David Farnor | On 01, Sep 2020

The High Fidelity TV series will officially premiere in the UK on STARZPLAY.

The TV reimagining of the 2000 rom-com – which was based on the 1995 novel by Nick Hornby – is a gender-flipped take on the bestselling story.

Zoë Kravitz (Big Little Lies) stars as Rob, the ultimate music fan and record store owner who’s obsessed with pop culture and Top Five lists – a female take on the character played in the movie by John Cusack – talking straight to the camera as she chronicles past relationships.

High Fidelity was developed for television by writers Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka, both known for their work on Ugly Betty,” Hart Of Dixie, State Of Affairs and Chicago Fire. Kravitz serves as executive producer, alongside West and Kucserka. Midnight Radio’s Scott Rosenberg, Josh Applebaum, André Nemec, and Jeff Pinkner are also executive producers, as well as Nick Hornby, Jeffrey Reiner, and Jesse Peretz. Produced for Hulu in the US, the series is an ABC Signature production, a part of Disney Television Studios.

It was cancelled earlier this year, after only one season. Now, though, UK fans will have a chance to watch it, with the show premiering on STARZPLAY on 10th September. Episodes will then be released online weekly.

STAZPLAY is a subscription service that costs £4.99 a month and includes exclusives such as The Great, Ramy and The Act. This month will also see the arrival of Power Book II: Ghost on the same day it airs in the US. STARZPLAY is available as an iOS and Android app, as well as through Virgin TV, Roku and Apple TV platforms or as an add-on to an Amazon Prime subscription through Amazon Prime Video Channels.

Here’s the trailer:

 

High Fidelity cancelled by Hulu

10th August 2020

High Fidelity has been cancelled by Hulu before the show’s first season has found a UK broadcaster.

The 10-episode show is inspired by the film from 2000, directed by Stephen Frears. Starring John Cusack and Jack Black, the movie follows a record store veteran whose poor track record with women leads him to count down through his top five past relationships.

Starring Zoe Kravitz, the new series reboots that concept – based on Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel – from a female perspective, with Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka writing the script and Midnight Radio and ABC Signature producing. While it began as a family-friendly take on an adult movie, though, eventually headed from Disney+ to Hulu.

But despite a broadly positive critical reception, Deadline reports that after “lengthy deliberations”, Hulu opted not to renew the show for a second run.

“I wanna give a shout out to my #highfidelity family. Thank you for all the love and heart you put into this show,” Zoe Kravitz wrote on Instagram. “I’m in awe of all of you. And thank you to everyone who watched, loved and supported us. #breakupssuck”

In response to a comment by Tessa Thompson, Kravitz added: “At least Hulu has a ton of other shows starring women of color we can watch. Oh wait.”

“The amount of comments, DMs, things on Twitter, articles written about Brown women who love music, were afraid of commitment, who’ve never seen a person like them on television — they feel seen for the first time,” she previously said of the show’s representation and fan response on a Variety podcast earlier this year.

The cancellation doesn’t mean that UK audiences will never get to see the show, though; Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene, which was also axed after its debut run, only just arrived on screens this side of the Atlantic, with BBC iPlayer picking up the rights.

 

High Fidelity TV series heads from Disney+ to Hulu

13th April 2019

Disney’s High Fidelity TV series is heading to Hulu.

The 10-episode show is inspired by the film from 2000, directed by Stephen Frears. Starring John Cusack and Jack Black, the movie follows a record store veteran whose poor track record with women leads him to count down through his top five past relationships.

Starring Zoe Kravitz, the new series reboots that concept – based on Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel – from a female perspective, with Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka writing the script and Midnight Radio and ABC Signature producing. While it began as a family-friendly take on an adult movie, though, firmly within Disney+’s target subscription audience, the series has developed into something more mature than expected. Fortunately for Disney, its recent $17 billion acquisition of Fox has given the House of Mouse a controlling 60 per cent stake in Hulu, which makes it an ideal home for its more grown-up fare.

The move is thought to be more of a one-off, though, than a regular occurrence or an ongoing habit of integrating the two platforms. Indeed, Disney+ made no mention of Hulu in its official launch this week, which saw Disney unveil its plans for a colossal streaming service, including MCU movies and Star Wars favourites, as well as a new series spun off from the blockbusting space saga and every episode of The Simpsons.

“Developing High Fidelity with Zoe, Veronica, Sarah and the team at Midnight Radio has been incredibly exciting and we want to ensure they are able to make the show they are envisioning as Disney+ is dedicated to supporting our creative partners,” said Agnes Chu, SVP, Content, Disney+, Add to Watchlist