Hillary Clinton Politics Get a Dose of CW Energy With ‘Girls on the Bus’

From the cosmo-soaked bars of New York City to the blood-drenched halls of Westeros, it used to be that the one quality linking HBO’s diverse slate of prestige TV was cynicism. One merger and a rebrand later, however, and HBO’s identity is no longer so clear—particularly on Max (formerly HBO Max), a streaming platform where shows like The Wire and Euphoria now live alongside the entire Property Brothers’ canon.

You can feel that shift in Max’s new political journalism drama The Girls on the Bus (premiering Mar. 14), which may follow the “four very different women as unlikely friends” premise that fueled HBO hits like Sex and the City and Girls, but comes freshly scrubbed of any jadedness. Co-created by The Vampire Diaries showrunner Julie Plec and produced by Arrowverse stalwart Greg Berlanti, the series actually began development at Netflix and briefly moved to The CW, both of which feel like more natural fits for its zippy, earnest, “stronger together” tone. Despite its of-the-moment political commentary, The Girls on the Bus is actually a pretty lightweight comfort watch. And that’s both the best and worst thing about it.

Very loosely inspired by co-creator Amy Chozick’s 2018 memoir Chasing Hillary, which detailed her experiences covering Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign as a journalist, The Girls on the Bus is set in a sort of bizarro mirror universe version of our own world. As the show opens, it’s been three years since its Clinton-like figure unexpectedly lost her bid for the White House, sending plucky reporter Sadie McCarthy (Melissa Benoist) into a personal and professional tailspin. Footage of her crying on election night went viral—a big no-no for journalistic objectivity.

Read more at The Daily Beast.