San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
‘PEN15’ CAPTURES MIDDLE SCHOOL MESSINESS
From new TV shows and cast reunions to virtual musical and arts events, here’s a weekly look at a standout streaming option:
My pick: “Pen15,” an awkward coming-of-age comedy on Hulu
Viewers beware: It takes a few tries to fully get into this show because it is so very uncomfortable. It’s set in middle school in the year 2000, and it embraces all the terrible things about that time of life — from getting a bad haircut to getting your first period. The real deal: “Pen15” is written by real-life friends Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle. They also star in it. So, even though they’re adults, they play middle school versions of themselves, also named Maya and Anna, alongside a cast of actual kids. Because of this, you’d think “Pen15” would be all about cheap laughs and potty humor (especially considering the name, which is a juvenile way of spelling out the word penis). But as Linda Holmes of NPR wrote in a review, “Pen 15” is actually “as tender as anything since ‘My So-called Life.’ ”
This show captures the messy side of middle school: the fracturing of a solid friendship, what it’s like when your parents fight all the time, smoking your first cigarette, taking care to have the perfect outfit, feeling jealous when your best friend and your mom get along.
These are seemingly small moments that ultimately end up shaping and defining us, something “Pen15” understands.
The new season: The first season premiered in February 2019 and saw Maya and Anna through various fights and momentous moments, including a first kiss. The second season debuts this month with the girls back as solid friends, though with more parental issues, boys and parties to navigate.
Find it: Season 2 of “Pen15” premieres Friday on Hulu.
Wednesday: Actor-singer Janis Paige (“Please Don’t Eat the Daisies”) is 98. Actor George Chakiris (“West Side Story”) is 88. Singer Betty Kelley of Martha and the Vandellas is 76. Actor Susan Ruttan (“L.A. Law”) is 72. Actor Ed Begley Jr. is 71. Singer David Bellamy of the Bellamy Brothers is
70. Actor Mickey Rourke is 68. Comedian Lenny Clarke (“Sirens,” “Rescue Me”) is 67. Actor Christopher Rich (“Reba,” “Murphy Brown”) is 67. Illusionist David Copperfield is 64. Country singer Terry Mcbride is 62. Actor Jennifer Tilly is 62. Actor Jayne Brook (“Chicago Hope”) is 60. Singer Richard Marx is 57. Comedian Molly Shannon, above, (“Saturday Night Live”) is 56. Singer Marc Anthony is 52. Talk show host Tamron Hall is 50. Comedian Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation,” “Saturday Night Live”) is 49. Actor Toks Olagundoye (“Castle”) is 45. Singer Musiq is 43. Rapper Flo Rida is 41. Actor Alexis Bledel (“Gilmore Girls”) is 39. Actor Madeline Zima (“The Nanny”) is 35. Actor Ian Harding (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 34. Actor Kyla Pratt (“Fat Albert,” “Dr. Doolittle”) is 34. Singer Teddy Geiger is 32. Actor Bailey De Young (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) is 31. Musicianactor Nick Jonas of The Jonas Brothers is
28.
Thursday: Singer Lamonte Mclemore of the Fifth Dimension is 85. Actor Elvira is 69. Comedian Rita Rudner is 67. Actor-director Paul Feig is 58. Director Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge”) is 58. Singer Bebe Winans is 58. Actor Kyle Chandler (TV’S “Friday Night Lights”) is 55. Rapper Doug E. Fresh is 54. Actor Malik Yoba (“New York Undercover”) is 53. Singer Anastacia is 52. Actor Matthew Settle (“Gossip Girl”) is 51. Actor Bobby Lee (“MADTV,” “Harold and Kumar” films) is 49. Singer-actor Nona Gaye (“The Matrix” films) is 46. Actor Billy Miller (“General Hospital,” “The Young and the Restless”) is 41. Actor Danielle Brooks (“Orange Is the New Black”) is 31. Gospel singer Jonathan Mcreynolds is 31. Actor Denyse Tontz (“All My Children,” “Big Time Rush”) is 26.
Friday: Singer Jimmie Rodgers is 87. Actor Robert Blake is 87. Gospel singer Bobby Jones is 82. Singer-actor Frankie Avalon is
80. Actor Beth Grant (“The Mindy Project,” “No Country For Old Men”) is 71. Actor Anna Deavere Smith (“The West Wing”) is
70. Director Mark Romanek is 61. Singer Ricky Bell (Bell Biv Devoe, New Edition) is
53. Actor and talk show host Aisha Tyler is
50. Actor Jada Pinkett Smith is 49. Actor James Marsden (“The Notebook,” “Ally Mcbeal”) is 47. Actor Emily Rutherfurd (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”) is
46. Actor Travis Schuldt (“Scrubs”) is 46. Rapper Xzibit is 46. Comedian Jason Sudeikis (“Saturday Night Live”) is 45. Actor Sophina Brown (“Numb3rs”) is 44. TV personality Sara Haines (“GMA3: Strahan, Sara and Keke,” “The View”) is 43. Actorcomedian Billy Eichner (“American Horror Story”) is 42. Actors Taylor and Brandon Porter (“Party of Five”) are 27. Actor Patrick Schwarzenegger (“Midnight Sun”) is 27.
Saturday: Actor Rosemary Harris is 93. Actor David Mccallum (“The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and “NCIS”) is 87. Singer Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers is 80. Singer Sylvia Tyson of Ian and Sylvia is 80. Singer-songwriter Paul Williams is 80. Singer Freda Payne is 78. Singer David Bromberg is 75. Actor Jeremy Irons is 72. Actor-model Twiggy Lawson is 71. TV personality Joan Lunden is 70. Actor Carolyn Mccormick (“Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”) is 61. TV chef Mario Batali is 60. Comedian Cheri Oteri (“Saturday Night Live”) is
58. Country singer Jeff Bates is 57. Country singer Trisha Yearwood is 56. News anchor
Soledad O’brien is 54, left. TV chef Michael Symon is 51. Actor Victor Williams (“The Affair,” “King of Queens”) is 50. Comedian-talk show host Jimmy Fallon is 46. Home-improvement host Carter Oosterhouse (“Red Hot and Green,” “Trading Spaces”) is 44. Actor-tv host Alison Sweeney (“Days of Our Lives,” “The Biggest Loser”) is 44. Actor Columbus Short (“Scandal”) is 38. Actor Danielle Panabaker (TV’S “The Flash”) is 33. Actor Katrina Bowden (“The Bold and the Beautiful,” “30 Rock”) is 32.