Strangers (2017 TV series)
Strangers is an American comedy-drama series created by Mia Lidofsky that premiered on September 4, 2017, on Facebook Watch. The series stars Zoë Chao and Meredith Hagner and is executive produced by Lidofsky, Jesse Peretz, Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtletaub, M. Blair Brown, and Neena Beber.
| Strangers | |
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Mia Lidofsky |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Cinematography |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 12–27 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Release | |
| Original network | Facebook Watch |
| Original release | September 4, 2017 – August 26, 2018 |
Premise
The first season follows "Isobel, a young woman living in Los Angeles who rents out her extra room on Airbnb. She finds herself in need of extra cash after boyfriend moves out when she cheats on him with a woman. As she struggles to make sense of her shifting sexuality, an eccentric cast of characters rotate through her house, bringing both inconveniences and unexpected wisdom."[1]
The second season follows Isobel as she "switches from host to renter when she moves across the country with her best friend, Cam. On the cusp of 30 and now living in NYC, it's Isobel's year to explore the many different paths to adulthood, starting with a new neighborhood each episode. As a woman living fully in the bi-sphere - bisexual, biracial, and now bi-coastal - Isobel is saying yes to life and asking the most difficult question: where do you belong when you’re in between everything?"[2]
Cast and characters
Main
- Zoë Chao as Isobel Song
- Meredith Hagner as Cam
Recurring
- Isabelle McNally as Hailey
- Langston Kerman as Jake
- Morgan Krantz as Ezra
- X Mayo as Robbie
- Kyle Allen as Milo
- Kathleen Munroe as Mari
- Ciara Renée as Sasha
- Stephanie DiMaggio as Stephania, the manager of Le Playground.
- Sarita Choudhury as Brooke
- Raviv Ullman as Royce
- Sue Jean Kim as Elody Wu
- Maureen Sebastian as Stella
- Tara Summers as Andy
- Hans Tester as Henry
- Sydney Mae Diaz as River
- Maria Dizzia as Georgie
- Stephen McKinley Henderson as Billy
- Edward Akrout as Mateo
Guest
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the voice of Dad ("Honeymooners")
- Gaby Hoffmann as the voice of Mom ("Honeymooners")
- Jemaine Clement as Oliver ("Honeymooners")
- Matt Oberg as Dave ("Tinder Hearts")
- Shiri Appleby as Minister/Julie ("Water Into Wine")
- Eka Darville as Markquon ("Water Into Wine")
- Jemima Kirke as Emmy ("Homeless")
- Bridget Regan as Ana ("Homeless")
- Holden McNeil as Charlie ("Homeless")
- Sophia Anne Caruso as Lily ("The Big (Gr)apple")
- Michael Cavadias as Joakeem ("The Big (Gr)apple")
- Mahi Alam as Samir ("Maskulinity")
- Samrat Chakrabarti as Jai ("Maskulinity")
- Madhur Jaffrey as Nani ("Maskulinity")
- Trieste Kelly Dunn as Elliot ("Big Little Chill")
- Rebecca Naomi Jones as Eliza ("Big Little Chill")
- Dolly Wells as Tasha ("Big Little Chill")
- Talia Balsam as Isobel's Mother ("Smash the Plate-triarchy")
- Rain Dove as Elly ("Spun and Done")
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 7 | September 4, 2017 | October 9, 2017 | |
| 2 | 10 | June 24, 2018 | August 26, 2018 | |
Season 1 (2017)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Honeymooners" | Mia Lidofsky | Mia Lidofsky, Chad Hartigan, & Zoë Chao | September 4, 2017 |
| 2 | 2 | "Tinder Hearts" | Mia Lidofsky | Mia Lidofsky & Jim Strouse | September 4, 2017 |
| 3 | 3 | "Water Into Wine" | Mia Lidofsky & Celia Rowlson-Hall | Mia Lidofsky & Jim Strouse | September 11, 2017 |
| 4 | 4 | "Couples Counseling" | Mia Lidofsky | Mia Lidofsky & Jim Strouse | September 18, 2017 |
| 5 | 5 | "Hot Set" | Celia Rowlson-Hall | Mia Lidofsky & Jim Strouse | September 25, 2017 |
| 6 | 6 | "Getaway" | Mia Lidofsky | Mia Lidofsky & Jim Strouse | October 2, 2017 |
| 7 | 7 | "Homeless" | Mia Lidofsky | Mia Lidofsky & Jim Strouse | October 9, 2017 |
Season 2 (2018)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | "The Big (Gr)apple" | Mia Lidofsky | Emma Fletcher | June 24, 2018 |
| 9 | 2 | "Open Mari(age)" | Neena Beber & Mia Lidofsky | Mia Lidofsky | July 1, 2018 |
| 10 | 3 | "Maskulinity" | Darnell Martin | Sonia Denis | July 8, 2018 |
| 11 | 4 | "The Disappearance of Katia Romaine" | Celia Rowlson-Hall | Emma Fletcher | July 15, 2018 |
| 12 | 5 | "Big Little Chill" | Celia Rowlson-Hall | Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen | July 22, 2018 |
| 13 | 6 | "Smash the Plate-triarchy" | Jesse Peretz | Jenny Zhang | July 29, 2018 |
| 14 | 7 | "West Side Highway" | Mia Lidofsky | Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen | August 5, 2018 |
| 15 | 8 | "First Skate" | Darnell Martin | Brittani Nichols | August 12, 2018 |
| 16 | 9 | "Spun and Done" | Jesse Peretz | Neena Beber | August 19, 2018 |
| 17 | 10 | "The Impossibility of Forever?" | Mia Lidofsky | Story by : Mia Lidofsky & Katie O'Hanlon Teleplay by : Katie O'Hanlon | August 26, 2018 |
Production
Development
On May 2, 2016, Refinery29 announced during its Digital Content NewFronts presentation that they were producing the series in association with Beachside Productions. The series was expected to be written and directed by Mia Lidofsky and executive produced by Jesse Peretz.[3]
Following the series debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017, Lidofsky continued to try and figure out how to get the show launched and distributed. That spring, Facebook became aware of the series and soon acquired its already produced first season.[4] On June 26, 2017, it was announced that the series had been acquired by Facebook Watch and that it would premiere with the launch of the service in late 2017.[5]
On October 17, 2017, it was reported that Facebook had renewed the series for a second season consisting of ten episodes to premiere in 2018. The runtime of each episode was expected to expand from 15 minutes in length to a more standard TV half-hour (between 20 minutes and 25 minutes).[6][7]
Filming
Principal photography for season two of the series was expected to begin in late March 2018.[4]
Release
Marketing
On January 20, 2017, a trailer for the first season was released.[8]
Premiere
On January 22, 2017, the series premiered its first three episodes at the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.[9] On July 15, 2017, the series held its official west coast premiere at Outfest in Los Angeles, California where the entire series was screened as part of the film festival's centerpiece screening series.[10]
On June 26, 2018, the series held its second season premiere at The William Vale hotel in New York City, New York.[11] On July 19, 2018, the west coast premiere of the second season is scheduled to be held during Outfest in Los Angeles, California. The first two episodes of season two are set to be screened and will be followed with a question-and-answer session with the cast and crew.[2]
Reception
Strangers has been met with a positive reception from critics upon its release. Mashable critic Laura Prudom claimed that "if you haven't discovered Strangers yet, you're in for a treat."[12] The Knockturnal critic Ivan De Luce praised the show for exploring sexuality in a "fresh way" and that "Unlike other shows about youth, Strangers steers clear of characters who mope about the pointlessness of life, and instead focuses on the positive, namely the many relationships that help us through life’s struggles. As a result, Strangers exudes warmth."[13]
References
- Dry, Jude (October 2, 2017). "Lesbian Comedy 'Strangers' Is Streaming for Free on Facebook — Watch | IndieWire". IndieWire. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
- "Outfest 2018: Film Guide - Strangers". Outfest. Archived from the original on July 4, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- Spangler, Todd (May 2, 2016). "NewFronts: Kristen Stewart, Gabourey Sidibe, America Ferrera Join Refinery29's New Programming Slate". Variety. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- Long, Christian (March 14, 2018). "Facebook Watch Pushes Premium Scripted Series 'Strangers' Season 2 at SXSW". Variety. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
- Tiffany, Kaitlyn (June 26, 2017). "Facebook's plan for original TV is coming together". The Verge. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- Jarvey, Natalie (October 17, 2017). "Facebook Renews Several Original Shows as Programming Strategy Takes Shape (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
- Gutelle, Sam (November 27, 2017). ""Hero Shows" Like 'Ball In The Family,' 'Returning The Favor' Among Facebook's First Renewals For Watch Tab - Tubefilter". Tubefilter. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
- Jarvey, Natalie (January 20, 2017). "Watch Jemima Kirke, Shiri Appleby in Trailer For Refinery29's 'Strangers' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- Scharf, Lindzi (January 25, 2017). "Refinery29 Debuts Scripted Series 'Strangers' at Sundance". WWD. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- Selvin, Rachel (June 30, 2017). ""Strangers" Is Takes A Fresh Look At Queer Identity & It's Headed To L.A.'s OutFest". Refinery29. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- "Beachside x Refinery29 x Facebook Watch's Strangers Season 2 Premiere". Getty Images. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- Prudom, Laura (September 17, 2017). "'Strangers' is the sweetest new series on Facebook Watch". Mashable. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
- De Luce, Ivan (October 8, 2017). "TV Review: 'Strangers' is Facebook's Sweetest New Show About Love and Friendship - The Knockturnal". The Knockturnal. Retrieved November 29, 2017.