Power: TV Review 

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Omari Hardwick, Naturi Naughton, Joseph Sikora, Lela Loren, Sinqua Walls, Katherine Narducci, Leslie Lopez, Jovanni Gomez

Omari Hardwick and Naturi Naughton star in the Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson-produced drama about a drug dealer who owns a new nightclub in New York.

“Yeah, sure, that sounds pretty good.”

Is that the standard Starz response to shows pitched its way? With the channel trying to stand out in the pay cable arena where HBO and Showtime already dominate, it hasn’t exactly been easy to define. Maybe that’s the point?

Starz: We’ll Figure Out What Works Eventually.

VIDEO: Starz Debuts Trailer for 50 Cent's Nightclub Drama 'Power'

The channel’s scattered approach to series is relevant now that Starz is going with

, its latest drama that’s about a drug dealer who opens a nightclub in New York and is thinking about going legitimate.

is executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, as the Starz press material and promotions make clear every opportunity ad nauseam. This will appeal to some people, as will the show. It’s just unlikely that person will be a TV critic.

seemingly wants to be a show that tells a big, complicated, meaningful story about, well, the perils and problems of power and how one man deals with them. That man is James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick) and how he deals with these issues isn’t particularly intriguing. In fact, no part of

is particularly intriguing. It feels like a superficial video rather than a real drama. Take out the sex and the swearing and it could be on ABC like any of its other vapid soaps.

And that’s the biggest problem here. If you’re paying for a premium cable channel like HBO or Showtime, then the original programming better be pretty damned original. Why pay for something that ABC can give you for free, or whatever passes for free these days?

But one of the issues for Starz, it seems, is that its own subscribers aren’t watching the shows it makes – getting to an elusive third season (when Starz almost always greenlights two seasons) has been difficult. It could be that Starz has a better collection of movies that interest its subscribers more than the original content, which is kind of opposite of what’s going on at HBO and Showtime.

STORY: Starz Orders Nightclub Drama Series 'Power' From EP 50 Cent

If the channel wants to reverse that, it might want to opt for something a little more challenging than

. There’s just not much here that hasn’t been depicted a million times before.

Ghost made his name on the streets as a drug dealer. His best friend is also his right hand man in that trade, Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora). Tommy wants Ghost to take care of the drug business instead of focusing on his new nightclub, called Truth. But now that Ghost has a love affair with status – he’s got the over the top New York pad, he’s got a wife, Tasha (Naturi Naughton) who spends all his money like a spoiled brat and a glitzy club is kind of cool. Cooler than just being a front to launder drug money.

Which life will he choose? Oh, he’s also not just a bad ass drug dealer with amazing suits, he’s also still attracted to his high school crush Angela (Lela Loren), who just so happens to be working for the government as it cracks down on drugs and thugs. Convenient, right? But Angela is not initially trying to bring down Ghost. She just might need someone to … love her. And … um … hold on here, I’ll keep this straight – Tasha doesn’t like the idea of her man sniffing around another woman so, despite nothing happening, she flirts and masturbates in front of the family driver Shawn (Sinqua Walls) because she’s a diva. What will happen between Ghost, Tasha and Angela?

Neither one of them is a particularly compelling character. There’s no urgency to side with any of them. There’s not much actual drama, even. Just glossy characters spouting predictable dialog. The writing and the acting are not memorable, the visual acumen isn’t impressive and we haven’t even got to Jackson’s turn as an actor (which will need to be more memorable than his baseball skills if

As creator, writer (for the first two episodes), showrunner and executive producer, Courtney Kemp Agboh was given a chance to play in the big leagues with Starz but ends up with something better suited for MTV. But maybe that’s not her fault. Maybe Starz doesn’t want substance – it seems to be shooting for something bigger than it’s been hitting, of late. But maybe the network really isn’t in the prestige game at all –it’s just trying to find a hit no matter how.

There’s a lot less gravitas than there is glop at Starz. The fare has been light on writing strength, heavy on sex and violence and concepts that might sell internationally. There’s nothing wrong with that if only Starz came out and said with some clarity that superficiality as entertainment is the new channel strategy. That way nobody would look at

and think, “This music video caliber drama is well short of expectations of greatness.” They would think, “This glossy drivel is perfect for Starz.”

So, either better branding is necessary or perhaps higher standards. Because

is a paint-by-numbers effort when Starz could really do itself a favor by putting a masterpiece in the market.

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