Minx Trailer: HBO Max Is Bringing Back The '70s ... And Erotic Magazines
HBO Max is bringing back the 1980s with its real-life sports drama series "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty," so why not revive the '70s while it's at it? Indeed, the streaming service will do just that with "Minx," a period comedy show that was created by Ellen Rapoport ("Clifford the Big Red Dog") and executive produced by Paul Feig, the director of "Bridesmaids," "Spy," and, most recently, "Last Christmas."
With Feig's name attached, it should come as little surprise that "Minx" is a women-led project that wears its feminist bonafides on its sleeve. The show stars Ophelia Lovibond ("Elementary") as Joyce, an up-and-comer who journeys to Los Angeles with the dream of creating a counter-cultural magazine that inspires and champions women rather than treating them like "second-class citizens," as she puts it in her presentation to a revolving door of old white men in suits at the 1971 Southern California Magazine Pitch Festival.
Not-so-surprisingly, Joyce's fogeyish would-be publishers are far from blown away by her pitch. ("Why is she so angry?" one asks in response to the cover of Joyce's proposed magazine, "The Matriarchy Awakens.") Enter Nick Miller himself, Jake Johnson, as Doug Renetti, the editor of "Bottom Dollar Publications," who wants to publish her magazine but with one added ingredient: "Nude men."
Watch the Minx trailer
Among those joining Lovibond and Johnson in the "Minx" cast are Taylor Zakhar Perez ("The Kissing Booth 2 & 3"), Idara Victor ("TURN"), Oscar Montoya ("Bless the Harts"), Jessica Lowe ("Miracle Workers"), Lennon Parham ("Bless This Mess"), and Michael Angarano ("The Knick"). Behind the camera, Rachel Lee Goldenberg (who helmed HBO Max's arguably under-appreciated comedy "Unpregnant") directed the first episode and serves as an executive producer, as does Johnson, Ben Karlin ("Future Man"), and Dan Magnante for Feigco Entertainment.
"I'm so grateful to Feigco, Lionsgate, and HBO Max for seeing the potential in this story from the first time I showed up in their offices with stacks of '70s porn magazines," said Rapoport in a statement when "Minx" was announced in April 2021. "We fell in love with Ellen's trunkful of male nudie magazines and her amazing vision for this funny and liberating series the second we heard it and knew we needed a bold network partner to let us bring it to the screen as honestly as possible," added Feig in his own statement.
The trailer for "Minx" has a certain low-key charm, and I'm already digging the odd-couple dynamic between Joyce and Dan as two people who share the same core values, all their surface differences aside.
"Minx" will debut March 17, 2022, on HBO Max, so I, for one, will do my best to carve out some space in my busy TV viewing schedule to check out Rapoport's funny look at '70s fashion, feminism, and erotic magazines.