If the attractive sun-dappled surroundings and the largely acquainted faces weren’t already alerts that we’re in for a heaping serving to of comfort-food TV, the Vivaldi music clinches it. Even if you happen to by no means noticed the unique 1981 The 4 Seasons, written and directed by and starring Alan Alda, with a solid together with fellow legends Carol Burnett and Rita Moreno, Oscar winner Sandy Dennis and Len Cariou (post-Sweeney Todd, pre-Blue Bloods), you’ve seen variations on this system earlier than. Netflix’s press supplies proudly trumpet the truth that it is a “cozy new comedy.”
Nothing fallacious with that. We may all use a break from right now’s woe and chaos. The updating by Tina Fey (co-creator with fellow 30 Rock writing alums Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield) provides a extra bittersweet tang by the top of a 12 months spent within the firm of three {couples} with whom overfamiliarity breeds if not contempt than occasional aggravation and discomfort. The hook, because it was within the unique, is that every spring, summer time, fall, and winter, these greatest buddies spend vacation time collectively, a ritual disrupted when one of many twosomes abruptly splits up.
Fey leads the achieved solid, paired with former Saturday Evening Dwell colleague Will Forte as Kate and Jack, as generic a long-married couple as their names indicate. Theirs is a passive-aggressive love match, and most of their battle comes from her making the exhausting selections whereas he performs the good man, stammering and whining endearingly except it’s important to stay with it between holidays. Within the greatest swap from the supply materials, Colman Domingo and new-to-us Marco Calvani (echoing the couple performed initially by Jack Weston and Moreno) are Danny and Claude, a married however open-to-anything homosexual couple whose agita arises from Danny’s critical well being situation and cute Claude’s penchant for operatic hysteria (he’s Italian) as his clingy caretaker. Rounding out the sextet are Steve Carell as stressed Nick and Kerri Kenney-Silver (Reno 911!) as his wet-blanket spouse Anne, who like everybody else is blindsided when Nick declares his intention to divorce.
The primary two episodes, set in spring, play out like farce because the unhappy information resonates by way of the group, with everybody questioning how and whether or not to inform the clueless Anne, performed by Kenney-Silver with excessive pathos. The subsequent two episodes soar ahead to summer time, introducing the interesting Broadway veteran and Tony nominee Erika Henningsen (at the moment enjoying Sandra Dee to Jonathan Groff‘s Bobby Darin within the musical Simply in Time) as Nick’s new flame, the relentlessly upbeat Ginny, who may need match in additional rapidly along with her elders if she hadn’t booked the group right into a ridiculous Puerto Rican eco resort with uncomfortable yurts. Cue the carping and extra societal awkwardness as sounds of aggressive canoodling emanate from the brand new lovebirds’ tent. (Sure, that previous gag.)
The disruption of the group dynamic leads the long-term {couples} to look at their very own degree of happiness, or lack thereof, which is fertile floor for light romantic comedy, though The 4 Seasons typically overplays its hand. If you happen to suppose it’s been too lengthy because you’ve seen an outraged partner throw their companions’ wardrobe out a window, simply wait. And the present wades awfully deep into contrived sitcom waters throughout the fall go to to a school campus (the place Kate, Jack, and Danny met) when Nick’s disgruntled daughter (Tony nominee Julia Lester, from Excessive Faculty Musical: The Musical: The Collection) acts out her anger on stage.
Nonetheless, when you would possibly generally roll your eyes at their antics, you may additionally sometimes dab your eyes as they face up to the fissures and fractures of tolerating friendships and relationships whereas the seasons fly by, reminding them and us that any time spent along with our nearest and dearest is treasured and fleeting.
The 4 Seasons, Collection Premiere (eight episodes), Thursday, Might 1, Netflix