It’s been one of THOSE weeks, one that’s had a disproportionate amount of pressure and emotional turmoil. Plus a few of the teams that I follow with some emotional investment saw their post-seasons end, meaning the ability for me to find some sort of escape hatch with them is gone for the summer.
So trust me when I say prior to my collapse from utter exhaustion I REALLY needed to find something somewhere in the infinite world of entertainment opportunities that the streaming era offers that would help me laugh, unwind, and just for a while bring me into a world with characters I want to root for. Netflix’s THE FOUR SEASONS offered me that, and that’s not the first time I can say that.
Like so many of a certain era, I fondly remember the original theatrical version, released during the summer after I graduated college and reluctantly wound up smack back in my parents’ living room sleeping on an aging single cot–it wasn’t even a sofa bed–with a painfully omnipresent metal bar pressing right into the small of my back. About the only positive about such an uncomfortable arrangement was that it afforded me access to the one color TV we had after everyone else had gone to bed. And even though Queens wasn’t yet wired for cable, which severely limited the number of entertainment options I might have preferred, my parents did splurge for the microwave option of adding HBO– a single channel for $12 a month was at that time a massive investment. Proportionate to today, that’s even more than an ad-free subscription to Netflix.
So I was actually encouraged to watch the hell out of it so as to justify such an expense. And as Bill Simmons reminded us on his REWATCHABLES podcast this week, we tend to fall in love with movies that seemingly ran ubiquitously on pay cable channels we’d binge on during the years where we’d be financially struggling and otherwise bored. THE FOUR SEASONS was one of those films that would turn up a lot at various times of the night, and I probably watched it a dozen times during its first pay window, ever fascinated by the recognizable cast and swondering how Hawkeye and Mrs. Wiggins could pull off being a married couple. (Spoiler alert: actors that talented most certainly can). Its comedy and poignance got me through a lot of those painful sleepless nights.
Hence, the appeal of this updated version, dropped earlier this week in the exact comical way that one of the REWATCHABLES’ hilarious categories references–can this be remade as a ten-episode streaming series?–was heightened for me at a time when I’m once again writhing in pain from insomnia, even if the bed I’m sleeping in is slightly more comfortable. Fortunately, even though it’s only eight half-hour-ish installments versus ten, it soundly delivers on those same qualities.
In the skilled hands of Tina Fey this captures many of the same beats of the original. NEWSWEEK’s Kate Nalepinski—who based on her resume seems to be at the very same life stage I was back then–helps set the stage:
The new adaptation stars Fey as Kate, married to Jack, played by fellow Saturday Night Live (SNL) alum Will Forte. Kate’s longtime best friend is Anne, played by Kerri Kenney-Silver, who struggles with her marriage to Nick, played by Steve Carrell. Those four are joined by couple Claude and Danny, played by Marco Calvani and Colman Domingo, respectively.
In an interview with The Today Show, Fey said only a “likeable” actor like Carrell could play a complicated character like Nick.
“To me, Steve is kind of the Jimmy Stewart of our generation,” she said, referencing the late star who played in films like Vertigo and It’s a Wonderful Life.
It can be argued that Fey is the Carol Burnett of this generation and she nails the role that Burnett played in the movie–the group’s structural and moral epicenter–masterfully. It’s helped by the fact that many of the words she speaks were written by her, as well as her one-time 30 ROCK collaborators Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield. So it should be no surprise that there’s a lot of Liz Lemon in her version of Kate Burroughs–undeniably attractive but vulnerable. Forte lives up to the challenge of capturing Alda’s character depth and complexity, and we’re immediately reminded of that as Alda himself has a cameo in the series that shows us that even pushing 90 he’s still the talent so many of us have fallen in love with. Seeing his genuine praise for Fey at the premiere event that has been turning up in a lot of the pre-drop interviews making the rounds of the morning and late night car washes only reinforces that connection.
The one major concession to evolution is that the third couple has been reimagined as a gay duo, deftly described by THE WRAP’s Rachel “Rocky” Harris:
Colman Domingo plays Danny, an architect who designs the look and construction of buildings just as much he styles his everyday fashions. His the life of the party in the friend and Kate’s ultimate bestie. Marco Calvani stars as Claude, Danny’s health-centered husband who loves to nurture Danny’s wellbeing, even if his love gives him some pushback. Calvini’s role replaces Rita Moreno’s Claudia from the movie, one I put special weight on given my affinity for everything Rita, yet he channels her spirit and sweetness with flying colors.
Maybe I’m more than a little predisposed to loving this given my generational connection. But if you’re seeking a genuine assessment for how this translates so well to today look no further than the gushing praise being heaped on it by YAHOO!’s arguably pretentious Sarabeth Pollock:
I spent a day watching The Four Seasons on Netflix, and I can’t say enough good things about it. Featuring an all-star lineup that includes Tina Fey, Steve Carell and Colman Domingo, the eight-episode series is a perfect weekend binge. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve never seen the original movie, but after having watched the whole series, I’m making plans to see it. As a TV expert, I’m always excited to watch a show that grabs me from the very beginning and keeps my attention the whole way through. The Four Seasons balances comedy and drama, never taking itself too seriously while also driving home important messages about the complicated nature of love and marriage. The cast is exceptional; not only do they function well as an ensemble, but the couples have been exquisitely cast and their chemistry is off the charts.
With the possible exception of being a tad more humble, I couldn’t have expressed it any better myself.
And as a bonus, after being captivated enough to plow through the season in an unexpected and atypical binge of my own, I slept like a baby clear through the night.
Until next time…