Amazon’s Harlem Delivers a Fun, Flirty Romp of New York City Glamour, Finally in Color | TV/Streaming

The leads all feel perfectly cast, and there are some real stand outs among the supporting players as well, from Goldberg’s commanding presence as Dr. Pruitt, to Jasmine Guy as Patricia. She is Quinn’s philanthropist powerhouse of a mother who writes the checks to keep Quinn’s boutique afloat but also lets her daughter know exactly how she feels about the situation both loudly and often. (“I’m off to the botox doc, I hate when my disappointment is visible,” is her version of “goodbye.”)

Camille serves as the Carrie Bradshaw of the show, if you will; while the screen-time is generally split relatively evenly between the four leads, she always gets the first word and quite often the last, her anthropology lectures utilized in voice over as a framing device in a very Carrie-like fashion. Gunning for a tenured position, Camille has been assured by her mentor and the anthropology department chair at Columbia, Dr. Goodman (Andrea Martin), that she’s a shoo-in for an upcoming position. However, after Dr. Goodman gets ousted in a scandal that is, in true academic style, one part actual gaffe to four parts virtue signaling gone mad, her replacement Dr. Elise Pruitt (Whoopi Goldberg) proves to have a very different vision for the department. Camille and Dr. Pruitt get off on the wrong foot, but it soon becomes clear that their incompatibilities also run much deeper. While the series empathizes with Camille, it also sees validity in Dr. Pruitt’s arguments, reflective of a compellingly nuanced handling of various issues throughout the series. With the exception of Quinn’s hilariously terrible dates and one genuinely insufferable white actress Angie is forced to deal with at one point, basically every conflict here has two sides with valid points to make—a commendably complex approach to drama, especially for a comedy. 

The MVPs of “Harlem” are ultimately the writers. Oliver really brought together an all-star group of rising Black talent for the room on this one, including Njeri Brown (“Black-ish,” “Dear White People”), Aeryn Michelle Williams (“Umbrella Academy”), and Azie Dungey (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Sweetbitter”). Especially for a first season, the characters here are remarkably well-realized, with the obstacles and conflicts that arise over the course of the season feeling consistently organic and driven by the characters themselves. 

“Harlem” hits a sweet spot of creating flawed but empathetic characters—the core of their struggles are deeply relatable, but they are also entertainingly petty and imperfect. Outraged to see an old hangout be replaced by an aggressively bougie bistro, for instance, the foursome immediately say there should be a protest; then, upon discovering there is an actual protest in the works, all manage to come up with excuses for why they cannot actually go to said protest in about 30 seconds flat. 

While some of the storylines over the course of the season are more compelling than others, there’s an unusual but welcome lack of any that fully do not work—and those that work best are truly something special. A season-long storyline involving a Broadway musical adaptation of “Get Out,” for instance, is absolutely delightful, and maintains that hard-to-strike balance of being both utterly ridiculous and entirely believable. And yes, there are musical numbers featured, particularly an ensemble number about the Sunken Place which features a full-grown man in a teacup costume and such inspired lyrics as “Sink into the couch, sink into the floor / You’re trapped—which is a metaphor.”