Firefly Lane, Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, It's a Sin and Framing Britney Spears

 My Top Three This Week

Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. Many of us have been working from home for almost a year and we need distractions now more than ever as winter has hit hard. New seasons of Big Sky and Servant  are out and wrapping up story lines. Here are some new things I found.

1) Firefly Lane on Netflix has brought the very talented Katherine Heigel and Sarah Chalke together as Tully Hart and Kate Mularkey as best friends growing up on Firefly Lane. Unlikely friends with secrets- we see them through a series of flashbacks to teen years, college years and as they have their hearts broken to the early forties. This kind of corny friendship is exactly what we need right now. I have been missing some feel good dramedy for a while and it is great to just enjoy a series and watch these two actresses in action. Some great supporting actors such as the very handsome Ben Lawson as Kate's love interest Johnny. Roan Curtis and Ali Skovbye are terrific as a young Kate and Tully.

2) Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar is available right now for rental. It is silly and entertaining as you would hope for with musical numbers as the icing on the cake, but this is not a musical! This is the story of two zany best friends Barb and Star -Kristin Wiig and Annie Mumolo who decide to treat themselves to a trip after they are forced to end their careers at Jennifer's Convertibles. Mumolo known for her writing on Bridesmaids teams up with Wiig and a great supporting cast for a candy color romp through a Florida resort. The supporting cast is superb with hilarious Vanessa Bayer, Fortune Feimster , Phyllis Smith and the wonderful Michael Hitchcock. Jamie Dornan is the big surprise- singing, dancing and generally heating up the screen. My favorite is Wiig in a dual roll as the perfect evil villainess. And culottes.. don't forget culottes.

3) It's a Sin on HBO Max is from the people who brought us Queer as Folk and Years and Years. A story of beginnings and endings in the time of the AIDS crisis in London. A group of  young people connect and become flatmates in 80's London amidst the Thatcher era. Roscoe, Ritchie, Ash, Jill, Ash and Colin share everything in the way that only the young can do- with madness and zest for life. The music of the 80s like Erasure, Pet Shop Boys and Yaz set the backdrop as we slowly watch this silent disease mow through the lives of these characters. Heartbreaking and funny with some great actors. Neil Patrick Harris is so very good as a young Colin's mentor at his job on Saville Row. Olly Alexander is very good as Ritchie but the heart of show is two characters Jill (Lydia West) and Colin (Callum Scott-Howells).

Bonus: Framing Britney Spears on Hulu will make you rethink everything you knew about this pop icon. The rise and fall of America's sweetheart Britney Spears is the story of a sweet young girl who became part of the machine . Her romance  with Justin Timberlake , his creepy video for Cry Me a River with a Britney look alike, her virginity and the questions that were asked by prominent media people will all make you cringe when viewed with a 2021 lens. She is fighting the conservatorship of her father who has been in charge of her finances, career and love life as well as crumbling mental health makes us all wish we had been better people and advocated for a better life for this still young woman.