Kim Cattrall's much-anticipated And Just Like That alternative project, Glamorous, has made its debut. And imagine this, it premiered on Netflix on the exact same day as the HBO spin-off.
Fancy that! What a coinkydink!
From the creator of Desperate Housewives and Smash, Jordon Nardino, comes the new Netflix series led by Kim Cattrall and Ben J. Pierce aka YouTuber Miss Benny.
What is Glamorous about?
The 10-episode series revolves around department store makeup artist and influencer Marco (Pierce), who gets an exciting opportunity to work for a prestigious legacy beauty brand when he's discovered by model-turned-makeup-empress, Madolyn (Cattrall).
Watch the trailer for Glamorous here. Post continues after video.
Come for the...
Kim Cattrall.
Stay for the...
Rest of the cast and the fun outfits.
What TV shows will it remind you of?
I'd best describe this series as The Bold Type meets Ugly Betty, but sadly, without much of the charm.
How long is it?
There are 10 episodes running at 45-minute a pop, so it's quite a lot to cram in.
So, should you watch it?
...Maybe not.
The series hinges on its most famous cast member, Kim Cattrall. Unfortunately, her character is a bit of a flop.
Cattrall's Madolyn could have been many things.
She could have been warm, wise, and soothing like Jacqueline Carlyle from The Bold Type. She could have been sharp, cruel, and decisive like Miranda Priestly on The Devil Wears Prada.
She is none of these things.
Madolyn is dull, lifeless, unemotive, and painfully stiff. She is unlike SATC's Samantha Jones in every possible way. Cattrall once said that she thought she'd outgrown Samantha. "I played it past the finish line and then some," she told Piers Morgan in 2017.
If these are the kinds of characters that the actress aspires to play instead – the antithesis of Samantha – then to be brutally honest, I'm not that interested in the next phase of Cattrall's career.
Hey now! Listen to this episode of The Spill about Sarah Jessica Parker. Post continues after podcast.
The most glaring problem is that this series doesn't speak to its audience: queer people.
As just mentioned, literal gay icon Kim Cattrall is completely wasted in this role. And in one scene, Marco proudly declared: "The oldest movie I know is Titanic and I don't know who Cher is." Read the room and learn your herstory!
Glamorous will also make most viewers feel precisely 1000 years old. The age divide between Marco and Madolyn is mentioned constantly. The series is stuffed with Gen Z catch phrases like "I'm not going to let you flop," and "have you ever been a dumb bitch?" throughout with awkward results.
Netflix's other series Heartbreak High somehow pulled youthful slang off with ease, but Glamorous tries a little too hard.
Some of these sins could be overlooked if there weren't 10 episodes in the season with a running time of 45-minutes a piece. At times, it's a real slog to get through.
I will mention that there are some cute love stories that play out – and I'd like to give special mention to Marco and Ben's scenes which are genuinely sweet and wholesome.
The series is best viewed as a silly soap opera. It's almost as ridiculous as Ugly Betty and nowhere near as murder-ey as Desperate Housewives but still brings that energy.
There's over-the-top dialogue. There's plotting and scheming for no real reason. There's big drama with very low stakes. It's a perfect show for background viewing while you scroll Instagram, message your Hinge match, or file your tax return.
It's a bit of fluff. It's colourful. It's aesthetically pleasing. It's easy enough to watch.
Would I watch a second season? In the timeless words of Samantha Jones: "F**k me badly once, shame on you. F**k me badly twice, shame on me."
Feature image: Netflix + Mamamia.
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