The Four Seasons (miniseries)

Last updated

The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons (miniseries).jpg
Promotional release poster
Genre Comedy drama
Created by Tina Fey &
Lang Fisher &
Tracey Wigfield
Based on The Four Seasons
by Alan Alda
Starring
Music by Jeff Richmond
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes8
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Cinematography Tim Orr
Editors
  • Ken Eluto
  • Kyle Gilman
Running time27–35 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Netflix
ReleaseMay 1, 2025 (2025-05-01)

The Four Seasons is an American comedy drama miniseries created by Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracey Wigfield for Netflix, starring Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo, and Will Forte. It is an adaptation of the 1981 film of the same name, which was written and directed by Alan Alda, who has a guest role in the series.

Contents

The series premiered on Netflix on May 1, 2025.

Cast

Main

Guest

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Lake House" Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman Tina Fey & Lang Fisher & Tracey Wigfield May 1, 2025 (2025-05-01)
In the spring, a group of six lifelong friends Nick, Anne, Kate, Jack, Danny and Claude get together at Nick and Anne's lake house for a weekend. During a hiking trip, Nick reveals to Danny and Jack that he is planning to divorce Anne after 25 years of marriage. With the news, Danny and Jack struggle to let their spouses know. While at the pharmacy, Kate overhears Claude talking to a pharmacist about medications that are for his husband. Kate questions Claude about Danny's medications and Claude discloses that Danny has a heart condition that requires putting a stent in his heart. That night, in bed, Jack tells Kate that Nick is leaving Anne. The following morning, Kate, Jack, and Danny wake up to the news that Anne is planning a 25th anniversary with a wedding vow renewal ceremony.
2"Garden Party"Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer BermanJosh Siegal & Dylan MorganMay 1, 2025 (2025-05-01)
Jack wants to tell Anne, but Kate and Danny think it is a terrible idea. Anne says it would be a surprise to Nick and the least she can do after building the kiln for her. Jack struggles with keeping the secret, but Kate reassures him that it will be fine. Kate leaves a voicemail for Nick. Danny tells Claude that Nick is leaving Anne and Claude refuses to believe it. The men and Kate decide to go through with the vow renewal ceremony when they find themselves unable to tell Anne. As soon as Nick is about to say his vows after Anne, the kiln catches on fire.
3"Eco Resort"Oz RodriguezVali ChandrasekaranMay 1, 2025 (2025-05-01)
In the summer, the group sans Anne go to a tropical eco resort. The vacation was planned by Ginny, Nick's adventurous and young new girlfriend; Danny (recovering from his heart surgery) is uncomfortable with their rustic accommodations but pretends to enjoy it for Nick's sake. Danny and Claude go to a nearby luxury hotel, leaving the other two couples to go paddleboarding. Nick climbs a rocky wall to impress Ginny, but injures his foot stepping on a sea urchin. As Ginny gets medicinal cream, Nick apologizes to Jack and Kate, but insists that he is happy. Danny is shocked to see Anne at the resort he is visiting.
4"Beach Bar"Oz RodriguezMatt WhitakerMay 1, 2025 (2025-05-01)
Anne tells Danny that she had planned to confront the group but decided against it and is treating this as a solo vacation away from the others; Danny encourages her to have fun. She signs up for a surfing class and develops a crush on the instructor. Danny feels suffocated by Claude taking care of him all the time after his surgery. At Nick's behest, Jack and Kate try to bond with Ginny. The group decides to go to the beach bar after dinner. After seeing that Claude and Danny have an open marriage, Ginny says that her last relationship was also open, to Nick's discomfort. Kate and Jack wonder when they stopped doing fun things. Claude gets upset after he sees Danny do cocaine. The group returns to the hotel, only to be forced to evacuate due to a hurricane warning. They take a pedal pub to Anne's hotel. Nick asks Ginny to be his girlfriend and immediately regrets it, but she says she would love to be his girlfriend; Jack and Kate make up; Danny admits to Anne that he has accepted a job that will require him to be in Austin for several months, but hasn't told Claude.
5"Family Weekend" Jeff Richmond Tina FeyMay 1, 2025 (2025-05-01)
In the fall, the group goes to Jack, Kate, and Danny's alma mater for Family weekend. Both Kate and Jack's daughter and Anne and Nick's daughter are enrolled there. As they arrive at the Lucy Flucker Knox Inn, they find out that Anne has stolen Nick's suite. Nick introduces Ginny to his ex-wife, Anne. Their daughter Lila is upset that Nick brought Ginny while Anne is not thrilled to meet her. Lila holds some resentment toward Nick as he broke up their family and dating a much younger woman. Ginny becomes upset and leaves when she realizes that Lila's play is about how she feels about Nick leaving the family and dating Ginny. Nick yells at Lila for upsetting Ginny. Jack wants a romantic weekend with Kate, but she is unable to make time for him. After the play, Jack invites her out to dinner, which she initially declines but after looking at the records that Jack bought her, she joins him. Danny and Claude invite a guy from the bar to their room for a threesome. Claude finds cigarettes in Danny's bag while looking for condoms. They argue about Danny not taking care of his health and leaving him for months for work, with Claude kicking Danny out of their room.
6"Ultimate Frisbee" Colman Domingo John Riggi May 1, 2025 (2025-05-01)
Danny and Claude are still fighting. Anne and Lila are having brunch and Nick walks over to talk to them. Lila walks out after Nick still does not understand why she is acting this way and Anne explains that he needs to hear her out. Kate and Jack fight over that Jack is jealous of Nick having a younger girlfriend. Jack tells Kate that he kissed Anne and Kate just laughs. When Claude gets into a minor accident on a scooter, he and Danny make up. Anne confesses to Kate that she kissed Jack and feels terrible about it. She cries about how she will be alone forever and be left out of everything as Nick will keep bring a younger girlfriend to gatherings. Kate reassures that they would not let that happen. As they are leaving, Lila apologizes to Ginny. Kate and Jack agree to go to couples therapy together to work on their marriage.
7"Ski Trip"Lang Fisher Lisa Muse Bryant May 1, 2025 (2025-05-01)
In the winter, Nick goes to a ski trip with Ginny and her friends for New Year's Eve. Kate, Jack, Danny, Claude, and Anne are in a separate vacation ski trip that Anne planned. Anne brings her new boyfriend, Terry. Claude reveals to Danny that he may had slept with Terry 18 years ago in Barcelona. Danny is still mad at Kate for insulting Claude during Family weekend. Kate apologizes and Danny accepts her apology. Meanwhile, Nick is having a hard time connecting with Ginny's friends, and he and Ginny get in a fight when he hides out in their room to avoid them. Kate and Jack fight about Kate having to do everything for him which ends up with Kate accidentally dropping her phone in the hot tub. Claude tries to find out if Terry was the man he slept with years ago by getting him into a hot tub to see if he has the tattoo. As it turns out, it was not him. While waiting for her phone to dry in the bag of rice, Kate sees that Ginny left several text messages, a missed call, and voicemail. Kate finds out that Nick died in a car accident driving alone. Kate and Jack walk in on Anne receiving oral sex from Terry while trying to break the news to her.
8"Fun"Lang FisherLang Fisher & Tracey WigfieldMay 1, 2025 (2025-05-01)
The group is mourning Nick's death while planning his funeral. Ginny tries to help with the planning but gets shut out, with Anne insisting she will be the only one to speak. When Kate is about to head out to get a discount on the urn, Jack offers to take care of it. But when he fails, Kate takes over. However, the more expensive urn included a bunch of other services and the cheaper urn is shaped like red stripper's shoe. The funeral turns into be a disaster with Anne also unable to deliver her eulogy because of her complicated feelings about Nick. After the funeral, Ginny is upset how the funeral turned out, Anne not allowing her to speak and them treating her and Nick's relationship like it meant nothing. She storms out so the group look for her in the snow at night. Anne is at the cabin looking through the pictures Ginny offered for the funeral slideshow, she sees Ginny crying alone outside. She apologizes for not letting her speak. Meanwhile, Kate falls into the frozen lake and Jack pulls her out. Back at the cabin, they make up and decide to work on their marriage, with Kate declaring Jack as her soulmate for the first time. During dinner, Anne announces that Ginny is pregnant when Kate sees that Ginny is not taking a shot of scotch while they are toasting to Nick.

Production

The eight-part series is an adaptation of the Alan Alda 1981 film The Four Seasons , by Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracey Wigfield for Netflix. It was produced by Little Stranger Inc. [1] All three writers are executive producers, along with David Miner, Eric Gurian and Jeff Richmond. Alda and Marissa Bregman, daughter of the film's producer, Martin Bregman, are producers of the series. Fey also stars in the series, [2] and in April 2024 was joined by Steve Carell, [3] and in June 2024 by Colman Domingo, Erika Henningsen, Will Forte, and Kerri Kenney-Silver. [4] [5] [6] [7] Marco Calvani later joined in August 2024. [8] In March 2025, it was revealed that Julia Lester, Alan Alda, Ashlyn Maddox, Jacob Buckenmyer, Taylor Ortega, Simone Recasner, Toby Edward Huss, Tommy Do, Chloe Troast, Jack Gore and Cole Tristan Murphy joined the show as guest stars. [9]

Filming took place in the state of New York in the second half of 2024. Filming also took place in Puerto Rico. [10] [11]

Release

The series premiered on Netflix on May 1, 2025. [9]

Reception

The series received mostly mixed reviews from critics. [12] [13] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 77% approval rating based on 62 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Welcoming as a lakeside vista and occasionally just as placid, The Four Seasons isn't as breezily funny as creator Tina Fey's best work but often just as witty and wise." [14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave a score of 61 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [15]

Saloni Gajjar of The A.V. Club gave the series a B+ and said, "Despite the aforementioned lack of jokes, the show is never too intense, with the eight half-hour installments flowing by breezily. The characters are entertaining and worth spending time with, and the miniseries boasts well-written banter, immersive settings, and, best of all, Antonio Vivaldi's eponymous violin concertos acting as a comforting companion throughout this journey." [16] Reviewing the series for The Guardian , Lucy Mangan gave a rating of 4/5 and wrote, "The Four Seasons is Fey and her writing and acting ensembles on fine form, everything informed by her rigorous intelligence, wit and experience. Rest your aching bones and enjoy." [17] Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone commented, "There are some amusing moments, and a few genuinely poignant ones, but on the whole it feels thin—less a TV show than an excuse for a bunch of talented people, several of them old friends IRL, to hang out together in a variety of pretty locales." [18]

References

  1. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (January 9, 2024). "Tina Fey To Headline 'The Four Seasons' Comedy Series For Netflix That She Co-Created With '30 Rock' Alums". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  2. ↑ Porter, Rick (January 9, 2024). "Tina Fey to Star in 'The Four Seasons' Series at Netflix". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  3. ↑ Otterson, Joe (April 24, 2024). "Steve Carell Joins Tina Fey in Netflix Comedy Series 'Four Seasons'". Variety. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  4. ↑ Grobar, Matt (June 3, 2024). "Colman Domingo Checking Into Netflix's 'The Four Seasons'". Deadline Hollywood.
  5. ↑ Otterson, Joe (June 6, 2024). "'Mean Girls' Broadway Star Erika Henningsen Joins Tina Fey Netflix Series 'The Four Seasons'". Variety.
  6. ↑ Petski, Denise (June 13, 2024). "Kerri Kenney-Silver Joins 'The Four Seasons' Netflix Comedy Series". Deadline Hollywood.
  7. ↑ Schneider, Michael (June 28, 2024). "Will Forte Joins Cast of Tina Fey's 'The Four Seasons' Series at Netflix" . Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  8. ↑ Penski, Denise (August 5, 2024). "'The Four Seasons' Adds Marco Calvani As Series Regular" . Retrieved May 1, 2025.
  9. 1 2 Coates, Lauren (March 20, 2025). "'The Four Seasons' Teaser: Tina Fey, Steve Carell's Netflix Comedy Follows Vacations Gone Wrong, Sets May Release Date". Variety. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  10. ↑ Robinson, Jacob (October 24, 2024). "'The Four Seasons' Netflix TV Adaptation: Steve Carell Cast & Filming Underway". Whats on Netflix. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  11. ↑ Craig, David (May 1, 2025). "Where is The Four Seasons filmed? Location guide for Netflix comedy". Radio Times. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
  12. ↑ Ardrey, Taylor (May 1, 2025). "'The Four Seasons,' adapted from 1981 movie, now on Netflix: Cast, trailer, what to know". USA Today . Retrieved May 5, 2025. 'The Four Seasons' gets mixed reviews from critics
  13. ↑ "The Four Seasons on Netflix: Cast, Plot, and Breakdown of the Show". Hollywood.com . May 1, 2025. Retrieved May 5, 2025. Critics have offered mixed reviews
  14. ↑ "The Four Seasons: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  15. ↑ "The Four Seasons: Season 1". Metacritic . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
  16. ↑ Gajjar, Saloni (May 1, 2025). "Tina Fey turns The Four Seasons into comfort TV". The A.V. Club . Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  17. ↑ Mangan, Lucy (May 1, 2025). "The Four Seasons review – Tina Fey's midlife comedy is properly funny and heartbreaking". The Guardian . Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  18. ↑ Sepinwall, Alan (May 1, 2025). "'The Four Seasons' Brings Middle-Age Malaise on Vacation". Rolling Stone . Retrieved May 3, 2025.
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