Pop Culture Happy Hour - Too Much

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

When your long-term boyfriend leaves you for an Instagram influencer, what can you do? In the new Netflix romantic comedy series Too Much, the answer is to go to London for work, and meet a struggling musician who happens to be very, very handsome with a life almost as messy as yours. Starring Meg Stalter and Will Sharpe, and co-created by Lena Dunham, it features a cast full of comedy MVPs, a meet-cute, and a very unusual dog.To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

When your long-term boyfriend leaves you for an Instagram influencer, what can you do? In the new romantic comedy series Too Much, the answer is to go to London for work and meet a struggling musician who happens to be very, very handsome, with a life almost as messy as yours. The Netflix show was created by Lena Dunham and her composer husband, loosely inspired by their own story. Too Much features a cast full of comedy MVPs, a meat cute, and a very unusual dog. I'm Aisha Harris. And I'm Linda Holmes, and today we're talking about Too Much on Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. Joining us today is NPR Music reporter Isabella Gomez Sarmiento. Hello, Isabella, welcome back.

Howdy? Thank you for having me. So Too Much begins when a woman named Jess discovers that her boyfriend of several years has left her for an Instagram knitting influencer. Jess is played by Meg Stalter, who plays Kayla on hacks. She gets a chance to be sent on an assignment to help produce a Christmas ad in London, and she's glad to get out of town. When she gets there, she wants to just enjoy the Jane Austen story she's envisioned for herself. Instead, she has a meet very cute with a handsome musician named Felix, played by Will Sharp. I think all the sinks are broken.

You can still use the soap, though, just rub it in. No, you can't. You have to rinse off the soap. Otherwise, you have germs and soap on your hands, plus you'll be, like, really sticky. Feel that? Hey, you're really sicky. Won't be 10 minutes there. Why? What are you going to do, chop her hands off?

The two of them fall into a messy relationship that's pretty happy but instantly complicated. For one thing, Felix has problems of his own with his own family in a difficult childhood. For another, he's stuck in a phase of his life where he's not sure being in a band is his entire future. Lena Dunham co-created the series with her husband, composer, Louise Felber, and she directed most of the episodes. Too Much is streaming on Netflix. Aisha, I'm going to start with you. Where did you come down on this one? I think I started this show curious.

Lita Dunham is a very complex, complicated figure, but I've also liked some of her work. I think a lot of girls is really smart and like a perfect encapsulation of that moment of time and that very specific type of person. I also really enjoyed Catherine called Bertie, the movie she directed. It came to it being like, this could be interesting. And at first, it felt as though I've seen this story before. It's a rom-com. Rom-com dromedy. I feel like there have been a lot of recent 30-something, early 40-something women TV shows where it's like it opens with a terrible breakup or finding out your boyfriend cheated on you or whatever.

And then you're also like in a career rut and all these things have to happen. They're kind of what now, the what now rom-com. Exactly. You know, how to die alone. survival of the thickest. These are shows that have also done similar things. I think as it goes on, it gets a lot more interesting. And I think a lot of that is due to Meg Stalter and just how she's able to sort of both embody this persona that I think we've all kind of gotten from Lena Dunham in many ways. Like this feels in many ways autobiographical or semi-autobiographical. But she also has her own personality. And I like her on hacks. So I was eventually won over. even though it was kind of a mixed bag for me overall. Yeah. All right. Isabella, how about you? Yeah, I totally agree with Aisha. It was sort of ups and downs. I came to Lena Dunham's work very, very late.

Like, I was sort of too young when girls was in its heyday and was making me feel. Became aware of it in the like downfall of Lena Dunham. Can't use to it. So I started watching it for the first time like two years ago and was like, oh my God, this show is brilliant and funny and has so many. There are many valid criticisms of it, but I also became sort of a Lena Dunham. defender in that way. Like, I think the show deserved the Renaissance that it got in the last few years. So I was very excited to come to a new Lena Dunham project, like, in a timely way. I wanted to like it a little bit more than I did, but I think it has a lot of really great things going for it,

especially the dialogue and especially the cast and the characters. It's a motley crew of kind of a who's who of people who have worked with Lena Dunham in the past. Really is, yeah. And that was really fun. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you know, I felt like as I was watching this, I was mixed on it. And the farther I got from it, the more kind of affection I developed for it. I think because I do love a romantic comedy. This is a known thing. I do think that it is an effectively done very nice, meet, cute, less the thing in the bathroom and more like a little bit later when he ends up in her apartment.

It's all very, like, messy in a way, which is obviously what the show is meant to be. I think Will Sharp is incredibly charming. My goodness. I think he's really good. in this and and really understands how to be this guy who is both like the dream guy and also the super messed up guy who in his own life is still struggling with a lot of his own stuff. I think, you know, when you talk about this show kind of starting off fairly familiar, improving as it goes, to me, it improves as you get more balance between the two of them,

as it becomes a story about both of them. Because the more it's a story about both of them, the less it's a story just about her trying to fix her life by meeting some guy, right? Yes, yes. They like each other from the beginning. There's an early episode where they're just kind of like obsessed with just being together and spending all this time together that I really liked. I really like the fact that from the beginning they're very attracted to each other.

They have all this stuff going for them. And then it's just that they have history and baggage and, you know, who's willing to say I love you and who's not and all the things that come up in their relationship felt really effective to me. I will say like I was not a big girl's person. I felt like it was a combination of sort of I became exhausted by the conversation around it. And also I never particularly felt connected to those characters. And I, which, like, they're exhausting characters. They really are. They are exhausting characters. So I was interested to see something of hers that was a little bit more up my alley. It basically worked for me. You both, I think, felt that it dragged

a little bit at times and could have been shorter. I felt like the ending is rushed. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I wrote a review of this for NPR, and one of the things that I said was like, I think if I had any confidence that Netflix would do like four seasons of this, there might be a way to do it that's more, that feels more fully developed in terms of what is actually going on with these people and how they're going to work through their stuff. But that's not the world that we live in.

So I understand why they wanted to kind of bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. I agree. I think something that I really liked about this, to your point that the characters on girls are exhausting, and most of them, Shoshana is exempt from this, most of them are just completely unlikable by the very end. And something I liked about this show is that it totally takes two rom-com tropes, like the neurotic, obsessive, you know, disgruntled ex-girlfriend and the sort of like roll your eyes, indie toxic soft boy that is inevitably going to break your heart. And it manages to really human- them and make them both really likable and flawed characters, as you start to learn more about both of them and you start to unpack that baggage and understand where they're coming from, I did feel much more invested in their relationship to one another and not just their individual storylines. But I thought it took a while to get there. And then I agree that then it sort of rushes into an ending.

And I wish we had just gotten some more of that background earlier in the show. I would have felt invested a lot sooner. I feel like that is not a fault of just the show, but it's kind of become a common theme amongst a lot of these TV shows where you don't know for streaming, where you don't know if they're going to come back. And so they often feel too long, too much as it were. And then like all of a sudden we're at the end. And the ending could either be a bookends, like this is the end, or it could lead to another season. And I can understand the creative issues that can arise from behind the scenes. But as a viewer, it's also kind of frustrating.

I will say, I don't know if I was as a Nambert of Felix as you two were. To be honest, that's never been my type of dream. Like, I've never been into the indie emo rock musician. That's just not my thing. And this is not a fault of Wolfsharp at all because I do think he's charming. I was way more curious about Jessica, really. And I think for me, my favorite episode, I mean, flashback episodes, honestly, you know, I'm kind of over them as a general rule.

That's another part of the formula that's just because, becomes so in lodge, it's like we're going to have this flashback episode. But for me, the big flashback episode, it's not just a flashback, but it cuts in and out, is episode five where we see her relationship with Zev, her ex-boyfriend, played by Michael Zegan. And I think it's like, it's really interesting because I think there are a lot of, there have often been expectations of a leading lady who looks like Meg Stalter, like what that would entail and like what that character might be. That she would have a lot of insecurity.

specifically around the way she looks. Exactly. Exactly. And I think this episode is really good about showing that she has insecurities, but they don't stem from herself. They stem from her relationship in many ways from Zev. And there's one scene that I really thought was just so cutting and so smartly composed, where he's talking about, like, she works in visual. And so she's a very, like, flamboyant dresser. She's a fashion icon.

Yeah. she loves fashion and she wears things that like are just like very eye-popping, eye-catching, like you would walk down a street and you'd be like, there's someone who has style. Whether you like that style or not is one thing. But like there's a moment where he addresses that and he says this to her. I swear, you dress as a fuck you to people sometimes, Jess. It's like you want to make them feel like idiots for looking at you. You don't want them to know that you're beautiful or even me to know that you're beautiful.

I think you think you can't compete with someone like Gigi Hadid. So you have to go in the total opposite direction. There is so much happening in that. He's so mean. The conversation keeps going. But it's like, oh, my God, he's both, he's totally negging her. He's totally being like, awful. You're beautiful.

But also, you don't look like the typical beautiful girl. So let me remind you of this. And I thought it was a really smart way to get at this thing that you would expect would come up all the time on the show. But thankfully doesn't. It just shows it through this relationship. Yeah. I really liked that. Yeah.

Yeah. You get that feeling from him where he's basically being. like, well, because you're not conventionally attractive, as you know. Yes, exactly. You know? Yeah. Yeah. It's so harsh, but also real.

It feels very nuanced in a way. That scene in particular made me want to throw something at my TV because I agree. I think it was so refreshing to be like, no, she's awesome and she's confident and she has a great sense of style. And this guy's kind of a loser who's like projecting his insecurities onto her and trying to bring her down. And I think that it gives so much more context to why she's struggling in a way. in a way that's like, oh, you've just had to put up with this really horrible relationship. And that's what's making you question yourself. And that's what's giving you all of this, like, inner turmoil is actually just your loser ex-boyfriend.

And she's awesome. And that was a really refreshing character development, I think. Yeah, I agree. And shout out to Michael Zegan. I mean, listen, this is the same guy who played Joel Maisel on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and is really carving out this niche as like the guy you can understand why she loved him once. And you can really understand why she doesn't love him anymore. Yeah.

And he is in this, I think, worse than he is in that. And you get a real sense that he was whether or not he ever sat down to intentionally, like, do a number on her, really did a number on her. And as she goes forward, she really is dealing with a lot of fallout from decisions that he made. Mm-hmm. I mean, there's also a world where, you know, the Emily Radikowski character, of Wendy, his new girlfriend who is Emily Rodikowski. Like, she's a model, like in real life. She is the blurred lines girl.

Like, that's how we know her. But, like, I also think the way that the show subverts that dynamic and how it's not about her and it's all about Zev. And she is not the villain in this situation, even though Jessica spends much of the show creating video notes for her and being like, how dare you? What do you do? private video notes. Yeah, private video notes directed at directly at Wendy.

It's a way that I think Lena Dunham, she just has this understanding, I think, this clarity around that aspect of herself, even if it doesn't come through in other ways. Like, I think this is one avenue where she's just like very clear about her understanding of the way these things work. And I just really appreciated that. Totally. It was never Wendy. Even though I will say I love the knitting influencer of it all. I thought that was so funny. It's a funny bit.

And I think, like, I don't want to play defense all the time in terms of, like, well, you know, because it's Meg Stalter, I would expect somebody to spend a lot of time talking about that she's insecure about how she looks. But I kind of would with a lot of creators. And the idea of all the things that are an issue between her and Felix, she does not walk around being like, am I pretty enough? Oh, God, no. He's so handsome. Am I pretty enough? Like, that is not really part of what is going on. between the two of them. He is into her from the beginning. He makes it clear that he's into her. And being

able to see her have a whole story that's not about that, I really do appreciate it because it allows you to see all the other great things about her, this character, but also this actress who, you know, like people who mostly know her from hacks, which is not everybody. But she came on hacks as a very much like an exaggerated kind of comic relief character who was sort of all always, you know, turned up to 12. Yeah, she's a lot. She's a lot on that show. But over time, they have given her more depth also on that show.

And I think the more you see of that, the more you understand how much there is to her ability to get into characters. I do want to just mention, like, the supporting cast on this thing is sattacked with people who are really good at comedy of a lot of different types, right? Because her, you know, at home, she's got her sister who Lena Dunham plays and her mom who Rita Wilson plays and her grandma who Ria Perlman plays. And I'm so delighted to be seeing more Rea Perlman again. Yeah. But also like Andrew Rannells is in this. Richard E. Grant is in this. Naomi Watts is in this in a part that I would not have expected to be the Naomi Watts part.

She's the wife of the boss. There are just a bunch of people. Stephen Fry gives this really devastating performance as. Felix's father, they just really, like, pumped up this cast with a lot of great people. Janix I Bravo is in it. And also directed an episode, but also plays her co-worker. Yeah. I think they have a fairly established collaboration, her and Lena Dunham.

Yeah, they did that show camping a few years ago. Yeah. Also, notable mention, Andrew Scott, who played a really sort of out-of-left-field character. Yes. Yeah. It was one of those things where he— Yeah, he popped up and I was like, what? You're here too.

Yeah. Yeah. I think to your point, Linda, like, I really appreciated that because we weren't so focused on how the character of Jessica feels about herself based on the way she looks, we also get to see all these other ways in which she's actually flawed and how she is or isn't dealing with them. Right. And that is just infinitely more interesting.

Like, you know, the part where she's meeting Felix's friends and she wants to figure out what the, you know, the friends who are girls, one of which is actually one of his exes, And she's sort of trying to be the cool girl but immediately fails and is just like so over the top asking them questions to figure out the dynamic. Like I love that. I love that there's other moments in which you're sort of cringing at what she's doing. But it's also so relatable because she's just like getting to the point in a not very graceful way. And Meg Stalter just absolutely killed the ability to be such a complex character without it being hung up on tropes that we just don't need in 2025. I would counter a little bit that I love.

pretty much all of the secondary characters in this show, but I think there were actually too many. I love Gen XIx-Bravo and Richard E. Grant and Naomi Watts, but I think the employment aspect of it, the workplace comedy part kind of fell flat for me because it tried to insert them in moments where I wasn't quite sure did they cut scenes, like, why is this all of a sudden part of a montage? There were moments where I was just like, I wanted them to either have more to do or have less to do. I get that. I get that. But I do think I love seeing the friend group of Felix, especially seeing Adele Azaku

Plus, who is like, I think her kind of breakout was blue as the warmest color, but she's since popped up in a lot of really great movies over the last few years. And as one of the polis, because there's like multiple polis. Yes, there are multiple women named polly, yeah. Women named polly. Yeah, I really love that because a lot of Jessica's insecurities come from not feeling cool enough. And I think it's very relatable. And she's in Europe.

And so, of course, like, Americans often, you know, think that Europeans are way cooler, whether or not that's true or not. It felt very real. And I loved those interactions. And I could have lived with more of that and less of the workplace comedy stuff. I get that. I get that. I think I enjoyed it for itself. I think Richard E. Grant is having a great time in this.

He's so fun. And so is Leo Reich, who plays one of her, like, other co-workers who I think. is also having a great time. So I think for those reasons, it stood up for me. I definitely think that you have a point that it probably was not as well integrated into the entire story as it could have been. It's almost like if you make this kind of show, like the workplace and how she's fitting in at the workplace is always part of it.

So it's in there. But again, I can kind of understand saying like I either want to see the six episode version of this or like the three or four season version. of this. I think both of those could perhaps be either more tightly developed and concisely developed or kind of more fully like, but I'm always the person who looks at TV characters and is like, therapy, you need a lot of therapy. And rarely does that happen. I'm surprised we didn't get that. I'm surprised that wasn't a component of the show. Well, it is for one person, but not for a... Not the one we want. Not the one we want. That's true. And it

doesn't seem to be doing very much for said person. Ultimately, it mostly worked for me, but I do get it. Well, we want to know what you think about too much. Find us at Facebook.com slash PCHH. That brings us to the end of our show, Aisha Harris, Isabella Gomez, Sarmiento. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. Thank you. And just a reminder that signing up for Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus is a great way to support our show and public radio and you get to listen to all of our episodes sponsor-free. So please go find out more at plus.npr.org slash happy hour or visit the link in our show notes. This episode is produced by Jenae Morris and Mike Katziff and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Audio engineering was performed by Sina Lofredo. And Hello Come In provides our theme music.

Thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. I'm Linda Holmes and we'll see you all next time.