L’man is a legend. How many showrunners, like Darren Star, can boast of having influenced the American audiovisual landscape to such an extent and for so long? In 1990, when he was not yet thirty years old, this UCLA graduate was recruited by Fox to launch Beverly hills. Under the aegis of veteran producer Aaron Spelling, his series for ten seasons redefined the genre of teenage drama. In the process, he creates Melrose place, the nine lives soap opera – endlessly reinvented, ever more outrageous. With its unforgettable ensemble cast, the series broadcast in France on TF1 makes Heather Locklear and Marcia Cross the two most flamboyant actresses of their generation. At the turn of the 2000s, after the flop Central Park West which brings him new perspectives and anchors his desire to shoot in New York, Darren Star leaves the world of networks.
He joined the then rising cable channel HBO and contributed to an unprecedented wave of creativity. His project Sex and the City embodies the female counterpart of the new televised golden age characterized by complex antiheroes, daring subjects and a staging close to cinema. The band of liberated New Yorkers inspired by the chronicles of Candace Bushnell is also back on our screens in a sequel entitled And Just Like That… Here is another singularity of the dazzling filmography of Mr. Star: all his successes have been the subject of reboots, revivals, prequels and / or spin-offs (Younger, whose seventh season has just ended, narrowly escapes). And if that wasn’t enough, he is the author of the most popular work on Netflix in 2020, Emily in Paris, season two arriving just in time to light up our Christmas celebrations. When asked to sum up his career in one word, he replies: ” Fortunate ” (fortunate). The modest showrunner can thank his lucky stars, but it is above all his work discipline that makes the difference. Whether he is writing alone or surrounded by a writer’s room faithful, for him, it all starts with the script. Here are five of his episodes that changed the course of pop culture.
Beverly hills : season 1, episode 1 “Back to School” (1990)
From the first scene, the wise high school student Brandon (Jason Priestley, 21 at the time) emerges from his bed with perfectly slicked back hair. Realism has never been the strong point of the series, but that does not prevent it from approaching the teenage experience from the point of view of those first concerned, while focusing on maximum entertainment. The introduction plunges us with a communicative energy (the music of the credits, always cult) in a magical universe via an assembly as effective as that of Pretty woman, whose characters share the famous zipcode 90210. At West Beverly Hills High School, students are tanned, stylish, and drive shiny cars. Coming from Minnesota, Brandon and his twin sister Brenda (Shannen Doherty) feel like two fish out of water, a theme dear to Darren Star that can be found in Emily in Paris, of course, but also in Younger, series that deals with generational shock. Of Dawson at Gossip Girl Passing by Euphoria, any teen drama who will succeed him will not escape the influence of the model Beverly hills, whether to emulate it, parody it … or dynamite it entirely.
Melrose place : Season 2, Episode 28 “A Revenge” (1994), written by Frank South
Here is a scene which marks the history of television with a capital H. character played with icy restraint then sweet madness by Marcia Cross, is back. It was Darren Star who had the idea to resuscitate her after an already spectacular car accident. We can laugh at the signature one-upmanship of the series, but it is clear that the showrunner perfectly masters the art of raising the suspense. The horrific moment when Kimberly takes off her wig in front of the mirror to reveal her ruddy scalp with a large scar that resembles a wicked joker’s smile is the kind of potential spoiler that would have made Twitter roar… If Twitter had existed at the era. We still shudder.
Sex and the City : Season 3, Episode 17 “Karma, Karma” (2000)
This is the last episode directly signed from the pen of Darren Star, and not the least. The plot opens on a hilarious note: as she walks in the middle of Manhattan in the middle of gentrification, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is held up and finds herself without a bag (“It’s not a bag, it’s a baguette ! ”) Nor shoes. Vulnerable and still in shock, she begins to examine the consequences of her actions and the role she played in destroying Big (Chris Noth) and Natasha (Bridget Moynahan) ‘s marriage. When she then tumbles into a restaurant to confront her rival, she easily wins the fashion battle (with her iconic Christian Dior dress), but loses points in popularity. Indeed, for the first time, her character is portrayed as an anti-heroine capable of morally wrongdoing. The scene is so fundamental to the public’s perception that the recent reboot (in which Darren Star is not involved) reproduces it almost identically. But this time, the two women are on the same side …
Younger : season 1, episode 1 “New Start” (2015)
Twenty-five years after his first success, Darren Star is reinventing himself once again with a series that is certainly less provocative than the previous ones, but just as fabulous. In the pilot, we meet Liza (excellent Sutton Foster), a forty-something who put her career on hold to raise her daughter. As she tries to re-enter the publishing world (we can easily recognize the glamorous and feminine touch of the showrunner), she decides that the only way to be taken seriously among the millennials who occupy the most promising positions is to move to Brooklyn and pretend to be a 26-year-old. Beneath its light sitcom tunes, Younger offers a committed reflection on the generation gap and a contrasting portrait of Darren Star’s favorite American city, whose “energy and dynamism” he praises. He adds: “When I film in New York, I look for the most photogenic places. I love that no matter where I position my camera it is bound to be interesting and full of life. “
Emily in Paris : season 2, episode 1 “Do you want to sleep with me?” “(2021)
We were waiting for it as impatiently as the gifts under the tree: the Netflix series that made the buzz in 2020 is back! Darren Star, who shot for the occasion with Lily Collins and the whole team in Paris and Saint-Tropez, is also eager to reveal these new episodes to us on December 22: “I am very proud of this season 2 d ‘Emily in Paris. The spectators will discover the rest of her career, how she matured and follow her encounters with new characters. […] She always makes a lot of mistakes but, in this particular season, those allegiances are going to matter. »While we had left her in the middle of a love triangle, will Emily succeed in achieving in Paris the sentimental, friendly and professional balance she dreams of? One thing is certain, the winks, clichés and even a little detour through the gore (!) Genre are always so deliciously tasty.
Bonus: It is well known, Darren Star never stops and his next project titled Uncoupled is already on track. He teams up with the producer of Modern Family, Jeffrey Richman, to tell the story of Michael (Neil Patrick Harris), who gets dumped overnight after seventeen years of marriage and has to learn to navigate the hustle and bustle of New York as a gay bachelor who is approaching fifty. An entire program !
Emily in Paris, season 2: available from December 22 on Netflix.