By James Meisel
OK, not really the "New Black," but like show producer Netflix
and the Beatles I love a good hook. Actually gay was the new black for about 20
seconds until Trayvon Martin happened. The old black has pretty much settled
that argument and retired the trophy. There will be no new black in your
lifetime or mine.
Congratulations to Netflix. The company has turned out 3 series this
year and all 3 are spectacular successes both commercially and critically. They
could have started out slow with some Adam Sandler type crap that would
guarantee a nice return on investment and get their name out there. They went
with critically acclaimed "House of Cards" instead.
The risk proved
worthwhile as they instantly became the equal of HBO, Showtime AMC and
sometimes FX. They followed up by updating "Arrested Development"
which I'm personally not feeling because Maybe and George Michael are all grown
up but everyone else seems to like it. Their latest project "Orange is the
New Black" is another winner. Is it really that easy to produce hit after
hit? Major props also for releasing all episodes at once, I can't even tell you
how much I love that. Maybe binge TV watching is the new Web surfing?
Back to the show
Created by the same team that brought us "Weeds" on Showtime
this is based a true story. Series star Taylor Schilling may be the new Meryl
Streep. She's quite remarkable as an upper middle class yuppie sent to federal
prison for a year on a ten year old drug charge. Poor her, right? So fish out
of water blah blah blah. But wait! The show has all the stereotypes but all the
key players have backstories brilliantly done and woven into the story of the
main character, Piper(Schilling). So the stereotypes melt away, episode by episode
to reveal people just like us.
The drug dealing sadistic guard, Pornstache, the
flamboyant former fire fighter tranny has a son whose respect she needs and a
wife who still loves her. The tough bossy formerly Russian mob associate now
kitchen manager, the Bible thumping kid, the black semi crazy gay woman with
the old white parents who calls her mother "mommy" with such a sweet
voice, the high school athlete with the bright future, and really too many to
list. All from central casting and screenwriting 101 and all turning from
dandelions (weeds) to flowers as the series progresses.
Things to love are Kate Mulgrew as the Russian mob kitchen boss, the
tranny and the chance all these D listers get to show off their acting chops.
This rarely happens in the usual star driven TV. Think "Office" or
"The Good Wife". The comedy is very funny and well placed throughout
the series.
Schilling's 20 second Michael Jackson imitation is worth the 13 hours
you will put into this show, now streaming on Netflix.
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