What is it? Grace and Frankie, Season 1, 13 episodes on three discs from Lionsgate
When? Now
How much? $29.98
Who are Grace and Frankie? Grace Hanson (Jane Fonda) and Frankie Bergstein (Lily Tomlin) are two women in their 70s who are complete opposites. Grace is a rigid, conservative, straight-arrow type who founded and ran a cosmetics company. Frankie is an art teacher and unreconstructed hippie.
The two women have had to put up with each other for decades thanks to their husbands' friendship and their family law practice.
It comes as more than a little shock when Robert Hanson (Martin Sheen) and Sol Bergstein (Sam Waterston) break some very big news to their wives during a couple's night out: they're divorcing their wives. And marrying each other.
To say Grace and Frankie don't take it well would be putting it mildly. The news that their husbands are gay and have been lying for 20 years sends both women into a tailspin. There is a bright side. The break-up of the marriages means the two women don't have to see each other anymore. Right?
Wrong. Circumstances lead Grace and Frankie to share the couples' mutually owned beach house. It's awkward. They tease and pick at each other and drive each other crazy, but in the end, they're each other's best support system. Frankie's free-spirited, open-minded personality starts to push Grace into finally finding genuine happiness, while Grace gives Frankie a solid grounding she hasn't had.
Each couple has two adult children who get pulled into the whole mess. Recovering drug addict Coyote Bergstein (Ethan Embry), responsible lawyer Bud Bergstein (Baron Vaughn), stay-at-home mom Mallory Hanson (Brooklyn Decker) and professionally competent but romantically hapless Brianna Hanson (June Diane Raphael) must face their new family reality while also trying to deal with their own problems.
As for Robert and Sol, while they're happy, they discover that adjusting to their newly open relationship -- and, in Sol's case, letting go of his wife -- may have some bumps.
How is it? Hilarious. Everyone involved is a pro and there's some terrific chemistry at work all around, but particularly between Fonda and Tomlin as the reluctant roommates.
The writing is sharp and the Netflix series gives a unique look into an often-neglected life situation: What's it like when your life is completely upended when you're almost at the finish line? Or when you finally get the chance to start living the life you want?
Are there bonus features? A few. There are some episode commentaries, a sneak peek trailer for Season 2 and a seven-minute gag reel. There's also "The Beginning of the End," a lively 30-minute discussion with Tomlin, Fonda and creators Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris.
New this week: Airwolf, Season 1 and complete series; The Brokenwood Mysteries, Season 2; The Last Ship, Season 2; Mad About You, complete series; Miami Vice, Seasons 1-2; X Company, Season 2.
Next week: Beauty and the Beast, Season 3; Have Gun Will Travel, complete series; The Jim Gaffigan Show, Season 1; Killjoys, Season 1; Newhart, Season 5; Scream: The TV Series, Season 1; The Untouchables, complete series.
Style on 05/01/2016