Premiered: June 1, 2020

On: Quibi

Starring: Darren Criss, Kether Donohue, Tony Revolori, Georgia King, John Stamos, Jackie Tohn, Sabrina Carpenter, Jennifer Coolidge, Rufus Wainwright, Lil Rel Howery, Bonnie McKee, Brian Holden, Dylan Saunders, Mark Hamill, Jon Matteson, Chord Overstreet, Kevin McHale, Jordan Fisher, Lauren Lopez, Jeff Blim, Joey Richter, Robert Manion, Michael Liu, Dani Shay, James Tolbert, Chuck Criss & Julianne Hough

Combining comedy and music is an old trick for Glee’s Darren Criss and Pitch Perfect’s Kether Donohue, so putting their forces together for Royalties makes an epic mashup.

Pierce (Criss) and Sara (Donohue) are a songwriting team who catch their big break. As they work through their writing process, Theo (Tony Revolori) and Kendra (Georgia King) urge them to stay on deadlines to keep pushing their careers forward.

The show reunites both leads with past partnerships. Criss teams up with writers Nick & Matt Lang, as well as many performers from StarKid Productions, while Donohue is joined by Grease Live! costars Julianne Hough and Jordan Fisher.

The comedy is over-the-top and sometimes over-acted, but with the chemistry between Criss and Donohue – and a short runtime – you won’t even notice.

Final say: Criminal that they won’t get a second season. ★★★★☆