Madam

I've been a fan of Rachel Griffiths for years, my fandom cemented during Total Control when I loved hating the character she played. Madam will have some people clutching their proverbial pearls, but it's relevant in so many ways. I can't spoil it much b/c of only having watched one episode, but if the writing and acting stays at this caliber, I am sure I'll come back to increase my star rating. Things of note -- the realness of a longtime marriage. Raising two sons, one of whom is disabled. Trying to begin a business from a female perspective that is deemed morally wrong by a male-run bank. The odd pairing of a sex worker with the wife of a client that I'm sure will become a friendship. The quirky characters. The gorgeous scenery of New Zealand! In just the first episode Griffiths is transcendent as she segues from being a betrayed wife to an interested listener to a loving mother to someone who can clearly do the difficult things as needed and more. She glides through these transitions of character and inhabits Mack so completely she made me wish Mack was a real person I could hang out with over coffee in an outdoor cafe and critique all passersby as we sipped fancy espresso drinks and nibbled on fresh patisserie. I love this series. I need to go mainline the rest immediately.

You don't need to play the "loyalty card" (to NZ) to be positive on this show. Your reviewer is old enough to remember when Griffiths was an A-lister, and she still can hold the attention with the best of them. The writing is sharp, the characters are not dull, and this show is at least as good as most overpriced streaming projects these days, in many ways far better. Under-rated. Under-promises and over-delivers. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

This has an excellent core cast & is also based on a true story. Everyone involved deserves an accolade, in particular the writing team.

An older woman who has care of a disabled son, alongside her husband who is a writer, discovers that he has been using the services of a sex worker. In order to cope with the situation & their lack of intimacy as husband & wife, as well as a desire to run a feminist brothel she manages to get a loan from the bank and sets up shop in the local Motel with the full support of the Motel Cleaner.

By the end of episode two, I'm well and truly hooked, the business is floundering & one of the more experienced girls has gone a bit rogue. The motley crew she has recruited in a small NZ town are not quite utilising their skill sets as yet.

It's a real feel-good, wholesome bit of comedy.

Refreshing, gently absorbing and fun viewing! We certainly need more programs from NZ so this is a great reminder that across the ditch awaits much more than we generally get to peruse and to enjoy thoroughly. Madam has some familiar faces in Rachel Griffiths, Martin Henderson, Robbie Magasiva and Danielle Cormack but there is a whole bevy of new talent to meet onscreen but also behind the scenes providing amusing storyline's and characters with layers to their believable personalities. Carmel McGlone and Rima Te Wiata are two members of a wonderful cast of support actors who bring brightness and body to the production. Madam leaves me hungry to devour some more!

Super like this series so far. Has the right amount of humor and storyline to make it entertaining all the way through. Acting is excellent on all parts. I think it made a very interesting cast. I can't say enough of how much I'm enjoying this. This series needs to be picked up by the big networks because it's well worth it and I just happened to stumble across by accident. A woman discovers her husband cheating and finds out it is with a professional escort, so she wants to find out about this woman and gets the idea that it's legal in this country and she would like to make it ethical. So there's the rub of her immoral ethics in an industry that doesn't cater to that Target profile. If you were able to find this anywhere, highly suggest it's well worth watching.