Today, in “We’re honestly not sure if we needed to see this today” news: Hulu has released the first-look photos for its upcoming “comedic limited series” about the release of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s infamous sex tape, with Lily James and Sebastian Stan slotted into Pam & Tommy’s title roles. And, lo and behold, there they are: Respected thespians James and Stan, doing their best to work with the make-up, rather than against it, while attempting to channel two of the 1990s’ most eternally visible sex symbols.
But while the tone projected by the above photos doesn’t go very far beyond “High-commitment couples costume circa 1996,” it’s still not clear what angle the Hulu series itself, written by Rob Siegel and DV DeVincentis, and directed by I, Tonya’s Craig Gillespie, is likely to take on the pair’s relationship. After all, while many aspects of Anderson and Lee’s partnership were entertainingly absurd, there were also those aspects that were simply awful, like the domestic abuse charges Lee copped to after assaulting Anderson in 1998. (That’s to say nothing of the issues of consent raised by the tape itself, which was alleged by Lee to have been stolen from the couples’ home and promptly broadcast to the entire planet.) This is tricky, messy material for any show, especially one purported to be a comedy series, to tackle, and it’s not clear where on the rubbernecking vs. respectful scale Pam & Tommy is likely to fall.
In the meantime, though, we do have these two very weird pictures! (No sign, though, of Seth Rogen, who, like Gillespie, Siegel, and DeVincentis, is an executive producer on the series, and who’s reportedly playing Rand Gauthier, the former adult film star alleged to have stolen the tape.) Nick Offerman and Taylor Schilling are also set to co-star on the series.