Pose Comes Up Roses With Critics

If you want to see the latest extravagant, provocative drama series from Ryan Murphy in HD, you’ll have to subscribe to Sky’s streaming service, Neon.

It will stream the transgender musical weekly from June 4.

If you subscribe to SoHo, or have a sports or entertainment bundle with Sky, you’ll be able to watch it on-demand at the same time, but only in SD.

Sky has confirmed the eight-series FX series will screen on SoHo later this year but a date has still to be finalised.

Early reviews from the likes of The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly and New York Post are raves.

“Groundbreaking yet traditional, unique yet wonderfully old-fashioned, Pose is the Fame we all wanted Rise to be,” EW said.

The FX drama — set in the burgeoning ball culture of 1980s New York City — made headlines for its ensemble of transgender actors, but the show never lets its message of inclusivity overshadow its mission to tell relatable, compelling stories meant to delight and entertain the drama queen in all of us.

“On the surface a flamboyant and progressive depiction of New York’s underground ’80s ball scene, Ryan Murphy’s new FX series plays more as a well-acted, inclusive family drama,” concurred The Hollywood Reporter.

On the surface, Pose is all about outrageousness. This depiction of drag ball culture in New York circa 1987, juxtaposed against the acceleration of Manhattan’s Trump-driven conspicuous consumption, boasts what FX is calling the largest cast of transgender actors and LGBTQ regulars on a scripted series.

Everything about the show is outsized, from its impeccable costumes to its hit-driven soundtrack to its episodes’ running times. (The shortest of four episodes sent to critics runs 58 minutes without commercials, the longest is 78 minutes.)

Pose may lead with the fabulous, and certainly that’s a lot of what makes the show entertaining, but the pleasant surprise is that it also has a lot of family drama realness.

If ever a series was made for showcasing on the biggest, flashest HD TV you can afford, this is the one. “Longtime Murphy collaborator Lou Eyrich has outdone herself in the staggering variety of costumes she produces here,” reports the New York Post.

The ball scenes achieve their heady ecstasy through these and the biting delivery of Kinky Boots star Billy Porter, who, as emcee Pray Tell — best character name of the TV year, period — is so sensational they should just give him the Emmy now.

Smart, acidly funny with a wounded glamour that belies a genuine sorrow, Pose was Murphy’s last series for FX before he decamped for the streaming pleasures (and abundant paycheck) of Netflix … You don’t want to miss it.

As part of its promotion for the series, Neon has provided this “beginners guide” to the language of Pose:

MOTHER: The matriarch of a House who supports and mentors youth who have been rejected by their birth family.

HOUSE: Led by a House Mother, a House is a safe space and second family. You choose your own house.

BALL: An event where competitors compete for trophies in different categories.

BALLROOM: Where a Ball takes place.

VOGUING: The essence of Ballroom, Voguing is danced in a way that tries to imitate the poses and characteristics of a model on the catwalk.

WALKING: Bring it to the runway! Walking down the runway of a Ballroom is to compete to win trophies.

REALNESS: The art of imitation, ‘Realness’ is the competitor’s ability to realistically pass as a different gender or social class.

SHADE: The art of insults by subtly pointing out another person’s flaws.

KIKI: A social gathering for the purpose of gossiping and chit-chat, for example: “Let’s have a kiki!”