Premiering last year, “Minx” followed the misadventures of a struggling but serious-minded magazine editor named Joyce (Ophelia Lovibond) and her unlikely business partner, a sleazy, decent-hearted purveyor of porn in the San Fernando Valley named Doug (Jake Johnson) who team up to put out a feminist magazine that features male nude centerfolds. Amid the high-minded feminist articles, the pages are a spectacle of schlongs, and the series delivered all of it with a wink. But Minx’s founders were caught in a battle of egos by the season’s end, with the magazine’s future looking uncertain.
Season 2 sees the pair mending fences and securing a wealthy investor in the form of Elizabeth Perkins (wonderfully piquant as a grand dame of business) and the magazine’s prospects look more promising than ever. No longer a start-up story, this year the show examines the perils and moral compromises of newfound success.
Let us pause to note that the on-screen chaos has been matched by some off-screen drama, as well. “Minx” began as a Max original (when the streamer was still called HBO Max) and Season 2 was nearly finished shooting when the show was abruptly canceled in a cost-cutting measure by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. Starz eventually picked up the show, and here we are. Its premiere also comes amid a Hollywood actors strike and an ongoing screenwriters strike.
