''Tiny Beautiful Things'' is an American comedy drama television miniseries that premiered on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television seri ...

on April 7, 2023. It is based on the 2012 book of the same name by

Cheryl Strayed Cheryl Strayed (; née Nyland; born September 17, 1968) is an American writer and podcast host. She has written four books: the novel ''Torch'' (2006) and the nonfiction books '' Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail'' (2012), '' Ti ...

. It has been adapted by

Liz Tigelaar Rachel Elizabeth Tigelaar (born October 4, 1975) is an American television writer, producer, and author. She has worked on the series '' Brothers & Sisters'', '' American Dreams'', ''Once and Again'', '' Once Upon a Time'', ''Revenge'', '' Bates ...

and produced by Best Day Ever Productions, Jaywalker Pictures, Hello Sunshine, and

ABC Signature ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

. It received generally positive reviews from critics. The show received two

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for

Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series '' Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ...

and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for

Merritt Wever Merritt Carmen Wever (born August 11, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for starring as a perennially upbeat young nurse in '' Nurse Jackie'' (2009–2015), an intrepid widow in the Netflix period miniseries '' Godless'' (2017), and a d ...

Synopsis

The show centers on Clare, a writer who reluctantly becomes a popular advice columnist during a period of turmoil in her life.

Cast and characters

Main

as Clare Pierce **

Sarah Pidgeon Sarah Pidgeon is an American actress. She has played roles in the Amazon Prime Video series '' The Wilds'' (2020-2022) and the Hulu series '' Tiny Beautiful Things'' (2023). She made her Broadway debut in the David Adjmi play '' Stereophonic ...

as younger Clare * Quentin Plair as Danny Kincade, Clare's husband * Tanzyn Crawford as Rae Kincade, Clare and Danny's daughter

Recurring

Michaela Watkins Michaela Suzanne Watkins (born December 14, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for starring on the Hulu series ''Casual'' and on the short-lived sitcoms '' The Unicorn'' and ''Trophy Wife'', as well as being a cast membe ...

as Amy Adler, Clare's friend * Owen Painter as younger Lucas, Clare's younger brother *

Nick Stahl Nicolas Kent Stahl (born December 5, 1979) is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film '' The Man Without a Face'', co-starring Mel Gibson. He later transitioned into his adul ...

as older Lucas *

Tijuana Ricks Tijuana Ricks (born in Metairie, Louisiana) is an American actress. Education After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis where she received her degree in psychology and performing arts, she attended the Yale School of Drama and re ...

as Mel Green, Clare and Danny's couples therapist *

as Frankie Pierce, Clare's late mother * Elizabeth Hinkler as Shan, receptionist at the nursing home * Julien Marlon Samani as Zach Charles, an uber driver * Johnny Berchtold as Jess, Clare's first husband * Aneasa Yacoub as Montana, Rae's friend * Marlow Barkley as Little Clare

Episodes

Production

had discussed adapting her book of essays '' Tiny Beautiful Things'' with

Laura Dern Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards. Born to actor Bruce Dern and ac ...

and

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...

while they worked together making the 2014 film ''

Wild Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 ...

'', adapted from Strayed's memoir.

serves as series creator and writer on the project which is being produced by

and Hello Sunshine. Tigelaar is also executive producer, alongside Witherspoon, Dern, Lauren Neustadter, Stacey Silverman, Jayme Lemons, Cheryl Strayed, and

. Tigelaar described the show as depicting an alternate version of Strayed "that hadn't hiked the

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

" in ''Wild''. Hahn was revealed to be playing the role of Clare when it was announced for

in June 2022. In August 2022,

and Tanzyn Crawford were added to the cast.

Release

The series was released on Hulu on April 7, 2023. It also premiered on the same day on

Star+ A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

in Latin America and on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

in international territories. In India, the series premiered on

Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar (also known as Hotstar) is an Indian brand of subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both ...

on April 9, 2023.

Reception

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reported an 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7.5/10, based on 31 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Tiny Beautiful Things'' is littered with cumbersome narrative choices, but

's soulful performance is one big plus that keeps this adaptation firmly compelling."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Joel Keller of ''

Decider Decider is both a real word and a " Bushism". It may refer to: * ''Decider'' (website), a pop culture website operated by the ''New York Post'' *'' Bill Maher: The Decider'', a stand-up comedy special *Decider (Turing machine), a Turing machine th ...

'' asserted, "Kathryn Hahn makes ''Tiny Beautiful Things'' a compelling watch, mainly because she’s so good at playing someone barely holding things together. But the rest of the series, especially the flashback sequences, give us a pretty full picture of why her character continues to spiral." Taylor Gates of ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

'', gave the series a grade of A-, praised the performance of Kathryn Hahn, and complimented the humor of the series, writing, "''Tiny Beautiful Things'' uses specificity to offer commentary on universal experiences and has the unique ability to strip the most complex topics down into their simplest, most resonant parts. And so for that, I have to say: Thank you."

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiny Beautiful Things 2020s American comedy-drama television series 2020s American drama television miniseries 2023 American television series debuts 2023 American television series endings English-language television shows Hulu original programming Television series by ABC Studios Television shows based on non-fiction books