Why Must We Sift Through Tubi to Find Retired Max Originals like it’s a Challenge on the Traitors?
At first I was mad but now…
As a Woman With Anxious Attachment Style Going Through Things In Her Twenties, I immediately gravitated to Love Life when it premiered in 2020. Love Life was the first Max Original, created and directed by Sam Boyd, with Paul Feig as an Executive Producer and Bridget Bedard (Transparent) show running. Rachelle Williams (Mixed-ish) joined on for Season 2. Anna Kendrick was at the helm, playing the charming but also insufferable lead, Darby Carter. Season 1 is about her love life (!) spanning from the early 2010’s to 2019, and uses stats and data to add a sense of stability to the otherwise chaotic (and frankly trash) dating landscape we currently operate in. The soundtrack is excellent - a mix of an original score by Dan Romer and Mike Truccillo (very synth heavy, hell yea) and vibey artists like Jai Paul and Maggie Rogers. The writing is beautiful, the character development is very strong, and it will certainly rip your heart wide open. It was an anthology series (or rather, that was the plan before it was cancelled) and Season 2 followed Marcus Watkins (played by Willam Jackson Harper), a book publisher navigating dating after getting divorced from is wife, Emily. He gives a spectacular and nuanced performance, and the season felt like a much needed course-correction after the lack of character development of people of color in Season 1. Jessica Williams also shines.
Love Life didn’t get the moment it deserved. I barely saw marketing for it when it came out in 2020, which to be fair, we had bigger things going on!!! But in my mind it remains a capital V Very Good Show that should’ve resonated with the Max demographic and definitely should’ve had at least one more season.
I decided to revisit the series (and show my roommate) last month and was shocked to see that Max had removed it from their library. I remember reading a couple articles from Vulture in 2022 about the essentially silent purge of beloved shows from Max, but couldn’t believe that Love Life was a part of it. The first Max Original?? Remember where you came from Max, damn! Other series taken off the platform include Mrs. Fletcher (Kathryn Hahn, need I say more), Gordita Chronicles, Minx, Legendary, F Boy Island (tragedy, this fuckin rocked), and At Home With Amy Sedaris (hate crime to remove). Why did they do it? For tax breaks of course! Gross. We live in hell, huh?
Luckily I was able to find it on Tubi, a free streaming service with ads owned by Fox. And reader? The library is actually pretty good. In 2024 Vulture declared that the streamer had “won the streaming wars,” and there are plenty of Reddit threads where users boast Tubi’s breadth and quality. Tubi is even planning to stream all of Fox Sports’ coverage of the Super Bowl tomorrow. In 4K no less! And for free! It’s smart business move to use the SZA concert to introduce a swath of new users to the platform. If you can deal with ads, it’s a great alternative to spending upwards of $80 monthly on all streaming services. Wait am I a Tubi loyalist? I didn’t start out this post that way! Sponsor me!!
Are there shows you love that have been removed from Max? Let me know and tell me why you love them! I want to pay my respects🫡❤️
More to consider:
Happy almost Valentine’s Day! Here’s a post I wrote a couple years ago on what to watch or read depending on your relationship status. Still holds up! This year I’ll be spending Valentine’s Day at the Whitney after hours seeing Christine Sun Kim’s new exhibit per Jerry Saltz’s reccomendation.
Young Boston Rob fancam, obviously.
Did you like Companion? I hated it! Sorry! It could have been the setting - I saw it in IMAX with 600 people. IMAX demands a level of grandeur both physically and emotionally, and the film kind of fell flat to me in comparison? But hey, when Letterboxd invites you to a free advanced screening, you go honey. Genius marketing on their end to tap eager LB users to review ahead of its release, but also kinda dark that Letterboxd of all places is essentially doing sponcon for studios in exchange for good reviews. Once again, HELL!
Guys should I get Kérastase Thermique? Be honest.
Workplace comedies can sometimes fly under the radar, likely looming in the shadows of institutions like The Office, 30 Rock, and Parks and Recreation. I’m a big fan of the criminally underrated Superstore, which in my opinion was one of the most brilliant shows on television. I’m always keeping an eye out for the next funny workplace jaunt, and right now I’m enjoying Fox’s Animal Control, which you can watch on Hulu. It’s really funny and obviously so light which is nice, and seems like it’s resonating because it’s already on its third season. It reminds me of cancelled workplace comedies like The Mayor which premiered Jan 6, 2021 (bummer!) and American Auto by the same creator as Superstore. Both so funny with great writing. And then there was one that I think took place in the south (?) at a small law firm (?) I can’t quite remember what it was called but Sherri Shepherd was hilarious in it. Just didn’t hit its stride.
Okay I wouldn’t classify this as a workplace comedy but YAY Severance is back, and Adam Scott is looking more Tig Notaro than ever. Does anyone else feel weirdly comforted when Merritt Wever shows up on screen? It’s akin to how I melt into a puddle of calm when Lisa Vanderpump arranges a massive bouquet of flowers on VPR. IT JUST MAKES SENSE! I’m really enjoying New York Magazine’s weekly pop up newsletter Severance TV Club to help stay in the loop about every theory imaginable.
I got to see the films Sorry, Baby and Atropia during virtual Sundance and I loved them both. A24 swooped up Sorry, Baby for 8 mil (!) and although Atropia won the Grand Jury Prize in the US Dramatic Competition, it has yet to sell to a distributor. I feel like Neon or even A24 would be a good fit, but who knows what their budget looks like after shelling out for Sorry, Baby. Part of me feels like Prime Video will try to snag it in an attempt to come off as subversive and self-aware, which they are not<3. I guess we’ll see!
Did Paul Frank make Julius…hot? Reports (my friend, Libby) say no, but I say yes! Vote in the comments.
And unfortunately, that’s my type! Titus Burgess is doing a limited run as Mary in Oh, Mary starting March 18, thank GOD! How that man doesn’t have an Emmy for his performance in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, I’ll never understand.
I have to shoutout the masc lesbian designing for Abercrombie & Fitch’s men section right now, they’re doing wonders for short torso girls like ME! I have three of their sweatshirts and I’m obsessed. My current comfy goto fit is an Abercrombie cropped zip hoodie, Gap horseshoe jeans in the ‘short’ inseam style (on sale!), and these red Oakley Factory Team shoes.
The New York Times reports that Emily Sundberg’s Substack, Feed Me makes an estimated 400K per year in subscriptions. Holy shit! That’s crazy! And of course I’m a paid subscriber, thank you for asking!
And lastly, if you’re my dear friend Hannah Catherine Lee STOP READING NOW AS I’M ABOUT TO REVEAL YOUR BIRTHDAY PRESENT BELOW! I’M BEING SO SERIOUS LOOK AWAY!
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….it’s Vol 1 of Catnip Magazine from author and designer Anna Charbonneau of Broccoli of course! Hot girls have cats and have good taste that is the law. You can order Vol 1 through her Instagram, and the waitlist for Vol 2 is live now.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in a couple weeks. Or maybe a month! Or two! I’m just kinda crazy like that 🤪
Hannah
Merrit Wever hive rise up