YOUR WEEKLY BINGE: Rivals

There’s no mincing words when it comes to Rivals, a new show on Hulu. It is all sex, soap, silliness and sleaze, wrapped up in an addictive package with a killer soundtrack and shoulder pads.

A soapy drama in the spirit of ‘80s primetime hits like Dallas and Dynasty, Rivals is about two rich men, one from new money, one from old, who take their rivalry to new heights by battling for control of the region’s television programming. But of course, their rivalry doesn’t stay professional, spilling over into their tony, upper crust neighborhood of the Cotswolds region of southwest England. The Cotswolds is commonly thought of as the English version of the Hamptons, but with way more castles and fox hunts. And parties. Lots and lots of parties.

And sex, did I mention all the sex? I don’t know what’s in the water in the Cotswolds, but whatever it is, it makes everybody incredibly horny. Rivals is as classic a country sex romp as they come, on top of all the backroom backstabbing that goes on between the business rivals. Yeah, it’s pretty over the top, but it’s SO ‘80s. It’s set in 1986, and everything just exudes mid-‘80s, pre-AIDS ‘80s excesses, from the clothes, the music, the hair, and, yes, the sex.

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YOUR WEEKLY BINGE: Disclaimer

I admit I am easily drawn to film or TV shows by who’s in them or who made them. While I do love certain genres and stories, what drives me to watch something is, more often than not, who is in it rather than what it is about. So, when I heard AppleTV+ had an original series starring Cate Blanchett, I was in. But then I heard Kevin Kline was also in it and I didn’t even care what it was about. THEN I heard it was written and directed by Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuarón and I started counting the days until its premiere. Cuarón has written and directed some of the most prestigious films of the last twenty years, including Children of Men and Roma, for which he won Academy Awards for Directing and Cinematography, but, for me, he will forever be known for Gravity, which still stands as the most mind-blowing experience I’ve ever had in a movie theater.

Still, it was the idea of Blanchett and Kline together that got me most excited for Disclaimer, this new AppleTV+ series, which premiered on October 11. Kline, the icon of stage and cinema, is very picky with his roles, so those of us who love him are incredibly grateful when we get a chance to see him on screen, and to see him opposite Blanchett, who is at the absolute peak of her powers, is exciting, to say the least. I was hoping this pairing would bear sweeter fruit than the last Kline coupling I had had my hopes raised and dashed by back in 2021 when Sigourney Weaver and Kline starred in The Good House, a film that was far from the Dave reunion I had hoped for. Kline has been long overdue for a renaissance, a la Michael Keaton, and I am totally here for it—but still waiting.

Well, hold onto your hats, kids, because Kevin Kline is back. And he’s making the most of it.

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Wicked Little Letters

Sony Pictures Classics
It’s gotten to the point where I would watch Olivia Colman read the phone book, and, in her latest film, Wicked Little Letters, it’s almost that simple. The film, directed by Thea Sharrock and written by Jonny Sweet based on a true story, is a deceptively uproarious dark comedy set in a small town in England after World War I.

The plot revolves around the mystery of profanity-laced letters which have been sent to buttoned-up good Christian woman, Edith Swan, played by Colman. Edith’s parents, played by the marvelous Gemma Jones and Timothy Spall, go to the police, insisting they get to the bottom of the cruel prank, as the letters become increasingly vulgar. They insist the main suspect has to be their neighbor, the foul-mouthed single mother Rose Gooding, played by Jessie Buckley, an Irish immigrant whose husband died in the war. Even though Rose insists she had nothing to do with the letters and there is no evidence or motive linking her to them, the police arrest her and put her on trial. Local policewoman Gladys Moss, played by Anjana Vasan, suspects there may be more to the story however, and takes it upon herself, with the help of some ladies from town, to do their own “off the books” investigation to try to get to the truth.

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YOUR WEEKLY BINGE: English Teacher

Word on the street is that sitcoms are dying. If that seems hard to believe, let me remind you that we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Friends this year. While Friends could easily be called the last great traditional American sitcom (that’s THIRTY years ago, I’ll remind you), the modern network sitcom is still clinging to life support, with occasional flashes of brilliance (see Abbott Elementary) proving that perhaps the format is not quite ready to die just yet.

One such example of comedy genius is English Teacher, a series which just finished its first season of eight episodes on FX, which you can find streaming on Hulu. But don’t be fooled, English Teacher may look like a traditional sitcom, but it’s far from. While there may be the basic elements of traditional format within (one central character, an ensemble cast made up of basic tropes, and one open setting that allows for revolving stories each week), English Teacher makes up its own rules, including a killer retro ‘80s soundtrack (heaven), zero laugh track, and no true cliché in sight.

And it’s so good.

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YOUR WEEKLY BINGE: Bad Sisters

Ahead of the premiere of season two, which drops on November 13 on Apple TV, here’s your chance to catch up on the first season of one of, if not the best, season of television from 2022: Bad Sisters.

I haven’t mentioned it until now because I just assume everyone already knows about it and loves it as much as I do, but I realize that may be a little narcissistic, so I now take the opportunity to reach those of you who have not yet discovered this true gem of a show.

Bad Sisters is a dark comedy set in Ireland about five adult sisters who were orphaned at a young age and have grown up extraordinarily bonded. Because of this bond, they are perhaps a bit more protective of each other than they should be, so much so that they feel the need to protect one of their own from an abusive husband, even if it means killing him. Well, maybe not killing him. Well, maybe it does. Or maybe it doesn’t. Well, you’ll just have to watch.

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YOUR WEEKLY BINGE: The Righteous Gemstones

I really don’t know why I’ve slept on Danny McBride for so long. As a baseball lover, everyone has told me I should watch McBride’s first series, Eastbound and Down, which ran on HBO for four seasons, from 2009 to 2013, developing a huge cult following. And, as an even bigger fan of Walton Goggins, I should have already been on board for McBride’s second HBO series, Vice Principals, which ran for 2 seasons in 2016 and 2017, which starred McBride and Goggins as two high school vice principals competing for the top job. But no, for some reason I instead let both of those series pass me by without any interest at all. There was just something about McBride that didn’t appeal to me–his comedy just wasn’t my cup of tea. Or so I thought.

Just shows you how much I know.

It took Walton Goggins, John Goodman AND three years of overwhelming buzz for me to finally give McBride’s current series a chance, and it has become the most enjoyable binge we’ve had since six seasons of Schitt’s Creek got us through the early days of lockdown.

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