Zeta-Jones fond of relatable role in ‘Queen America’

show, set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is yet another scripted show produced in metro Atlanta, which has enticing tax credits.

Show creator Meghan Oppenheimer said she was drawn to pageants, in part, because they’re so polarizing. But the series is less about pageants per se and “more about being a lens through which we explore the lives of these characters, particularly the women, the pressures of society and perfection.”

Vicki, for instance, has an eating disorder and a love-hate relationship with her proudly blue-collar sister, played with searing intensity by Molly Price. And she appears to be single for sundry reasons.

But the overarching plotline in Season 1 is how Vicki reshapes a new client, Samantha Cole (Belle Shouse), who wins Miss Oklahoma but is hardly ready for prime time. Samantha is a diamond in the rough whom Vicki must mold; she is seemingly a bumbling, naive small-town girl but has underlying intelligence, ambition and savvy.

As Oppenheimer was producing the show, the real Miss America found herself embroiled in internal conflict and major changes that prompted the end of the swimsuit competition. But all 10 episodes had already been written by that time, and the producer chose not to make changes because the competition in her world doesn’t exactly parallel Miss America.

Facebook Watch, which launched 15 months ago as a repository for free original programming that would rival TV networks, is entering an already-crowded field of streaming options, including leader Netflix as well as Amazon Prime, Hulu, CBS All Access and YouTube Premium.