This is the racy Regency on rocket fuel – ramped-up Austen. Based on best-selling novels by American author Julia Quinn, the eight-episode series arrives on Christmas Day but has already been generating a bit of a buzz.
It has a ready-made army of fans in the books’ dedicated global readership, but is also arousing interest because it’s the first Netflix show from Shonda Rhimes, the super-producer behind the political intrigue series Scandal and long-running hospital drama Grey’s Anatomy, which has racked up more viewing hours than any other Netflix show.
Rhimes was signed up to an exclusive deal by the streaming giant for an astonishing $150million and is one of the most powerful figures in entertainment so expectations are high.
A Seattle Romance Brings the Bodice-Ripping Revolution to Netflix
Local author Julia Quinn gets a splashy adaptation from Shonda Rhimes on Christmas Dayâand, finally, the respect her genre deserves.
By
Allison Williams
12/21/2020 at 10:20am
Every romance has a happy ending. No spoiler alerts here; that upbeat resolution is what defines a romance novel, at least according to the Romance Writers of America. In a year interrupted, woefully short on actual endings beyond a few brutal ones, nothing tempts like the promise of a satisfying finish.
Bridgerton series, inspired by the works of a Seattle author and produced by TV heavyweight Shonda Rhimes, arrives just in time (dropping on Christmas Day, to be exact). But beyond the happy ending, the TV show also brings a not-so-subtle message: Itâs time to take romance seriously.