“If anyone gets to sit on Ryan Gosling’s face it’s me…” And with that iconic line, I hereby crown Grace and Frankie, the new Netflix Original, a hit.
Chalk and cheese duo Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin), can’t stand each other, however for the last 40 years, they’ve been in each other’s life’s. One thing is now forcing them to re-evaluate their relationship, turning their lives’ upside down. Their business partner husbands (Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston) are leaving them, for each other – and they want to get married.
Intelligently funny, but lacks the comedy pace of sayUnbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Grace and Frankie has its share of ‘old women’ jokes but looks not to diminish the women’s newly single existence, nor bang the drum for gay rights and same-sex marriage, which is one of the critical issues being fought in the US right now.
Whether Grace and Frankie is to become an overnight success will remain to be seen, it seems that Netflix are playing the long game with its creations, crafting a raft of programming to reflect its massive audience. Some are instance success like House Of Cards some are grower like Marco Polo. The audience for which this show is aimed isn’t so clear-cut. Is it Golden Girls? Is it Modern Family? The New Normal? We’re not so sure. But it is good. Very good. Plus you get to hear Jane Fonda say f**k. I mean that’s worth the view right?