Review: 'The Lylas'

If you're a girl singing group comprised of four women who are the sisters of Bruno Mars, then you truly are living a glass half-empty, glass half-full kind of life. There's this part of you that wants to be recognized for who you are and you want to think that if you become a star, it would have happened no matter who your sibling might be. But the reality is that your famous sibling is going to open up some doors that wouldn't normally be there for you. It's going to make some things easier, but you also have to be better than the average person without those famous connections. And that's the real question: Are you Janet Jackson? Or are you Tito?

That's the challenge faced by The Lylas, the group starring in a new series of the same name premiering this week on WE tv. How do you become responsible for your own success while still taking advantage of the opportunities offered by your famous sibling?

The good news is that the four sisters are very charming and each has her own distinct personality. This is a family that is perfect for television and it doesn't take long to kind of get a bit of a crush on all of them. No matter who they are related to, when it comes strictly to camera-ready charm this women are ready to be stars.

The problem I have with the show (at least based on the first episode) is that I'm not yet convinced they're worth my time as a singing group. The premiere episode primarily focuses on the decision of sisters Tahiti, Tiara and Presley to move to Los Angeles, where sister Jaime and her family are already living. There are plenty of scenes about the move, and how difficult it is for Tahiti to leave her children temporarily back in Hawaii with her mother. We discover that Presley is a bit of a party girl and that their mother is a character all her own. But what viewers don't get is much of a reason why we should care about their singing career.

The episode begins with a snippet of the girls singing in the studio and a lot of talk about whether or not they should be rehearsing more. But it isn't until they move to L.A. that we see a rehearsal and it's just an abbreviated warm-up for a big meeting with Island Def Jam executive and producer Dallas Austin. Austin likes them, but after they sing a quick song (which sounds fine, but just barely), he worries that they aren't ready to sing solos and although the editing of the scene is a bit clunky, that seems to end the meeting.

Here's the problem. The sisters are charming and lovable and a pretty interesting group of women. But if they want to be taken seriously as singers - and not just relatives of Bruno Mars - then viewers need to see their singing ability. Let's be honest. It's very unlikely that this show would exist if they didn't have a famous sibling. And there's nothing wrong with them taking advantage of the opportunity. But what they do with will determine how well they do on the charts. And so far, I haven't seen anything that makes me want to go out and buy their next project. That doesn't mean they don't have that talent, but it's just not evident in the first episode.

I want to like The Lylas - both the show and the group. I'm going to watch a couple of more episodes and hope for the best. Because at the end of the day, whether or not I stick around won't have anything to do with their famous brother. It's all on them.