--- description: Executive producers Kristen Wiig and Laura Dern star in Apple's wildly funny soap about a social climber in 1960s Palm Beach title: Kristen Wiig's 'Palm Royale' Is Delightfully Deranged image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt337682a5a22c7cbe/698a54da09208f6a3341cf00/Palm_Royale_Photo_010102.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Kristen Wiig's _Palm Royale_ Is a Delightfully Deranged '60s-Set Soap  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Mar 18, 2024 7:00 AM CUT  Kristen Wiig in Palm Royale Kristen Wiig in Palm RoyaleApple TV+  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Mar 18, 2024 7:00 AM CUT Vietnam. Stonewall. [Charles Manson](https://time.com/5869991/helter-skelter-epix-review-charles-manson/ "undefined"). _Easy Rider_. [Woodstock](https://time.com/5641667/woodstock-50-health-care/ "undefined"), the [Harlem Cultural Festival](https://time.com/6074779/questlove-summer-of-soul-interview/ "undefined"), and the tragedy that was [Altamont](https://time.com/5744996/rolling-stones-altamont-photographer/ "undefined"). These are the touchstones that define 1969 in our collective memory. But in the Palm Beach of 1969, as conjured by the delightfully deranged Apple TV+ soap _Palm Royale_, which premieres on March 20, they barely register. Insulated from the war, free love, and societal upheaval, the resort community’s wealthy denizens have a different set of preoccupations. Like securing membership in the most exclusive social club in town. That walled haven, a headquarters for ladies who lunch and the husbands who fund their leisurely lifestyles, is called the Palm Royale. Into its haughty, pastel-hued world vaults—as in, literally enters the club by going over its fence—the plucky outsider Maxine (executive producer [Kristen Wiig](https://time.com/23219/hateship-loveship-kristen-wiig-drama-comedy-career/ "undefined")). Queen bee Evelyn ([Alison Janney](https://time.com/5536950/allison-janney-oscars-2019/ "undefined")), her ascendant rival Dinah (Leslie Bibb), and their clique of frenemies clock the interloper immediately and freeze her out. So begins Maxine’s tireless campaign to gain acceptance in Palm Beach society’s most rarefied social circle.  Laura Dern and Ricky Martin in Palm Royale Apple TV+ She must prove herself a useful confidant in a land whose currency, especially for those who don’t have millions of dollars at their disposal, is secrets. That quest will bring her to places Palm Royale members would never venture into, from a feminist bookstore where the liberated Linda ([Laura Dern](https://time.com/6184911/laura-dern-jurassic-world-dominion-interview/ "undefined"), also an executive producer) leads consciousness-raising sessions to the extracurricular haunts of the confusingly ubiquitous club employee Robert ([Ricky Martin](https://time.com/collection/letters-from-dad/3919647/ricky-martin-fathers-day-letter/ "undefined")). At the same time, she’s elbowing her way into campily ostentatious Palm Beach parties that give the show a festive vacation vibe—like an upper-crust cousin of Wiig’s cult comedy [_Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar_](https://time.com/5943490/pandemic-cult-classics-barb-star/ "undefined"). The self-aware soap is an increasingly popular format, and _Palm Royale_ adheres to familiar conventions. But showrunner Abe Sylvia ([_Dead to Me_](https://time.com/6234605/dead-to-me-ending-season-3/ "undefined")), loosely adapting Juliet McDaniel’s novel _Mr. and Mrs. American Pie_,makes it feel fresh by nailing both the comedy and the melodrama, in a punchy first season that gets weirder with each episode. The cast is similarly well balanced, with actors like Dern and Janney counterweighting comic performers like Wiig, who makes an unhinged social climber lovable, and the legendary [Carol Burnett](https://time.com/collection-post/3101464/the-carol-burnett-show/ "undefined") as the funniest convalescent you've ever met. You’ll find mild wealth satire if you’re looking for it, but—like an afternoon spent poolside at a club that wouldn’t have you as a member—_Palm Royale_ is best enjoyed as pure, mischievous fun. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6957413/palm-royale-review-kristen-wiig/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6957413/palm-royale-review-kristen-wiig/"},"headline":"Kristen Wiig's Palm Royale Is a Delightfully Deranged '60s-Set Soap","datePublished":"2024-03-18T07:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:52:32.403Z","description":"Executive producers Kristen Wiig and Laura Dern star in Apple's wildly funny soap about a social climber in 1960s Palm Beach","url":"https://time.com/6957413/palm-royale-review-kristen-wiig/","keywords":["Television","review","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt337682a5a22c7cbe/698a54da09208f6a3341cf00/Palm_Royale_Photo_010102.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Judy Berman","jobTitle":"TV Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/judy-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt337682a5a22c7cbe/698a54da09208f6a3341cf00/Palm_Royale_Photo_010102.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Palm_Royale_Photo_010102","caption":"Kristen Wiig in Palm Royale","creditText":"Apple TV+","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6957413/palm-royale-review-kristen-wiig/","name":"Kristen Wiig's Palm Royale Is a Delightfully Deranged '60s-Set Soap"}}]}] ```