Robert Jackman

The return of the 90s

  • From Spectator Life
Impeachment (BBC)

The 90s are back. From House of Gucci, Impeachment and the BBC’s unmissable New Labour documentary, it’s clear that this particular period is enjoying its turn in the cinematic limelight.

For fans of the scandalous and surreal, this can only be good news. Hollywood has fixated on the 70s and 80s for years now which – while a boon to costume and wig designers – has begun to feel slightly repetitive. If drama commissioners are now shifting their gaze to the 90s, then we could be in for a wild ride.

Admittedly, the 90s haven’t exactly been absent from our screens recently. We’ve already had the superlative The People vs OJ Simpson (and its thematic follow-up The Assassination of Gianni Versace). The UK’s own ‘trial of the decade’ gave us Quiz – James Graham’s take on the coughing major scandal. And let’s not forget that The Crown began – in spirit, if not in name – with a film set in 1997.

Now, though, the trend looks to step up a gear. In the new year, long-time collaborators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will bring us Pam & Tommy: a hotly-anticipated mini-series about one of the decade’s most notorious romances (and the sex tape that resulted). The show, which was commissioned by the American network Hulu, is set to land on Disney+ (of all places) in the UK, early in 2022. And I, for one, am excited.

Watching the trailer, which landed two weeks ago, you can see it drips with that 90s feel. Not just the music video aesthetic, but in the way it captures that pervasive sleaziness which, in the eyes of this precocious 90s child, defined the pre-millennium period. ‘It’s like we’re seeing something we’re not meant to be seeing,’ utters Nick Offerman’s character in one of those lines, that while a tad contrived, sums up the era.

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