Escape the everyday: Tropical comedy ‘The White Lotus’ premieres on HBO

After months of sticking close to home, it’s time for a holiday. For those of us who can’t afford a five-star luxury resort, a new comedy offers a look at life in paradise. Well, almost paradise anyway.

The staff of a luxury tropical resort welcome affluent guests in the social satire “The White Lotus,” premiering Sunday, July 11, on HBO. As the miniseries follows various guests and staff members over the course of a week, it quickly becomes clear that their pictureperfect lives are anything but.

Series creator Mike White also directed and wrote all six episodes of the limited series. He’s known primarily for writing the screenplays for “School of Rock” (2003), “Nacho Libre” (2006) and “Chuck & Buck” (2000), but this isn’t White’s first outing with HBO.

White was the co-creator of the comedy-drama “Enlightened,” which earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy, so the folks at the cable giant seem happy to welcome him back into the HBO fold with “The White Lotus.”

“We couldn’t be happier to collaborate with him again on yet another hilarious and perceptive piece that exposes the complexities of life and humanity itself,” Francesca Orsi, co-head of drama programming at HBO, said in an official release about the series.

“The White Lotus” features an ensemble cast that includes seasoned veterans and talented upand-comers.

Australian actor Murray Bartlett leads the way as resort manager Armond, who, after experiencing a sudden trauma, begins to spiral downward. Bartlett may be best known from his role as Dom in the HBO series “Looking” and the subsequent film “Looking: The Movie,” and he was recently seen in the Netflix revival “Tales of the City.” His other credits include the television series “Limitless” and “Nashville.”

Fans of “Nashville” will also recognize Connie Britton for her starring role as country singer Rayna Jaymes in that drama. She’s cast in a whole new light in “The White Lotus” as Nicole Mossbacher, an executive who comes to the resort with her family. Britton is also known for NBC’S “Friday Night Lights” and her role in FX’S “American Horror Story,” for which she earned an Emmy nod.