows Serial drama television series Television shows based on American novels Television series about television Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows filmed in Atlanta Television shows set in New York City Transgender-related television shows VH1 original programming