'Doll & Em'

We’re living in a great age for ladies on television, especially the ones who are funny.

Zooey Deschanel and Mindy Kaling are doing their comedy thing on their respective FOX half-hour sitcoms. Lena Dunham’s “Girls” was renewed for a fourth season on HBO.

The second season of Amy Schumer’s sketch comedy show “Inside Amy Schumer” is debuting its second season on Comedy Central.

So it’s no surprise that real life British besties Dolly Wells and Emily Mortimer have launched a six-episode mini-series on HBO entitled “Doll & Em.” Playing dramatized versions of themselves, Wells, the unlucky in love and life sidekick, moves to Hollywood after a break-up to work as the assistant to her successful actress best friend, Mortimer.

It’s no surprise that mixing work and friendship leads to semi-disastrous results. Wells unsuccessfully attempts to navigate Los Angeles traffic to pick up Mortimer on the street, leading Mortimer to shout one choice four letter expletive in front of some adoring fans. It’s some beautifully finessed meta-comedy, especially to anyone familiar with Mortimer’s work.

Though she’s more lovable on Aaron Sorkin’s HBO journalism drama “The Newsroom,” Mortimer is an effortlessly likable lady, even when she isn’t the world’s greatest BFF.
Wells, though not as recognizable as Mortimer, brings a subtle and layered nuance to Doll. Despite being broken up with and working under her more famous best friend, she’s never painted as a pitiful creature.

The first episode finds Mortimer accidentally locking Wells outside of her house for upwards of 12 hours. Wells is furious, and even more so when Mortimer’s mistake barely registers to her when she returns home from a swanky Hollywood party rather tipsy.

The scenes between Wells and Mortimer spark with unwaveringly realistic sentiment, thanks in large part to the audience’s awareness of their real life friendship.

It’s just a shame the plot seems to exist on such a miniscule scale.

There’s plenty of room on television for small stories that don’t have much effect on the world at large, and not every show needs to have the continuance of the human race hanging in the balance.

But “Doll & Em” doesn’t seems to have any stakes at all. It’s so mild that sometimes it ends up feeling shapeless.

I want to keep watching this show, and I desperately want it to get better.
Wells and Mortimer are unsung talents in a sea of overly made up and sexualized female characters on television. And they demand your respect by writing, starring and producing their own small and personal series.

There needs to be a place in popular culture for independent television, and I applaud HBO for giving “Doll & Em” space on the air. There’s a whole load of promise here. It just needs to start delivering.