The Prestige TV Podcast - 'Love Life'

Episode Date: May 29, 2020

'Love Life,' an anthology series on HBO Max starring Anna Kendrick, is a surprising delight, reminiscent of 'Girls' and 'High Fidelity.' Hosts: Juliet Litman and Chris Ryan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Order now at order. Sweetgreen.com. to TV concierge. This is the ringer's guide to the vast streaming landscape, which got even bigger. The valley of television is ever expanding. And now it includes HBO Max, which I'm going to go ahead and say is great. I am joined by my colleague Chris Ryan. Hi, Chris. Juliet, you've dapped up every streaming platform so far. You've been like pro Amazon, pro Zon, pro Hulu. Now you're in the pocket of Big Macs. Which one don't you love? Hey, don't forget about Pluto.

I've done two episodes of Pluto streaming. I think that I just love streaming. Here's a thing. I've always loved television. I've had a television in my bedroom since I was eight years old. I went to top supply in Sydney to buy it. It was white. It was special.

I fucking love television. So this is my time. That's why I'm here on this podcast. And moreover, I love romantic comedies. And HBO Max launched on the strength of the entire HBO catalog, friends, which is no longer on now. Netflix and a couple of originals. And Big Bang Theory and a couple of other big catalog gets for them.

I forgot about Big Bank Theory. Shout out Chuck Lorry. I mean, he's, Chuck Lorry is the world's ultimate keep getting them checks guy. Yeah, that's right. CTC, baby. CTC. I mean, he's got to be probably, I'm going to go ahead and say he's like probably the richest person in all of television. I wouldn't shock me at all. HBO Max. A lot of people were like, what is this? How do you find it? like we already have HBO. Why do we need this? This is annoying. Friends leaving Netflix.

But here's a reason to get HBO Max or log in using your existing cable service. Love Life. It's a rom-com starring Anna Kendrick and Scoot McNary and Zoe Chow and Peter Vack, who is everywhere. More on that in a minute. And I didn't have high hopes because Anna Kendrick's career kind of topped out with pitch perfect. But this show is delightful. I was shocked. I woke up and I watched it. And I was like, I was watch one for the pod. There's three available right now.

I watched all three. Highly recommend it. Chris, what is the pitch on Love Life? It's the first rom-com of the Lincanity era. Kind of like this was the rom-com cooked up for the ringer audience. It's a little crazy. Tell us why you say that.

No, it's a star Zana Kendrick. She plays Darby, who is making her way in post-college life in New York City in 2011-12. Each episode, it appears to be named after and based on a different romantic relationship that she has. And there's some overlap of characters episode to episode. I'm sure as the season goes on, they will see people cycle back in. But they put up three episodes, Hulu style, you know, for the first batch.

And against all odds, you know, a lot of these services launch, and they launch on the back of their originals. And you're supposed to think, okay, Apple TV, here comes morning show. You guys spend a billion dollars on this. this better be good, and it's fine, or it's not fine, you know. HBO Max had never really been trumpeting its originals. I think because they have the HBO pipeline and they have these other pipelines of things happening, they were kind of like, here's a couple things, here's love life, and I agree. I had some skepticism, too.

I was like, if this is so good, why isn't it on HBO, essentially? Right. And what I found was a show that reminded me of some of my favorite romantic relationship dromedes over the years, Felicity, girls. I noticed when we're doing research on this, on this episode of TV concierge that a couple of the writers working on Love Life also worked on Transparent.

And I think that this show, while nowhere near, like, taking on the sociopolitical issues that Transparent tackled, has a degree of humanity that's uncommon for shows like this. It's really smart, like, transparent was. The writing is, like, knowing,

and it's like, there's a lot of jokes. You're like, oh, my God, yeah. But it's done really well. It's really smart. I noted all of those influences. I also think there's two things happening with it that feel really current. And I'm curious how people will look back on this period of television and be like, huh, that's interesting.

Because it reminded me a little bit of high fidelity, which is on Hulu. Similar vibe of kind of like high fidelity was not an anthology show, but each episode felt really discreet despite the fact that it's on a streaming service. Yeah. So I thought that was interesting. The other thing that I thought was so interesting about this is that. it has a narrator, a British woman, who's like telling the story of Darby. And Netflix's show, Never Have I Ever, also has a narrator who's John McEnroell and for one episode, spoiler alert, Andy Sandberg.

And I'm just sort of like, where did the Deiess X Mackina arch narrator come from? And why is it a thing right now? It really works in both cases. But I'm just sort of like, what's the idea factory that that has spawned that? So I think specifically for Love Life and I'm glad you brought this up. And forgive me for for aiming high, for aiming for the upper stacks of the library here. But do you feel like there maybe is like a little bit of a nod to like Henry James and Edith Wharton going on in here where it's like coming of age, comedy of manners, especially in the second one, there's a lot of like layers to it? And I actually think that the show has some literary ambitions especially, and it's

tipped a little bit when this British lady comes in and describes in kind of very floored fashion the way Darby is kind of abandoning her personal ambitions to just become part of a couple in the second episode, not to give anything away. But I don't know. I felt like it was kind of going in that direction. Sam Boyd, the writer of the first episode, director of the first episode, the creator of the show.

I wonder if he's pushing the boat in that direction. It's interesting. I think there's a lot of influences on this show, and very often that ends up being a mess. But for some reason, this, like, just really worked for me. There was a lot of things that it captured. Like, Bill and actually were discussing this

as it relates to the hills, but I think a really foundational experience for women in their 20s is, like, what it's like to have a roommate and what it's like to kind of share your moment to moment annoyances, anxiety, is excitements, expressions, like,

and that is captured really well in this show. I think one of the ways it's most influenced by Felicity is the outrageously large apartment that they live in. It's like a ridiculous three bedroom and Felicity seasons three and four lives in like the world's nicest college dorm apartment I've ever seen. That was very similar. But Felicity kind of captured that as well. And this show captures it really well,

too. And I think that. the literary ambition is helped by the British voice. It's like we want like an arch all-knowing narrator that I think we Americans associate with like an older British person. Yeah, Austenian kind of like, you know, and this is this woman. And it's not unlike Jane Austen novels. I'm not trying to say that it's like Emma, but I'm just saying it's not not like Emma, you know? Yeah, totally. It's a great point. The cast is also like sneaky good. So can we just talk about Peter Vack for a minute. Were you familiar with Peter Beck? I was not. Peter Vac plays. So Anna Kendrick

is the lead. She plays Darby, as you said. Her best friend is named Sarah. Sarah's boyfriend is named Jim. He's played by Peter Back. Peter Back in like the last like 18 months has appeared in this show. He was on the Bull type. And then he was on the Netflix rom-com, something great. Did you watch that? I did. I just didn't remember him. He plays a very similar role as like the like second leads love interest or whatever. And Peter Vack has become like this moment stand in for like generic guy you meet in New York in your 20s. And I think it's a really funny way to be typecast. That is funny. Because he basically is playing the same role in all of them. I recommend something great. I also felt like this had something in common. There's just,

there's a lot of sentimentality for the Obama era and. Obama tent. Yeah. This is a bit. You can, you could say it. We've talked about this a ton. It's the idea of like that especially second administration 08 or yeah 12 to 16 second period Obama the Grantland years the Gratlin years and it was essentially like we've talked about how like there was a certain

airiness to a lot of the culture during that time yeah and this show longs for it I mean as you refer to offhandedly it's true but like episode one Linsanity is like a plot point like Anna Kendrick is learning from the guy that she's into the pain of being a Knicks fan and the disappointment when the Jeremy Lynn next lose.

And it's like a small nugget, but it's such a, it captures a moment of time that really resonates with you and I because that was a major time, major moment for Grantland as well. But it, for some reason, it does recent nostalgia a lot better than it has any reason to. I don't know how else to say it. They don't lay it on thick in any department in this show. I thought one of the best parts about it is what they don't show you on this. There's some moments in the second. episode that I felt like they went right up to the edge of showing like the really

consequential moments of a relationship and then realize that it was even better to show the aftermath of it. And I thought it was just like the second episode especially was one of my favorites that I think I've seen this year. Shout out to Scoot McNary for the first time not playing an adult man wrongly accused of a crime perhaps in his career. He's like one of my favorite actors. He's been on the watch. He just started Narcos. He obviously was on True Detective last year. And this is the first time I've ever seen him

playing a straight romantic lead. Yeah. It's kind of shocking. You're like, who is this? Attractive man. He's essentially the Mr. He's Mr. Big in this, right? Yeah.

He's a Mr. Big. I would say he's more like someone Marnie would have dated than girls than anything else. Yes. And this show also captures the art world. It's so funny how the art world has become like just the aspirational job

for white woman on romantic comedy. I work in art, yeah. I work in art, yeah. And there's just so many funny references. It was a real trip down. It was a real journey down memory lane. But I think I'm also just really happy for Anna Kendrick.

As I said at the beginning of this episode, like I was ready to write her up. It's like she'll never have a hit again. And I think many people have wondered what's gone wrong for Ann Kendrick. Did she just need a romantic comedy well suited to her strengths? Is this the answer? I would say that Anna Kenner. Hendrick hasn't really gone anywhere. It's just that she's not as showy as a lot of stars of her

generation. Now, I'd argue to you that like pitch perfect was probably the best and worst thing that ever happened to her because it makes her this kind of very recognizable star, but kind of almost freezes her in amber for that kind of thing. I find her reliably pretty good in what I see her in. You know, she was very good in a movie that came out in 2018 called A Simple Favor with Blake lively that Paul Feig also directed and Paul Feig is the executive producer of Love Life. so obviously they have a pretty good working relationship. She's just one of those people that I think hasn't quite come up with like an indelible character yet.

You know, and that is really something that I think has escaped her. She's played like a bunch of interesting people and she's been in a lot of successful things. But if I said Anna Kedric to you, you wouldn't be able to say like, oh yeah, like this Tom Cruise role. Like when you say like Tom Cruise or Shirley's Throne or somebody, you're like, oh, I immediately think of the character names of their most famous roles.

You can't do that with Anna Kendrick. I don't even remember what her name was in Pitch Perfect. I don't either. I also don't remember her name in Up in the Air, which she's in with like two extremely famous people in Vera Farminga and George Clooney. I guess Vera Farmeaga is not extremely famous, but like she's a really well-respected actress, but George Clooney is just incredibly important.

But Kendrick has like some kind of, I think some pretty great chops in this in this show. I mean, she's asked to carry a lot of it and also not always be likable in it. Yeah. In episode three, she's super unlikable and she like really kind of like fucks up. And it's, it's really good. She's like straight up good in this. Like I would not be surprised if the Emmys happen if she gets nominated for an Emmy. I mean, the Emmys will happen in some weird fashion. What a shout. I really do. She's excellent in it. And I'm like looking forward to. I'm like, what's the release schedule for the show? I'd like to be watching more.

I know that we're kind of, we're kind of going on here. Can I ask you one question? Because you're one of the foremost sort of like connoisseurs and archivists of of romantic comedy as a genre that I've met. Do you think that there's a degree? I mean, obviously, rom-coms have always been self-aware to some extent. But now I feel like that we've seen, especially since Netflix has started doing more of these,

and it's more common to see a straight-to-streaming movie, like a VOD movie, or a show like this, or high-fidelity, where we've now, like, kind of shed some of that meta-fictional self-consciousness about making rom-coms and people are just back to making rom-coms? Yeah. I think there was a real void left behind by girls and it's only beginning to be filled now.

And I think that there was always kind of like a steady beat of this is like the romcom of the generation. Like obviously sex in the city held that spot and then girls. And then, you know, there was a real pivot toward male oriented romcoms with all the Apatown movies and whatnot. And I feel like that wave, that wave has crested as just kind of like the natural order of things. And there's a Sam boy is very young. I think he's like 28 years old. Maybe he's 30. I think there's a new generation who's now, like, entering the space.

And as a result, like, the tropes that matter to them are different than the ones that mattered, like, 10 to 15 years ago. And it's really, it's really interesting. Comedy is, like, more cyclical than any other part of, like, the TV movie ecosystem, right? Like, what's funny comes back around and, like, what people are nostalgic for comes back around. And so I think we've just, like, moved on to a new cycle. This really feels like, if you haven't watched high fidelity on Hulu, you should watch that

as well. like these pair together really well as kind of like self-contained New York rom-com stories that are really enjoyable and also both really care about music. That's the other thing about the show is it has a lot of musical cues. It's good. I mean, you can get a seven-day free trial of HBO Max so maybe wait until all the episodes are out to do your seven-day trial. I don't know. But I'm, I'm in. I'm happy to have the show. I was really sad when High Fidelity ended. So this is like really, I don't know what the right spot for me. The TV concierge, like stamp of approval, like the heavy rotation recommended is, but Love Life gets it. Yeah. Totally. I would say if you're, if you're choosing between a few things right now,

start with Love Life, put High Town at the end of your list. Sorry. For Gillian Chris has been TV concierge. This episode is brought to you by Netflix's remarkably bright creatures. What if a Pacific octopus held the key to a mystery that could heal your heart? Well, that's Tova's reality. An elderly widow working at an aquarium. Tova forms an unlikely friendship with their crumudgeonly, Marcellus, whose remarkable intelligence leads her to a life-changing discovery. Remarkably bright creatures is now playing. Only on Netflix.