DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. I'm TV critic David Bianculli. Netflix has just launched a new miniseries based on an old movie. The movie, written and directed by Alan Alda and released in 1981, was "The Four Seasons." It was a comedy drama about three middle-aged couples who meet for short vacations four times a year. The movie's structure came from nature, the music from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," and the cast was led by Alan Alda and Carol Burnett as Jack and Kate. The other vacationing married couples were Nick and Anne, played by Len Cariou and Sandy Dennis, and Danny and Claudia, played by Jack Weston and Rita Moreno. All had been together and known each other for a long time. But over the course of the film, events included several arguments, one breakup, even a death.
The idea of expanding "The Four Seasons" movie into a TV miniseries was done once before by Alan Alda himself in 1984. Now, more than 40 years later, a new TV version has just surfaced on Netflix. Its creators are Tina Fey and two writers from "The Mindy Project," Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield. They've made some significant changes and updated the setting and comedy, but the basic plot and tone remain the same. Like the original film, Netflix's "The Four Seasons" is a mature, laid-back piece of entertainment. The humor evokes more smiles than belly laughs, and the dramatic moments work without evoking any tears.
The eight-episode miniseries devotes two episodes to each season, starting with spring. Jack and Kate, the uptight and verbally sparring couple, are now played by Will Forte and Tina Fey. Nick and Anne, the couple about to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, are now played by Steve Carell and, from "Reno 911!," Kerri Kenney-Silver. And the big difference in this new adaptation is that the final couple, which in the movie was Danny and his Italian wife, Claudia, is now Danny and his Italian husband, Claude. Colman Domingo plays Danny, and Marco Calvani plays Claude.
In spring, they all gather at Nick and Anne's lake house to honor their silver anniversary. At the dinner table, Jack, played by Will Forte, gives a toast and prompts quite a response, starting with his wife, Kate, played by Tina Fey, and ending with an observation by Danny, played by Colman Domingo.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FOUR SEASONS")
WILL FORTE: (As Jack) Look, it is rare in this life to find your soulmate. And yet, somehow, all six of us have done it. To Nick and Anne.
KERRI KENNEY-SILVER: (As Anne) Cheers to us.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Nick and Anne. Cheers.
STEVE CARELL: (As Nick) Cheers. Thank you, all (ph).
(SOUNDBITE OF GLASSES CLINKING)
TINA FEY: (As Kate) So nicely said, honey. Even though soulmates aren't a real thing.
FORTE: (As Jack) What? How can you say that?
KENNEY-SILVER: (As Anne) Of course, soulmates are real.
FEY: (As Kate) You really believe there is one person - for every person on Earth, there's one person in the whole Earth that they're supposed to be with, and then that person also happens to be in the same dorm at college?
FORTE: (As Jack) So do you not love me?
FEY: (As Kate) I love you so much, but we're not lucky. We're dedicated. Romantic love fades.
CARELL: (As Nick) Jesus.
FEY: (As Kate) And then you build something deeper.
CARELL: (As Nick) Who invited the incel? Love is the point of everything. It defines us as human beings.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Yeah.
KENNEY-SILVER: (As Anne) Yes, but also dolphins feel it.
FEY: (As Kate) Help me say this right because I know you agree with me.
COLMAN DOMINGO: (As Danny) Oh. OK. Here's what I know. When you're young and in love, it's beyond your control. You know, you can't help it. You know, I think about all the people in our 20s that we were in love with who did not deserve us. But what we have now, as a result of knowledge and experience, you know, we have chosen each other.
BIANCULLI: The TV version of "The Four Seasons" stretches to about four hours, giving the show's various writers time to delve more deeply into relationships and subplots. At times, this isn't necessarily an improvement. A few scenes feel forced and fall flat. But in others, the dialogue and acting are sharp, and the updating works. As in a summer installment, when Kate and Jack are talking privately, after just meeting Ginny, the much younger woman brought along on vacation by Steve Carell's Nick.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FOUR SEASONS")
FEY: (As Kate) I mean, I get it. She's young and hot, right?
FORTE: (As Jack) I don't see a ton of upside for me in answering that.
FEY: (As Kate) What is he doing? He's changing his entire personality for his 30-year-old girlfriend. He's being such a Zelig.
FORTE: (As Jack) Oh, that's a really fresh reference. Yeah, you should say that in front of Ginny. And when she asks what a Zelig is, you should explain, oh, it's a Woody Allen movie that you like.
FEY: (As Kate) All right.
FORTE: (As Jack, laughing).
FEY: (As Kate) Whatever. Why can't he have his midlife crisis at home? Why does he have to bring it on my vacation?
BIANCULLI: With its changes of locale and its occasional visits to resort hotels, "The Four Seasons" might look like a close relative of "The White Lotus." But the drama and mystery aren't anywhere near as heightened here, just as the comedy isn't as broadly played as it would be in an Adam Sandler buddy vacation movie. "The Four Seasons" is like a rom-com, but offering a much wider and wiser perspective than many. After you've met cute, overcome obstacles and fallen in love, what's next, and what's in store for the next 25 years? "The Four Seasons" may not have all the answers, but at least it asks some of the right questions.
(SOUNDBITE OF ITZHAK PERLMAN AND LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA'S "FOUR SEASONS, OP.8, SPRING: ALLEGRO")
BIANCULLI: To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram - @nprfreshair. On Monday's show, we talk with Sarah Snook. She's won an Emmy and two Golden Globe Awards for playing Shiv Roy on the show "Succession." She's now on Broadway as the only actor playing 26 different roles in the play "The Picture Of Dorian Gray." She performed the role in London last year and won an Olivier. I hope you can join us.
FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Sam Briger is our managing producer. Our senior producer today is Thea Chaloner. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham, with additional engineering support by Joyce Lieberman and Julian Herzfeld. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Roberta Shorrock, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Susan Nyakundi, Anna Bauman and Joel Wolfram. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper.
For Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, I'm David Bianculli. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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