Strife

Asher Keddie is one of Australia's best actresses and I have always enjoyed her work. Bit even she can't save this form being awkward to watch. Her character is supposed to be a flawed modern woman. But her character is more unlikeable than simply flawed. How did this woman build a media empire when she can't do the most simplest task without screwing it up and then constantly lying and gaslighting the people around her. I feel like the one angle they had was taken too far and made the show unlikable overall. And this is coming from a fan of Mia Freedman and Mumamia, who the story is based on. I wanted this to be a good watch, but I can't find anything I liked about it.

A caveat: I'm not a fan of Mia Freedman or her ouevre, but I tried to be as objective as possible.

I really wanted to like this. Asher Keddie is a goddamn national treasure. Her work in Love This Way and Offspring was great TV. But Strife is not worthy of her considerable skills. The writing is clumsy and, unusually, the main character is the least compelling in the whole cast. Evelyn Jones is simultaneously self-aggrandising, condescending and hypocritical, not to mention exceedingly unlikeable.

Tina Bursill, Emma Lung and Matt Day are all great, and it's refreshing to see young unknown actors get a shot, but this could have been so much better.

I consumed the whole show within a 48 hour period and I'm impressed with what they've achieved here. The production quality and acting are great, and the storyline is well-paced - it stays interesting the whole way through whilst still being light enough to suit any mood. I really enjoyed seeing current, potentially dicey issues addressed directly in a way that's entertaining and self-aware. No character or storyline is unrealistically perfect here, and that authenticity makes the story easy to connect with. The script's style of humour reminds me faintly of one of my all-time favourite shows, The Bold Type - specifically, the hilariously-awkward cold opens with manifold missteps taken in the character's stride. In the year of the Barbie movie, Strife does an admirable job of depicting the nuanced struggles of modern feminists and of celebrating and showcasing real people in all our imperfect perfection.

Can someone please apologise to Asher Keddie and Tina Bursill? That would be great thanks.

If this is what post Brian Walsh can look like at Foxtel/Binge I dread whats coming next.

I just could not get into this and watched it over the course of a few days because there is no way this should've been made into a show.

Can we please stop greenlighting peoples memoirs please because after the failure that was Warnie this year you think Binge/Foxtel would've served up something just a little bit better.

Don't get me wrong Asher is a national treasure but I feel like someone just handed her the script and went "read it now"... Do yourself a favour, skip this.

Well made, funny, captivating and I love how if you followed Mia's story you recognise certain characters and events and her polarising character but it is not over or under done. Just what this tired old feminist needed plus Asher is amazing and the perfect casting choice. Honestly I just loved it and would have said no notes if it was allowed. Australian television gets a bad rap but this is an absolutely gem. I am so desperate for a season two, I could even see it continue on for many seasons! I watched it all on a day as I could not help myself, I had to finish it but then I was so sad it was over when it was.