Emily Mortimer
Dolly Wells
Numerous Cameos

Created by:
Emily Mortimer
Dolly Wells

2014-
Comedy
HBO
TV-14

“Doll & Em” is an improvisational dramedy TV show about two lifelong friends who are played by … well, two longtime friends: Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells. The humor comes out of ordinary situations; it’s an acquired taste. You have to pay close attention to get the humor; and, even then, it may not make you laugh as much as it will make you recognize the truth of the situations on display. It’s well-acted, but it probably won’t blow you away.

It would be interesting to pair “Doll & Em” with “Hello Ladies,” which lasted only one season on HBO. “Hello Ladies” is funnier, in my opinion; but these two shows are really two different sides of the same stylistic coin. “Doll & Em” skews more toward drama than does “Hello Ladies,” but that’s on purpose: This show wants to walk a fine line between drama and comedy. It mostly succeeds.

Verdict: Good

About: (Source: dollem)

Doll & Em is an engaging half-hour, six-part HBO comedy series created and starring real-life best friends Emily Mortimer (The Newsroom) and Dolly Wells (Some Girls) as (slightly) fictionalized versions of themselves. When “Doll”’s love life implodes in London, she tearfully calls her longtime best pal “Em,” a successful film actress making a new movie in Hollywood. Impulsively, Emily flies Dolly to LA to work as her personal assistant during the shoot. But instead of a healing, mutually beneficial arrangement, the reunion morphs into disaster, as Doll chafes under the demands of her “submissive” role, and Em comes to the realization that her best friend is not only inhibiting her acting, but might actually be plotting a competing career as an actress. Alternatively funny, insightful, satirical and poignant, the series sheds light on the vicissitudes of friendship and fame, while giving viewers a refreshing window into the art and artifice of modern filmmaking. Episodes include several tongue-in-cheek cameo turns from the likes of Bradley Cooper, Susan Sarandon, John Cusack, Chloë Sevigny and Andy Garcia, all playing themselves.