Angelyne (miniseries)

Angelyne is an American drama television miniseries created by Nancy Oliver and starring Emmy Rossum as Angelyne.^[1] It premiered on Peacock on May 19, 2022.^[2][3]

Angelyne
Promotional poster
Genre	Drama
Created by	Nancy Oliver
Inspired by	Gary Baum's features from The Hollywood Reporter
Developed by	Allison Miller
Written by	Cara DiPaolo Brendan Kelly Andy Siara Allison Miller
Directed by	Matt Spicer Lucy Tcherniak
Starring	Emmy Rossum Hamish Linklater Philip Ettinger Charlie Rowe Alex Karpovsky Martin Freeman Molly Ephraim Lukas Gage Michael Angarano
Composer	Jonathan Sadoff
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	5
Production
Executive producers	Allison Miller Sam Esmail Chad Hamilton Emmy Rossum Lucy Tcherniak Matthew Belloni
Producers	Gregg Tilson Jacqueline Rivera
Cinematography	Doug Emmett Tod Campbell
Editors	Taichi Erskine Sarah Beth Shapiro Lauren Connelly Henk Van Eeghen
Running time	42–52 minutes
Production companies	Esmail Corp. Anonymous Content Composition 8 The Hollywood Reporter Universal Content Productions
Original release
Network	Peacock
Release	May 19, 2022 (2022-05-19)

Premise

Angelyne is an enigmatic blonde bombshell who rose to fame in the 1980s with billboard advertisements featuring her image. In the 2010s, Jeff Glaser, a journalist for The Hollywood Reporter, is trying to uncover the true identity and life story of Angelyne. His efforts are hampered by her secrecy and conflicting accounts from herself and those who know her.

Cast and characters

Main

• Emmy Rossum as Angelyne
• Hamish Linklater as Rick Krause, president of Angelyne's fan club (based on Scott Hennig)^[4]
• Philip Ettinger as Cory Hunt, guitarist of the band Baby Blue (based on Jordan Michaels)^[5]
• Charlie Rowe as Freddy Messina, keyboardist of Baby Blue and later Angelyne's photographer
• Alex Karpovsky as Jeff Glaser, a journalist for The Hollywood Reporter (based on Gary Baum)^[6]
• Martin Freeman as Harold Wallach, a printing mogul who backs Angelyne's billboard campaign (based on Hugo Maisnik)^[6]
• Molly Ephraim as Wendy Wallach, Harold's daughter (based on Katherine Saltzberg née Maisnik)^[7]
• Lukas Gage as Max Allen, a filmmaker working on a documentary about Angelyne (based on Jesse Small)^[8]
• Michael Angarano as Danny, Angelyne's ex-husband

Guest

• Antjuan Tobias as Bud Griffin, drummer of Baby Blue
• Rosanny Zayas as Glaser's assistant
• Kerry Norton as Edie Wallach, Harold's wife (based on Joy Maisnik)
• Tonatiuh as Andre Casiano, Angelyne's on-and-off assistant
• Toby Huss as Hugh Hefner
• Darryl Stephens as Pete
• David Krumholtz as Max Allen's lawyer
• Ian Fisher as Eli Goldman, Angelyne's father
• Hani Furstenberg as Bronis Goldberg, Angelyne's mother

In addition, Michael Shuman co-stars as Ray, bassist of Baby Blue.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Dream Machine"	Matt Spicer	Cara DiPaolo & Brendan Kelly	May 19, 2022 (2022-05-19)
In the early 1980s, billboards with images of Angelyne appear in Los Angeles and attract people's attention. In 2019, Angelyne is interviewed about a recent article by Jeff Glaser, who claims to have uncovered Angelyne's real identity. In 2015, Glaser connects Angelyne to an old boyfriend, Cory Hunt, the former guitarist of punk rock band Baby Blue. After meeting Cory around 1977, Angelyne joins the band and reshapes its image around herself. Angelyne gets Baby Blue booked at the famed club Whisky a Go Go. Despite the band receiving a negative review in the press, Cory buys Angelyne a Chevrolet Corvette and proposes marriage. She turns down the proposal but keeps the car. In 1981, Cory achieves minor success with a solo cover version of "Wild Thing". He claims that Angelyne broke up with him out of jealousy. Angelyne counters that she actually broke up with Cory for cheating on her. Cory enters rehab for drug abuse, where Angelyne visits him and they make amends. She gets breast implants and paints her car pink. In 2015, Glaser gets the chance to interview Angelyne.
2	"Gods and Fairies"	Lucy Tcherniak	Andy Siara	May 19, 2022 (2022-05-19)
Angelyne reveals the story behind her infamous billboards and who financed them. Angelyne deals with the press while she tries acting and discovers the casting couch.
3	"Glow in the Dark Queen of the Universe"	Lucy Tcherniak	Andy Siara	May 19, 2022 (2022-05-19)
Angelyne meets Rick and subsequently hires him as her full-time office assistant. Angelyne's star continues to rise. Angelyne is reunited with Danny. Glaser gets the break he's big looking for.
4	"The Tease"	Matt Spicer	Brendan Kelly & Allison Miller	May 19, 2022 (2022-05-19)
Max Allen discusses the Angelyne documentary he was working on and how he discovered her true identity.
5	"Pink Clouds"	Matt Spicer	Allison Miller	May 19, 2022 (2022-05-19)
Angelyne is forced to confront her childhood and her past when The Hollywood Reporter article is published.

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 86% approval rating based on 21 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Emmy Rossum brings remarkable depth to a cipher in Angelyne, a glitzy look at fame for fame's sake where the inscrutability is the point."^[9] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 74 out of 100 based on 15 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[10]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2022	Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Period Costumes	Danny Glicker, Jessica Fasman, and Adam Giradet (for "Glow in the Dark Queen of the Universe")	Nominated	[11]
		Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)	David Williams, Ron Pipes, Erin LeBre, Anne Pala Williams, and Mara Rouse (for "The Tease")	Nominated
		Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup	Vincent Van Dyke, Kate Biscoe, Mike Mekash, Abby Lyle Clawson, and Chris Burgoyne	Nominated
2023	Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards	Best Special Make-Up Effects in a Television Series, Television Limited or Miniseries or Television New Media Series	Vincent Van Dyke, Kate Biscoe, Mike Mekash, Abby Lyle Clawson	Nominated	[12]