You can visit 'The Resort,' where the people are the story

Plus: New podcasts to dive into, a celebrity-spotting exercise, and what's making us happy!

View this email online by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when the Jeopardy! hosting saga finally settled into stability. It was the week when Joni Mitchell took the stage. And it was the week of the great Norman Lear's 100th birthday. Let's get to it. Opening Argument: You can visit The Resort, where the people are the story The Resort, the first three episodes (out of eight) of which are now streaming on Peacock, most immediately calls to mind HBO's The White Lotus, in that it is set at an expensive vacation paradise where people's personal demons must be exorcized. Cristin Milioti and William Jackson Harper star as Emma and Noah, a couple whose marriage is troubled and whose future appears uncertain, even as they arrive for what's meant to be an indulgent diversion.  They quickly are ensnared, however, in the details of a 15-year-old incident in which two young vacationers named Sam and Violet (Skyler Gisondo and Nina Bloomgarden) went missing right before a nearby resort was destroyed by a hurricane. They were never found — and soon, Emma and Noah find themselves playing detective on the case of these unsolved disappearances, while also trying to figure out how to rescue their own relationship.  From here, the series becomes two intertwined stories: the present-day tale of Emma and Noah, and the flashback story of Sam and Violet. Sam arrives for a vacation with his girlfriend and parents (played by real-life married character-actor power couple Dylan and Becky Ann Baker). But things quickly go south, and he winds up meeting Violet, whose trip with her father (Nick Offerman) has problems and sadnesses of its own.  Peacock I don't want to say too much about the plot, which bears the stamp of creator Andy Siara, who also wrote the time-loop romantic comedy Palm Springs, another Milioti vehicle with mysterious troubles in a beautiful location. But suffice it to say that, like a lot of twisty mysteries, it struggles at times to both make all the pieces fit and keep the story moving. Any flaws in that story, though, are easy to forgive. That's because of the enormously appealing and talented cast. Milioti was great in Palm Springs, but also in the sci-fi dramedy series Made for Love and other admirably oddball projects she's taken on since she swerved away from a possible future in more conventional romcoms post-How I Met Your Mother. Harper is obviously a favorite from The Good Place, but can also swing drama and even horror. He easily keeps Noah, who initially seems like your basic un-fun husband, from becoming a sad sack or a drag. By coincidence, I interviewed them both for the podcast Bullseye, a few months apart, and they make a terrific pair. It's not just the two of them — Skyler Gisondo was one of several gems in Booksmart, among lots of other credits including The Righteous Gemstones, and Nick Offerman is very good doing a much less gruff father figure than Ron Swanson. Throw in the married Bakers, plus Bloomgarden (newer to me but lovely here), and it's a really strong set of performances. Believable, grounded people in a story like this are so important, because stories with fantasy elements can lose the audience as they get weirder and more experimental. Milioti and Harper are completely believable as this very troubled pair, in that it's easy to understand how these people would have married each other, as well as how they would hit trouble.  Peacock has been in the news recently for its struggles to gain subscribers in a crowded field of streamers. That's a shame, because it's made some really well-regarded original series — Girls 5Eva, We Are Lady Parts, Rutherford Falls, the surprising Saved By The Bell reboot — and here, it presents a terrific cast in an unusual and surprisingly emotional story.  Newsletter continues after sponsor message We Recommend A short version of an ABC promo from 1980 has been circulating this week, but the long version is worth seeking out as an amazing celebrity-spotting exercise. (Find the young Tom Hanks!) I've really been riveted by the podcast Project Unabom, which (as you might expect) is about the Unabomber case. It has exactly the interviews you would want to hear, making for a well-told story that’s both fascinating and very sad.  Sam Sanders isn’t just a  "friend of the podcast" — he’s a "dear friend of the podcast.” He has a new show over at Vulture called Into It, and you'd be making a grave mistake to miss out.  What We Did This Week Universal Pictures We started out the week with Aisha talking to Marc Rivers, Joelle Monique and Christina Lee in a special spoiler-filled follow-up to their episode on Nope last week. (Seriously, it's full of spoilers! Beware!) Aisha and I enthused over the HBO Max documentary series The Last Movie Stars.  Glen, Aisha and I had a talk about some of the TV shows we've been catching up with this summer but haven't covered yet.  Glen wrote about the Neil Patrick Harris comedy Uncoupled, which we'll also be chatting about on the show soon.  Aisha's busy week continued as she and I grappled with the big-budget Netflix action movie The Gray Man, joined by our action-movie-loving friend, Chris Klimek.  And Aisha and Glen — clearly this week's MVPs — talked about B.J. Novak's film Vengeance with Andrew Limbong and Cyrena Touros.  What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: What's making Andrew Limbong happy: Unpleasant Living What's making Cyrena Touros happy: J-Hope, Jack in the Box What's making Glen happy: Stray What's making Aisha happy: Joni Mitchell at the Newport Folk Festival Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WBEZ (edit station). Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+. Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free episodes. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: pchh@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy