A glossy, indulgent, eight episode period production from television pioneer Ryan Murphy set in the Hollywood of yesteryear and streaming on Netflix. 

It’s a dream of a miniseries, one which reimagines history for the better. Fantasy fulfillment at its most on-the-nose and unrealistic. Still, it is a lot of fun to watch - it’s very much a slice of extended escapism. 

The Netflix miniseries follows a group of young people who have arrived in the Hollywood of the 1950s in pursuit of that show business dream. Will they find it when so many fail to? Or, better yet, what will they do to ensure that they do? 

The cast is terrific and writers offer them all generous showcases throughout the series. Almost every single one of the principals in the ensemble get their own emotional monologue scene at one point or another. Murphy takes very good care of his performers and they’ll all be vying for the 2020 Emmys. Jim Parsons (playing a real nasty, smart, selfish snake of a man), Dylan McDermott, Joe Mantello, Patti LuPone, David Corenswet, Jeremy Pope... It’s a wonderful cast of character actors at the top of their games. Most of them get meaty parts with a lot of material to work with. Unfortunately, Samara Weaving and Laura Harrier represent the rare two with characters who never really click on screen. And Jake Picking is pretty stiff in his role as Rock Hudson. 

That all said the storytelling here is really poorly executed and, frankly, unbelievable. A lot of stuff happens here that you just don’t buy. It’s a very hollywood kind of production where situations happen because the writer says so. Rarely does anything that happens here feel organic or natural. You never really believe anything you see here. So, in a sense, this is a miniseries with meaning but also one that you dont ever feel is genuine. It’s a narrative you never truly can invest in and believe because the writing just isn’t convincing. The story and the character arcs skip from one beat to another, never really landing where they need to when they need to. Stuff just happens when the writer says so. And it’s a very glaring issue here. The show begins to feel a bit unintentionally silly after a certain point. 

Not to mention that the miniseries rarely ever says, or offers, any new insight or refreshing ideas about the heavy themes it is about. Show business, racism, prejudice, homophobia, hollywood... But it’s still enjoyable to watch so long as you don’t take it too seriously.