(CNN) After a pair of major documentaries and a Lifetime TV movie devoted to the late Whitney Houston, "The Bobby Brown Story" -- based on his autobiography -- feels a bit like a reclamation project, one that puts a more Brown-friendly spin on the couple's history. That doesn't invalidate a BET miniseries that offers lots of music and doses of nostalgia, but it feels more like an old (and at times self-serving) edition, not a new one.

Speaking of New Edition, the hectic first hour skips over much of Brown's early biography -- including his New Edition years. In that, it's essentially structured as a companion to BET's earlier miniseries about the group, with Woody McClain, as Brown, reprising his role from that production.

As a result, "Bobby Brown" feels as if it's racing to get to his successful solo career and relationship with Houston. In between, Brown anoints his brother (Mekhi Phifer) as his manager, engages in a torrid affair with Janet Jackson and generally reaps the traditional rewards from stardom, down to delaying the "Ghostbusters" shoot while he entertains groupies in his trailer.

The story becomes a bit more complicated when Brown begins his whirlwind relationship with Houston (Gabrielle Dennis), who he woos, as his brother notes, immediately after swearing off any more entanglements with other famous musical stars.

Not surprisingly, the treatment here is much kinder to Brown regarding the friction in their lives, while practically reducing Houston's close friend Robyn Crawford to mean-governess status -- glaring from the sidelines and at one point telling Brown, "I was here before you, and I will be here after you."

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