That Toni Braxton is starring in a reality show isn't that shocking. After all, lately her life seems a bit like a soap opera.
The Grammy-winning singer has been bankrupt twice, had heart problems (health issues sparked the last bankruptcy, she's said), discovered her son has autism, and split from her husband after a much-talked about award show kiss (Although the two weren't related).
But "Braxton Family Values" (We TV, 9 tonight), as the title suggests, doesn't just feature Toni. She's got four sisters (and a divorced mom), and they've got plenty of fodder for TV too. After watching the premiere episode I'd say among the things the Braxton family values are yelling and crying.
Still, they could be worse. The sisters performed as a group before Toni was plucked away and built a superstar career. They are all pretty girls, all, apparently talented. And they all come with baggage. Toni, now is rebuilding her career, moving on from her divorce and a husband who was her manager. Traci got pregnant young, and as she was raising her child and working on her marriage, her sisters left her behind. Now she longs to be back on the stage as Toni's backup singer, but no one seems interested in her longings. Towanda is Toni's personal assistant, unhappily, and also has a husband who functions mostly as a roommate. Trina, one of Toni's backup singers, it's hinted, seems to hit the bottle a little too much. Tamar, the youngest, a brat, and our villain, thinks she should be a lead singer instead of Toni's backup, and she thinks her music producer husband (and Toni's manager) she take care of that. RIGHT NOW. Mom Evelyn is around too.
Perhaps this is a marker of birth position, but Toni (the oldest) comes off as down-to-earth, sensible and calm; she's just trying to pull her career and life together, as her sisters swirl around with their issues.
The show seems authentic in the way the sisters relate; they alternate between being mean and insensitive to hugging and caring and back again. I suspect your interest in "Braxton Family Values" will be tied to your interest in Toni Braxton; there's not much different going on here than other shows of this type -- marital drama, fighting, etc. -- except they're sisters and one of them is a star.
It is what it is, a vehicle for Toni Braxton to get back to prominence.
Assistant Features Editor Adrienne Johnson Martin would like to have her life turned into an animated cartoon.