Glamour, secrets and high society – heady mix of new series
Streaming now
Palm Royale brings a lot of gloss and entertainment, but it’s so smart and deep – you’re laughing but then it’s also very provocative
The desire to fit in and be accepted is something everyone can relate to – the question is, how much you are willing to sacrifice of yourself to be included in a place that you want to belong to?
It’s a question that’s explored in 10-part Apple TV+ series Palm Royale – and if you have been missing White Lotus and longing for another opulent, sun and scandal-drenched series to get into, it might be what you have been waiting for. Set in 1969 Palm Springs, it’s as enticing stylistically – think Slim Aarons-inspired glamour and the sort of mid-century interiors that make you want to blow your life savings on velvet armchairs and plush carpets – as it is for its stellar cast.
Bridesmaids’ Kristen Wiig and Big Little Lies actor and Oscar-winner Laura Dern lead the line-up, along with Janney and Leslie Bibb – Iron Man, Miss Nobody – among others. Puerto
Rican pop singer Ricky Martin also features, while Hollywood legend – and Laura Dern’s father – Bruce Dern, 87, and comedy legend Carol Burnett, 90, guest star.
It is Loosely based on the 2018 novel Mr And Mrs American Pie by Juliet McDanie
Bibb, 49, plays Dinah. “I hope it’s thought-provoking,” she said.
“Hopefully they (viewers) start to look at the world and see some similarities and see that, sometimes, maybe the world isn’t that different than it was then, that maybe we haven’t done enough. We thought we might have been evolving a little faster than we have… Maybe we’re slowing down.”
Palm Royale brings a lot of gloss and entertainment, but “it’s so smart and deep – you’re laughing but then it’s also very provocative”, Bibb said.
The series is also a celebration of female-led storytelling, and as Laura Dern, who plays Maxine, says: “What happens when a woman is complicated in a man’s world, in the late 60s, and in these pockets of absurd wealth.
“It was an incredibly fascinating thing to explore. Maxine’s character is interesting because she thinks she’s happy playing that role because that’s what her husband likes, and what she wants more than anything is to get his approval.”
Palm Royale is on Apple TV+ on Wednesdays until May 8.