Although it’s only been a little over four years since New York City-based dramedy “The Bold Type” ended its five-season run on cable network Freeform, it already feels a bit like a time capsule, a snapshot of a media era that has faded away in the face of corporate consolidation and online fragmentation. It’s fashionable and fun, but it’s also smart about the magazine industry and the challenges that its trio of main characters face as young women in a high-profile media company. There’s a refreshing sense of optimism that comes across in both the personal and professional storylines.
Katie Stevens, Meghann Fahy and Aisha Dee star as three best friends working at Scarlet, a women’s magazine inspired by Cosmopolitan and run by a fiery but compassionate editor based on real-life Cosmopolitan boss Joanna Coles. Jane Sloan (Stevens) is an idealistic writer who wants her work to inspire social change. Sutton Brady (Fahy) is initially an assistant and later a stylist who expresses herself through fashion. Kat Edison (Dee) is Scarlet’s social media director, in an era when Twitter hashtags could be seen as forces for good.
