The TV Column

Dietland a dark comedy with serious undertones

Joy Nash stars as Plum Kettle, a woman struggling with her self-image in the new darkly comedic AMC drama Dietland.
Joy Nash stars as Plum Kettle, a woman struggling with her self-image in the new darkly comedic AMC drama Dietland.

They had me at "wickedly funny and extraordinarily timely satire."

That's how AMC is describing its new "revenge fantasy series" Dietland, which premieres with back-to-back episodes at 8 p.m. Monday. AMC landed the darkly comedic series following a spirited multi-network bidding war.

Expanding on the description, AMC labels the series "equal parts revenge fantasy and heartfelt journey to self-acceptance." But it's the revenge part that will have viewers buzzing.

The series is based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Sarai Walker and was adapted by the prolific Marti Noxon, the show's executive producer, writer, showrunner and director.

Viewers will know Noxon for her work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mad Men, Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, UnREAL and Code Black. Noxon also has an HBO miniseries, Sharp Objects, debuting in July starring Amy Adams.

At the center of the 10-episode Dietland is Plum Kettle (Joy Nash, The Mindy Project), a "fat" (her preferred word), lonely ghostwriter who answers "Letters to Miss Kitty." That would be Kitty Montgomery (Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife), the "picture perfect, glamorous, narcissistic ice queen" editor of Daisy Chain, a trendy New York fashion magazine aimed at teenage girls.

A depressed Plum struggles with her 300-pound self-image, but is also annoyed with how she is treated by her boss and society as a whole. So Plum sets out on "a wildly complicated road to self-awakening while exploring a multitude of issues faced by women today."

Here's where the series' prescient timing comes in. Think of it as the recent #MeToo and #TimesUp movements taken to violent, lethal extremes. But as Kitty quips, "One man's terrorist is another woman's liberator."

Plum believes her happy new life will begin just as soon as she loses weight, but while she is embarking on her quest to change, men who have been accused of sexual abuse and assault begin to disappear and meet with bizarre, violent deaths.

They are literally falling from the sky.

Plum soon finds herself caught between two factions -- one shadowy guerrilla sisterhood code-named "Jennifer" that is responsible for the murders, and another that preaches female empowerment.

AMC notes that Plum "straddles these two groups, trying to make sense of the changing world and her part in it."

Wide-ranging Dietland topics that are fair game include patriarchy, institutionalized misogyny, rape culture, feminist infighting and unrealistic, toxic, beauty standards.

In an interview about the series with The New York Times, Nash says, "I feel like it'll make people squirm, and that gets my blood pumping."

Margulies adds, "A show like this is very freeing for those of us who feel like we've had to somehow stay quiet -- don't rock the boat or stir the mud or, you know, get up in anyone's grill or make a problem."

About where the series is eventually going, Noxon admits, "We're not going to solve any of these [problems], by the way. Nothing gets solved."

Wait. Solving stuff? Read on.

AMC will air a live Dietland companion talk show, Unapologetic with Aisha Tyler, immediately following each episode. The first comes at 10 p.m. Monday. The rest will shift to 9 p.m. on subsequent Mondays.

Viewers will know Tyler from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds, Archer and as a former co-host of The Talk.

Unlike other aftershows such as Talking Dead or Talking Saul, which rehash the episode just seen, Unapologetic will feature Tyler "leading a discussion around the broader, female-centric issues and themes that Dietland explores."

Guests will include celebrity fans, Dietland actors and producers, journalists, writers, comedians and "other tastemakers."

In an AMC interview, Tyler said, "The issues of identity, sexuality, body image and self-actualization raised in Dietland are more urgent than ever. I'm looking forward to expanding the #MeToo conversation in funny, honest and engaging ways."

mFear Island premieres at 8 p.m. today on Animal Planet with "Fortress of the Bears," an episode that follows veteran wildlife conservationist Bradley Trevor Grieve and his elite team into the Alaskan wilderness in search of "Grandfather" -- a bear locals believe is the largest to ever roam the earth.

• Pose debuts Season 1 at 8 p.m. today on FX. The musical dance drama was created by Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Crime Story) and Steven Canals. It's set in 1980s New York and follows Blanca Rodriguez (transgender actress MJ Rodriguez) as she pursues her dream of becoming a house mother after receiving a devastating medical diagnosis.

Elsewhere, Damon Richards (Ryan Jamaal Swain) moves to the city with hopes of joining a dance company.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style on 06/03/2018

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