Alberto Rey

Updated Sunday, March 31, 2024-9:25 p.m.

Who wouldn't want to sell a series or a movie to

Apple

. Since the second largest company in the world by market capitalization (the first is, surprise, Microsoft) has its own audiovisual content platform, dozens of big Hollywood names have knocked on its door. It's a big, golden (sorry: space gray) door that gives access to a better world. Apple produces series and movies with the apparent carelessness of someone who happily spends money because their checking account fills up by itself. In effect, what Apple spends (invests?) in series and movies are crumbs when compared to what it earns from selling devices. It therefore makes economic sense to perceive that the company,

instead of buying brand name bags and shoes to show off, buys from Ridley Scott or Martin Scorsese

. Neither

Napoleon

nor

Assassins on the Moon

have been profitable. However, there is nothing to indicate that Apple regrets having produced them. The second season of the new

Los Fraguel

has just premiered. The first, as much as it pains us fans of the original dolls, had no relevance. Apparently, Apple doesn't care about so much expense and so little return.

It is also true that few platforms have more solid content than Apple TV+. There are good series and bad series in there, but none of them are poor. None of them look cheap because none of them are.

Palm Royale

looks very expensive.

And it is very bad. And no one seems to care.

Created by Abe Sylvia,

Palm Royale

is the story of Maxine Simmons (

Kristen Wiig

), a woman obsessed with belonging to the high society of Palm Beach (Florida) in 1969. The series has a very colorful cast, which includes

Allison Janney

and

Ricky Martin

. Precisely these two names give us an idea of ​​how confused the project is: Janney can tell that the series has hired her to give herself a quality look, and Martin can tell... that he

is a very bad actor

.

Kristen Wiig, who also serves as a producer on

Palm Royale

, is not a bad actress. But to prove it she would need a much more elaborate script than the one in this series. Frequently,

Palm Royale

seems to be setting the viewer up for some kind of meta-fictional twist. One comes to expect that its plasticized aesthetic, which almost borders on

Barbie

, is a conscious decoration. Let the series be about something else. Unfortunately,

Palm Royale

is neither

The Perfect Women

nor

Don't Worry

, Darling. This series is, although it may be hard to believe it, serious.

Palm Royale

, as an idea,

opens many doors that, as a reality, it decides not to go through

. Its satire is garbancera, its humor is layered and its actresses are almost forced to defend scenes typical of the most fake Venezuelan soap opera. Kristen Wiig, master of the art of self-referential humor, chooses in her series to deny herself what she does best. While Apple, it limits itself to paying and inventing new colors for the iPhone.