SERIES PREMIERE: Starz is calling this a “limited series,” but it’s so limited – to eight one-hour episodes in its first and (as planned) only season – that it’s actually a miniseries by definition. It’s a drama about a ballet dancer who arrives in New York in search of work and stardom – but it’s much darker a drama than you might suspect from that brief description. It’s created and co-executive produced by Moria Walley-Beckett, one of the Emmy-winning writers on AMC’s Breaking Bad, and stars an actual ballet dancer, Sarah Hay, as young, emotionally conflicted dancer Claire Robbins. Walley-Beckett wanted actual dancers to play the principal roles, so no body doubles would be needed – and the drama’s verisimilitude doesn’t end there. This new series, premiering tonight on Starz with the entire miniseries available tonight on demand for binge-watching, split two of our TVWW contributors. For very different reactions, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes and David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.

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