As soapy shows go, "GCB" is very much in the vein of "Desperate Housewives" or "Dallas," only perhaps with an even meaner streak. It's a story of tables turning, as former high school mean girl Amanda Vaughn (Leslie Bibb) moves back to Dallas after her marriage comes to a very scandalous and tragic end. Once home, she finds that the girls she ruthlessly taunted back in high school have risen to society leadership positions, much of it centered around the church and Carlene Cockburn (Kristin Chenoweth).

In fact, it's pretty clearly established in the premiere that this will be a series about the battle between Amanda and Carlene, who refuses to accept the possibility that her former tormentor has changed. For now, Carlene clearly has the upper hand and influence. She manages to keep Amanda from landing a real job by calling in favors with her friends, forcing Amanda to take a job at a bar called Boobylicious.

When a photo of Amanda on the job and in uniform begins to make the rounds, she taunts her former rival relentlessly, calling it sinful and un-Christian. But when Amanda finds out that Boobylicious is ultimately owned by Carlene and her husband's corporation, Amanda lets Carlene have it in the sweetest way possible. She thanks her publicly in prayer at church for her job, outing Carlene as the owner of Boobylicious in the process. It's open season!

While HuffPost TV Critic Maureen Ryan thought the show's general premise of a former mean girl trying to rebuild her life surrounded by the very girls she'd tormented was a great breeding ground for comedy and drama, she was disappointed to find little more than "screechy Texas stereotypes" in a "cartoonish, silly soap."