The New Edition Story captured the hearts of fans of the ’80s R&B vocal group starting from the very first strains of “Candy Girl.” The three-day miniseries kicked off Tuesday night on BET, stirring up more than a little nostalgia in viewers through the band’s beloved music and the series’ writing and acting — and earning the event programming a 100% Tomatometer score at the time of this writing.
The casting on Bobby Brown is spot on #CanUStandTheTea #NewEditionBET
— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) January 25, 2017
And:
EXCELLENT casting, BET! #NewEditionBET pic.twitter.com/xVzhBuI0Ad
— ♀ (@MakeupJunkie_AC) January 25, 2017
In addition to the gifted child actors who play the group members — we see you, Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things) — and the adults who played Ralph, Bobby, Ronnie, Ricky, and Mike, fans also applauded the actresses who played their mothers. The list includes Lisa Nicole Parker (Ally McBeal) on the comeback trail as Ricky’s mom Mae.
Just saw a clip…nice to see Lisa Nicole Carson is well and back working #NewEditionBET
— ΞLLΞ (@iamellejones) January 25, 2017
Plus:
This Bobby is so authentic. #CanUStandTheTea #NewEditionBET pic.twitter.com/VYi9kHwyVH
— Weird Winter Child (@WildYoungCharm) January 25, 2017
These vocals tho! #NewEditionBET #CanYouStandTheTea pic.twitter.com/ajXPDHN36M
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) January 25, 2017
But who are we kidding? This is a biopic, and fans wanted the tea, the dirt, and all the gossip on what was really going on behind the scenes, including how the boys kept getting ripped off by the adults managing their careers and the growing rivalry between Ralph Tresvant and Bobby Brown, both of whom had the talent and leadership ability even as kids.
Making matters more complicated, more than one producer saw Tresvant as the next Michael Jackson.
Bobby when Maurice said Ralph was the lead singer:#NewEditionBET pic.twitter.com/SbgQQ8RidG
— GirlTyler (@sheistyler) January 25, 2017
You could argue that shady managers and spotlight scuffles are tropes found in all musical group biopics— these kinds of conflicts happen all the time within the industry — so the real fun of The New Edition Story is seeing who did what to whom and why. Fans couldn’t stop tweeting, for instance, about Brooke Payne (Wood Harris), the real-life manager and choreographer who helped groom New Edition for the big leagues.
Every manager in every music biopic ever. #NewEditionBET pic.twitter.com/lmw3qKGhIT
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) January 25, 2017
After the boys’ moms intervene, Brooke is fired and replaced by the fictional Gary Evans (Michael Rapaport), who promises New Edition the world and helps them land a deal at MCA. The guys, of course, are rough around the edges and have to be groomed yet again — and Ralph is the golden boy yet again.
Can't have a black movie without Michael Rappaport #NewEditionBET #CanUStandTheTea pic.twitter.com/ebBKJK0K2g
— A Girl Has No Name (@taystan) January 25, 2017
And that’s where night one ends: with #NewEditionBET as Twitter’s No. 1 trending topic. Parts two and three promise more wild parties, hot girls, rivalries, and conflicts.
#theneweditionstory #neweditionbet
we the Black delegation appoint BET to make all the biopic movies from now on pic.twitter.com/314e5NSqNa— muva. (@jahnaimonroe) January 25, 2017
Night two will be LIT 🔥 #NewEditionBet
— Ricky Bell (@MrRickyBell) January 25, 2017
The New Edition Story continues Wednesday and Thursday on BET
