Kristen Wiig becomes a memorable anchor in a global conversation about mental health through a playful lens. Her appearances on Saturday Night Live, with bold parodies and corps of characters such as Gilly and the Target Lady, along with her work in My Best Friend’s Wedding, have a lasting impact that resonates with audiences. Now, after a brief hiatus, she returns in a major way with Palm Royale, an Apple TV+ series premiering on Wednesday the 20th. It is a stylish, sixties comedy about a woman who crashes every party and aspires to join the most exclusive circle in the world.
Set in the late sixties, Maxine Simmons is portrayed as a former beauty pageant contestant from Tennessee who longs to belong to the Palm Beach high society. To reach that circle, she makes bold moves, aiming to connect with Evelyn Rollins, the self-proclaimed queen bee at the club, played by Allison Janney, and with Dinah Donahue, the wife of the American ambassador to Luxembourg, portrayed by Leslie Bibb. The cast is full of socialites who spend their days sipping cocktails, trading rumors, and scouting the latest dresses for charity galas. Watching Simmons navigate this glossy maze provides a steady stream of charm and misadventure that delightfully punctures pretension.
“Wiig was our top pick, perhaps the only one who could carry this,” explains the series creator in a video interview. Abe Sylvia, a former screenwriter and producer on works like Nurse Jackie and Dead to Me, emphasizes Wiig’s gift for transforming mood. “She’s simply the best. When she performs a skit such as Liza Minnelli trying to turn off a lamp, or Ann-Margret attempting to toss a piece of paper into a trash can, the room lightens and spirits lift.” With Wiig, Janney, and Bibb, the show channels a vibe that nods to Carol Burnett and even features Ricky Martin as a sly club waiter. The result is a tone that blends nostalgia with sharp humor.
Keep the world away
The Palm Royale heroines express concern for meaningful causes, yet their day-to-day choices keep them engrossed in their opulent lifestyle. The series introduces a character named Linda Shaw, crafted by Juliet McDaniel for the source novel on which the show is based. Sylvia explains that audiences should not hate these women for resembling a certain political archetype; they are engaged in a civil war against their own best impulses. They sense there is something better, even as they cling to a lifestyle that feels increasingly out of step with reality. Change is inevitable, and even as they attempt to avoid it, life has a way of finding them. The world around them insists on moving forward, and the cast remains stubbornly, endearingly present in that reality.
For a stretch, the show seems to drift past the era’s defining moments, like the debates around Vietnam. It is a brush with history that feels both casual and pointed. The creator notes that Edgar Wright is not a direct influence, but a broader visual language informs the project. The photography and design echo a period of jet-set glamour shaped by a tremor of societal upheaval. The series celebrates the beauty of its era while acknowledging the fragility of its characters’ choices, balancing elegance with a quiet bite of truth about desire and ambition.
Sylvia also cites inspiration from the photography of Ince Aarons, who captured the luxury of American life between 1950 and 1980. Aarons’s images, often made during the turbulence of the Vietnam era, show beautiful people in beautiful places while the world beyond burns. That tension—and the way it can turn into something cinematic—becomes part of Palm Royale’s fabric, much like the sensibilities found in Almodóvar’s work, where melodrama, tragedy, comedy, and camp intermingle with natural ease. The result is a narrative that feels both glamorous and unexpectedly candid about human flaws and aspirations.
Connection to Old Hollywood
The appeal of Palm Royale extends beyond the story to the sheer luxury of its setting, costumes, and atmosphere. Apple executives urged the team to get it right, even if that meant recreating Palm Beach vibes on a different coast. The production crafted the environment in Los Angeles, leveraging the city’s architecture to evoke the iconic coastline and estates it seeks to portray. The care extends to specific locations that nod to Hollywood’s golden era. Dinah’s house, a fictional anchor in the pilot, echoes a residence tied to Howard Hughes. In a later episode, Evelyn’s mansion nods to the home of Yvette Mimieux, while sets recreate the Breakers Motel at the Biltmore. The dance hall used for a Cuban night in an episode mirrors a historic space where the Oscars first took place in 1931. These touches lend Palm Royale a distinctive glow, a sense of historic resonance that fans will recognize and relish.