Palm Royale

There are so many elements that if assembled artfully could have made this spectacular, - I mean INCREDIBLE cast, production, location, etc. I was rooting for this show so much. It becomes a struggle to care about the characters' stories over time -- and that's really a bizarre anti-achievement because there are so many beloved actors who you just automatically are charmed by and cheer for. You can't HELP but love Kristen Wiig and the whole cast from the start and then all that potential just seems to drain away. I wonder if it needed someone like David Lynch to elevate it to where it seems like it wants to go.

I felt like I was being promised something great... eventually... and it never shows up (or hasn't yet).

1969 was a period of great unrest in the US, with the unpopular Vietnam war, student protests on the streets, and the women's movement on the rise. All this under the presidency of the conservative, Tricky Dicky (Richard Nixon). But that didn't mean a thing to Maxine Simmons, who at the time was so determined to infiltrate Palm Beach high society at any cost, while the world was crumbling around her.

The viewer will squirm and cringe with great amusement as Maxine digs herself so deep into a mess, and then attempts to climb out of that bottomless hole by any means necessary in this farcical series that takes a swipe at the lives of deluded filthy rich housewives of Palm Beach. To help it along, it is the performances of Kristen Wiig and the dynamic supporting cast that make this a pure delight!

Overall it is taking too long to tell a simple tale that feels a little drawn out, even after three episodes. Maybe best suited as a feature length, but it is still enticing enough to see how far Maxine will go to conquer the upper-class social scene, and hopefully make a mess of it all.

I've gone back and forth between liking and not liking this show. On one hand I really wanted to like it, as the cast, wardrobe, and sets are so good. And I do think the show can be hilarious at times. The show can be a bit over the top, which can be off putting. But I can usually can over silly little plot oddities, but the ending to this first season was just downright awful. It's like the writers of this show wanted to make an Uber Shonda Rhimes drama laden version of the white lotus, with over the top humor. It's bizarre, but I did enjoy most of it. They're just trying way too hard. And again, what an absolute dumpster fire the final episode is.

I've only watched a few episodes, but it's a fun look back at the social scene back in the 60's. I'm old enough to remember much of the clothing, furniture, cars which are all very realistically depicted. Times were a bit more innocent on the surface, but lots of interesting things happened behind the scenes which would now be considered "politically incorrect". It's almost what I would call a dark comedy back in a time where people openly flaunted their wealth.

It's not totally believable, and obviously fiction, but still fun to watch and there are quite a few big names in the cast. Carol Burnett looks great and there are a few other actors which I haven't seen in years like Julia Duffy of Bob Newhart fame, Ricky Martin (who looks great), and Laura Dern.

I absolutely love Kristen Wiig and I enjoy Tate Taylor for directing Ma, The Help, Get on up are great movies! Palm Royale seems under-appreciated plus my mom recommended it and she usually great stuff. I often get jealous when I see anything about Beautiful locations I don't get to be around them much. Women empowerment is wonderful in a lot of cases most deserve respect and admirable. I usually enjoy Laura Dern sometimes she's played overly angry characters and other times I love her like in Big Little Lies she was phenomenal; my favorite is when she said "I will not be not rich". Anyway definitely recommend this series.