PREMIERE: Coastal Elites was originally intended, by playwright Paul Rudnick and director Jay Roach, to be presented as a theatrical work on stage – but the pandemic changed all that. The result might have helped when it came to casting, because by having its characters communicate remotely in Zoom-like monologues, converting the drama to TV allows for cast members to literally phone it in. Hence, this HBO version lands Better Midler, Sarah Paulson, Issa Rae, and others, delivering their performances in lengthy single takes. But you have to ask yourself: Do you really want to see one more hour (or more) of talking heads coming at you from a computer-screen-type experience? For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower, and for background info on the show, see Mike Hughes' Open Mike.

Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)

Name (required)

Email (required) (will not be published)


Type in the verification word shown on the image.

New From TVWW

HBO, 8:00 p.m. ET

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

1957: Julie Andrews Stars in 'Cinderella'

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption