If youre like me and love to watch other peoples messy drama unfold on national television, Foxs new prime-time drama Our Kind of People is for you.

Created by Karin Gist and based on the 1999 Lawrence Otis Graham book of the same name, the series takes viewers to Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, an elite Black enclave on Marthas Vineyard where bourgie cotillions, Jack & Jill gatherings, and, well, rich people problems seem to always be on the agenda. The rich and power-hungry reign supreme, interlopers beware.

Enter Angela Vaughn (Yaya DaCosta), a single mother who has just moved to The Bluffs with her daughter Nikki (Alana Bright) and aunt Patricia (Debbi Morgan) to carry out her late mothers wishes. Angelas mother was a maid and hairdresser on Marthas Vineyard, and Angela has since taken up her legacy with Eves Crown, her budding hair care business.

But Leah Franklin-Dupont (Nadine Ellis) is less than welcoming to the newcomer and is determined to box her out of the hoity-toity goings-on in her elite circle. Meanwhile, Leah is battling it out with her own family dramas: rekindling the spark with her husband, Raymond (Morris Chestnut), trying to oust her father, Teddy (Joe Morton), as CEO of Franklin Holdings, and dealing with her daughter Laurens (Rhyon Nicole Brown) hidden secrets and escalating teenage distress.

Its a wild ride for sure, with so many threads unraveling at every moment that each characters mess barely has room to breathe. And like a lot of TV pilots, theres quite a bit of nauseating exposition to introduce the characters and whats important to their storylines. Angela talking about the importance of Black hair care and her daughter giving a quick primer on the history of Oak Bluffs might make those familiar pull their hair out. And yes, there are some predictable plot developments in the series premiere, which aired Tuesday. But hey, what is a good soap opera if not some mindless entertainment with beautiful people being super-duper extra on TV?

Perhaps it may sound superficial, but Our Kind of People is a gorgeous display of Black talent and beauty, mixed in with the juicy entertainment that traditional soap operas provide. The series is less a critique of class and wealth, so if youve read Grahams book and are expecting more of a sociological exploration, this isnt the show for you.

This is about messy relationships and drama. There are even a couple of steamy moments with chocolate-y heartthrobs Morris Chestnut and Lance Gross. And the series is, at least for the two episodes made available to critics, a good enough replacement to fill the void of now off-the-air Black family dramas such as Greenleaf and Empire. (Lee Daniels, co-creator of Empire, serves as executive producer.)

Heres a primer on the main cast, without spoilers so you can catch up before the second episode on Sept. 28.

Yaya DaCosta