Starstruck

Rose Matafeo's sitcom debut is quite a shallow story on the surface - being entirely about an aimless twenty-something who becomes romantically entangled with a film star. The series takes place over a year and manages to be both frustratingly inconsistent and strangely compelling. Whereas it doesn't have the emotional depth of other similar comedies, Matafeo and Patel have solid chemistry and the smartly framed deflation of romantic tropes helps give the central premise some real life. The problem comes whenever they're apart - and the series often feels colder the further you get from Matafeo, with the surrounding characters barely getting much agency or story of their own outside of their relation to her - which makes you wonder where the much-touted second series might actually go. The great Al Roberts feels hugely underused and Minnie Driver (as Tom Kapoor's cynical agent) barely get a look in, which feels like a huge shame, and the whole thing is shot with this wildly abstract wide-screen lens which looks dead fancy but robs it of even more warmth. So, overall, not as charming as it could be, but an intriguing start.

The whole will they or won't they get together storyline gets old pretty quick, I found it all rather frustrating, didn't warm to the characters and most disappointingly, I didn't find it very funny.

It's very well made however with solid performances and a great soundtrack.

This turned out really well. The leads are charismatic and particularly the leading lady, Jessie, played by Rose is a hoot. Captures the confusion of dawning love all too well. Nikesh is a low key but an appropriate foil.

The supporting cast is great and nail their parts.

Must watch.

So not my genre, not cheesy, so cringey, so the type of comedy I do not find funny.....

Yet this show sucked me in like a vacuum after 5 minutes and spat me out at the end - it really is crazy, fun, well performed, unique and oh so well done.

I'm not sure what it is about shows like this where everything revolves around the actress and they are also involved in the production, but I'm liking them a lot.

Basically the main actress is front and center the entire time which takes a lot of guts. On top of that they are involved with the writing and production of the show as well. So hats off.

The Flight Attendant and Russian Doll were similar and also totally worth your time.

Can't wait for season 2 of Starstruck and of course more Rose. Also a shout out to Emma and her character, so much fun!