Series Review: "The Get Down" (2016-17).

"Set yourself free" in The Get Down. This musical drama television series created by Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis. The series focuses on 1970s New York City - broken down and beaten up, violent, cash strapped -- dying. Consigned to rubble, a rag-tag crew of South Bronx teenagers are nothings and nobodies with no one to shelter them - except each other, armed only with verbal games, improvised dance steps, some magic markers and spray cans. From Bronx tenements, to the SoHo art scene; from CBGBs to Studio 54 and even the glass towers of the just-built World Trade Center, The Get Down is a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco -- told through the lives and music of the South Bronx kids who changed the city, and the world...forever.

In February 2015, the series was announced after Luhrmann had spent over ten years developing the concept. The series is described as "a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco." By mid April, Justice Smith, Shameik Moore, Skylan Brooks, Jaden Smith, Tremaine (TJ) Brown Jr., and Herizen F. Guardiola were cast. Rap legends Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, and Nas hosted a hip-hop boot camp to educate the young actors. The production crew used the Eisner Award-winning comic series Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor as a reference point. The Sony-produced series soon hit delays and also saw the departure of original show-runner Shawn Ryan. The first six episodes of season one debuted in August 2016, marking the first time a Netflix original season was split into two parts rather than released all at once — as has been the tradition at the streamer for scripted series. Episodes for part two was made available on Netflix on April 7, 2017, which saw the series pick up a year later, set in 1978. The series was Netflix's most expensive series up to date, costing around 120 million. The expense of 120 million greatly surpassed the budget of 7.5 million. The series joined Friends (1994) and Game of Thrones (2011) in a 3-way tie for the 2nd largest budget in TV history. However, ER (1994) still holds the record for highest budget per episode at a whopping $13 million (USD).

The series stars Justice Smith, Moore, Guardiola, Brooks, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jimmy Smits, Jaden Smith, Daveed Diggs, Giancarlo Esposito, Mamoudou Athie, Kevin Corrigan, Michel Gill, Zabryna Guevara, Ron Cephas Jones, Evan Parke, Julia Garner, and Jeremie Harris. The exuberant characters were breezy, well-acted and easy to like even if they were fluff.

Even if it all feels a tad forced and not particularly funny (to me at least), there's no denying that it's carried through with a relentless farcical drive. Listen to the rhythm of your heart in the show, where tears and laughter blend seamlessly in an extravagantly theatrical story about love, dreams and overcoming your fears.

Simon says The Get Down receives:

Also, see my review for The Great Gatsby.