In the past few years, Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine, has been making movies and TV shows that are not only popular but extremely acclaimed. The company first achieved success with its adaptation of the Cheryl Strayed novel, Wild, for which it received acclaim and would cement its status later on with the legendary miniseries, Big Little Lies. This April, those two elements will be coming together for the first time as celebrated author Cheryl Strayed’s work is being brought to television for the first time. Tiny Beautiful Things (2023), starring Kathryn Hahn, again puts independent but complicated women in the spotlight, following the story of an advice columnist with her own existential crisis.
Sarah Pidgeon stars as a younger version of Hahn's character, Clare. Other cast members include Quentin Plair as Danny Kinkade, Tanzyn Crawford as Rae Kinkade, and a number of guest stars including Owen Painter, Merritt Wever, Elizabeth Hinkler, and Michaela Watkins.
For anybody who can’t wait to see this new series, here’s everything we know about how, when, and where you can watch this comedy-drama. But first, here's the official synopsis:
Based on the best-selling collection by Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things is about a woman - Clare (Kathryn Hahn) - who becomes a revered advice columnist when her own life is falling apart. When we first meet Clare, her marriage to her husband Danny is on its last leg. Her daughter, Rae, will barely talk to her. And her once-promising writing career is non-existent. So when an old writing friend suggests she take over as the advice columnist Dear Sugar, she thinks she’s the last person for the job. But after reluctantly agreeing, she realizes that she might just be completely qualified. As the letter writers force Clare to revisit her most pivotal moments – the death of her mother, the fallout with her brother, even some awful sex in the back office of a funeral home – she excavates the beauty, struggle and humor in her own life to show us that we are not beyond rescue, that it’s our stories that can ultimately save us. And maybe even bring us back home.
Related:First 'Tiny Beautiful Things' Images Showcase Kathryn Hahn's Tender Side
When and Where Is Tiny Beautiful Things Streaming Online?
Tiny Beautiful Things will premiere on Friday, April 7, 2023, streaming exclusively on Hulu. Unfortunately, you cannot watch Tiny Beautiful Things without a Hulu subscription, but it’s not too late to get one. You can get a subscription to the service, with plans starting at $6.99 a month.
Watch the Tiny Beautiful Things Trailer
A trailer for Tiny Beautiful Things was released on March 6, 2023. It opens on Clare and her husband in a couple's therapy session that is not being put to good use. Clare finds it difficult to communicate with everyone in her life. Her marriage is falling apart and her relationship with her teenage daughter is strained to say the least. But when a friend of hers reminds her that she is one of the best writers he knows, she gets convinced to write an advice column. She uses the opportunity, not to give advice to others, but to her 22-year-old self. By helping her younger self and others, she is able to find strength and forgiveness and hopefully pass it on to her family.
How Many Episodes Are There In Tiny Beautiful Things?
There will be eight episodes in Tiny Beautiful Things Season 1. All the episodes are expected to release on the same day, so you can binge the series without having to wait. Here are the episode titles and synopses:
Episode 1: "Pilot"
After Clare is kicked out of her home by her husband Danny for giving her brother Lucas their daughter Rae's college fund, an old friend needs someone to take on his advice column Dear Sugar. And it might be exactly what Clare needs.
Episode 2: "Yours, Sugar"
Clare grapples with whether she wants to be Sugar while reeling from trouble at work and with Rae. In the past, Young Clare and Young Lucas must confront their grief at Frankie's funeral.
Episode 3: "The Ghost Ship"
Danny and Clare try to untangle their relationship - and Rae's threesome - as Clare considers the path she could've taken. In the past, Young Clare learns she's pregnant with Rae.
Episode 4: "Under the Stars"
While dealing with her viral Montana confrontation and Rae's recent partying, Clare is haunted by a letter writer in need of Sugar's advice. In the past, Young Clare learns of Frankie's diagnosis and tries to save her.
Episode 5: "The Nose"
A furious Rae tells Clare and Danny she doesn't want to go back to school, prompting Clare to remember her own college experience - and why she never got her degree.
Episode 6: "Broken Things"
Clare and Danny take a good look at their sex life as a letter writer describes her boyfriend's secret shame. In the meantime, Rae grapples with letting Montana back in her life as she discovers she may have the upper hand.
Episode 7: "Go"
Clare and Amy attend a writer's retreat where Amy receives great news and Clare wonders if her sacrifices for her family are holding her back as she remembers her first marriage to Jess.
Episode 8: "Love"
After Danny delivers shocking news, Rae reveals who dropped off the missing money - leading Clare to bring her on a road trip to Clare's childhood home. In the past, Clare races to get Lucas to the hospital for Frankie's last days.
Related:'Tiny Beautiful Things' Review: Kathryn Hahn Will Make You Laugh and Cry at the Same Time
Who Is the Creator of Tiny Beautiful Things?
Tiny Beautiful Things was created by Liz Tigelaar. Tigelaar began her writing career on the teen drama, Dawson’s Creek. Later, she worked as a writer on Once Upon A Time, Revenge, and Nashville. More recently, she served as developer and showrunner on another Hello Sunshine production, Little Fires Everywhere. Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, and Cheryl Strayedalso serve as executive producers. In an interview with Collider's Taylor Gates, Tigelaar talked about the show's approach to LGBTQ+ representation saying:
As a queer woman as well, I feel the same way. Tanzyn [Crawford] and I were just talking about it last night. I can remember way back in the day on Brothers & Sisters with Matthew Rhys’s Kevin. It was so nice to have a character where being gay was one of many, many things that he was — he was the pragmatist, he was the lawyer, he was the one who brought them all together, he was rational, he had a family. I loved that about that show. And I think in approaching this show, I just wanted it to be, like, Clare’s more thrown of, “Why is there a guy involved? Like, what was that guy doing here? Like that doesn't…that doesn’t go. That’s not what I thought you were doing.” I loved it. I loved how it was never a conversation they had to have. It’s just what is. Because that's how I feel for my own child. That's how I hope he feels. There’s no more “coming out.” I'm not saying that there shouldn't be coming out stories because, of course, they're important, but I think it's also just great to have stories where people don't have to come or go anywhere. They just are the way everybody else gets to just be. And I love that. I really wanted to tell a story about it where it wasn't the story.
More Shows Like Tiny Beautiful Things That You Can Watch Now
If this captivating adaptation sounds like your thing, then you should consider checking out these three other shows that also explore the stories of women whose lives are unraveling before their own eyes.
Little Fires Everywhere (2020)
Starring Reese Witherspoon herself and developed by the Tiny Beautiful Things showrunner, Little Fires Everywhere is a unique adaptation that adds weight to an already complex novel. The show begins when a black working-class artist, Mia Warren (Kerry Washington) moves into an affluent suburb called Shaker Heights with her daughter and soon encounters Elena Richardson (Reese Witherspoon), a privileged white housewife. They are polite towards each other at first, but as each woman’s secrets are revealed, the consequences of their rivalry become more and more severe. This thrill ride is unmissable.
Fleabag (2016-2019)
Even though the first season of Fleabag only aired four years ago, it’s already clear that this show will go down in history as one of the great masterpieces in television. Fleabag follows an unnamed woman in her 30s struggling with a dead mother, a distant father, a high-strung sister, and a dead best friend. Similar to Clare in Tiny Beautiful Things, this protagonist often addresses her audience by hiding her baggage and, as the series goes on, must confront this decision. With great writing from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag can make you laugh and cry at the flip of a coin.
Transparent (2014-2019)
In one of the first roles that allowed Kathryn Hahn to flex her dramatic and comedic muscles, Transparent remains one of the best showcases of her talent. The show follows the Pfeffermans, a Los Angeles family who have just found out that their parent is a trans woman. Hahn plays Rabbi Raquel Fein, the ex-fiancee of one of the Pfefferman children, Josh, and the family’s rabbi. A groundbreaking show upon its release, Transparent’s characters are all morally complex but endlessly relatable.
