Doll & Em: Season 1

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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4.9

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4.9	Your Score
4.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

HBO | Season Premiere Date: March 19, 2014

Summary: The semi-improvised comedy drama series created by Emily Mortimer is about Em (Mortimer), a British actress living in Los Angeles who hires her childhood friend Doll (Dolly Wells) to be her personal assistant.

Genre(s): Comedy

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Season 1 Episodes

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S1:E6. 06
Air Date: April 2, 2014
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S1:E5. 05
Air Date: April 2, 2014
tbd
S1:E4. Ep. 04
Air Date: March 26, 2014

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Chris Cabin

Mar 20, 2014

Doll & Em turns out to be unerringly fair-minded in its view of popular filmmaking, if only because concerns about Hollywood's shallowness are secondary to ideas of age and, inevitably, death. Read full review

Maysa Hattab

Mar 19, 2014

It’s not always clear what either woman gains from the friendship, and while maintaining the imbalance of power would feed the show’s bleakly comic seam, the fourth episode’s final scene suggests an impending shift when both Em and Doll audition for the same role, creating new and welcome tensions going forward. Read full review

Sara Stewart

Mar 17, 2014

The writing is sharp and believable, the chemistry between the two best friends obviously an advantage and the star cameos well-deployed. Read full review

Alessandra Stanley

Mar 18, 2014

The story is framed by the outsize absurdities of show business, but Doll & Em is a character study in miniature. Read full review

Nancy DeWolf Smith

Mar 13, 2014

Despite some funny and even pungent moments, in fact, Doll & Em is so gentle that you can barely feel anything. Read full review

Matt Zoller Seitz

Mar 21, 2014

Despite its refreshing commitment to realism, Doll & Em is ultimately too relaxed and meandering for its own good. There are times when you may wish it had embraced the occasional cliches with more gusto. Read full review

David Hinckley

Mar 19, 2014

The latest British girlfriends comedy is anything but absolutely fabulous. Sadly, it’s a bit tedious. Read full review

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User Score

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4.9

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User Reviews

NObullsh17

Apr 28, 2014

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Watching this show made me hate women.

(This review contains "spoilers" because this show is already rancid enough that knowing details in advance couldn't possibly make it worse. I created an account JUST to post these comments--it's that bad.)

Two adult women who claim to be lifelong friends just pointlessly treat each other like crap. One goes out and reflexively locks the doors, unknowingly stranding her friend outside for hours because she is from England and apparently the women there are pathetically helpless.

When her friend finally comes home, the stranded one childishly refuses to allow for it being an innocent oversight and runs upstairs to punish her friend like a sullen child.

Doll and Em are at a party. Doll is bored, Em agrees to meet Doll outside to go home.

But on the way Doll is overcome with a flirtatious man, and instantly abandons her friend who only agreed to leave because SHE wanted to! Not only doesn't Doll think to signal her "best friend", who is now standing in the driveway like an abandoned waif, but she refuses to take calls from her "friend" to tell her why she just ditched her!

It goes on this way for all six episodes, with each "friend" that the other "loves" taking turns doing hateful-chick things to each other. As a man it made me wonder, "Could every crappy thing I've ever attributed to females be RIGHT?" Is this show proof that women tend to be vacuously "affectionate", demonstrating their superiority to men by HUGGING their victims before they shove something trivial painfully up their girl-holes?

No, I actually know some women who even if they aren't offended by this show at least refrain from the childishly spiteful behavior that this show seems to want to attribute to all women. (Susan Sarandon ingenuously protecting her 8-year old son (?!) from the pretend living room "sharks" that the idiot kid made up himself? I never thought I'd see this liberal goddess playing a psychotic woman who likes to ridicule autistic children!)

Wells was passable in her teensy anonymous role in "Peep Show", but Mortimer has always seemed too precious by half. (Exactly who COULDN'T bring off any of Aaron Sorkin's cartoonish characters? The acting in his shows always reminds me of high school.)

"Doll and Em" is exactly the right show to watch before going out to a pick-up bar, because then you won't care if none of the women talk to you--whether you're a man OR a woman. Otherwise, only watch it if you have absolutely nothing to do but want to feel aimlessly pissed off at everyone.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Marmalade2

Jun 18, 2015

Dreadful- I couldn't watch it and I'm a woman. Just tedious and precious and heavy handed. Totally over done with pauses for the tiniest nuance of feeling. I watched the latest episode -season 2 ep 2- and it cut to a scene of them both in white around a bespoke 'shabby chic' white deskDreadful- I couldn't watch it and I'm a woman. Just tedious and precious and heavy handed. Totally over done with pauses for the tiniest nuance of feeling. I watched the latest episode -season 2 ep 2- and it cut to a scene of them both in white around a bespoke 'shabby chic' white desk laughing and writing their inane play. Ugh! Thought it would be good chick lit escapism but they are so totally up themselves, it is absolutely toe curling.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Seasons & Episodes

63

Series Overview
Season 2

tbd
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: September 13, 2015
Season 1

63
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: March 19, 2014
- tbd
  S1:E6. 06
  Air Date: April 2, 2014
- tbd
  S1:E5. 05
  Air Date: April 2, 2014
- tbd
  S1:E4. Ep. 04
  Air Date: March 26, 2014
- tbd
  S1:E3. Ep. 03
  Air Date: March 26, 2014
- tbd
  S1:E2. 02
  Air Date: March 19, 2014
- tbd
  S1:E1. Episode 1
  Air Date: March 19, 2014