Few things scream 1980s Los Angeles quite like Angelyne the Billboard Queen. Angelyne, a young unknown, had decided that the best way to promote her new album would be to rent out billboards with her name and likeness in the LA area. While this wasn’t an entirely novel idea, even sharing some similarities with the 1954 George Cukor film, It Should Happen To You!, Angelyne made it fully her own. Her acting and singing career took off and she and her pink corvette became LA icons. The rest, as they say, is history. Angelyne has had roles in a variety of films including Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) and The Malibu Beach Vampires (1991). She also released several more albums. While Angelyne may no longer be quite as ubiquitous of a presence as she was in the 80s, she still had a small role playing herself in James Franco’s 2017 film, The Disaster Artist, and she also starred as herself in the 2020 music video for the Avalanches’ song “Running Red Lights.”
The new Peacock limited series, Angelyne, charts the rise of the “Rorschach Test in pink.” Peacock argues in the series description that Angelyne and her unconventional methods of self-promotion started the era of “famous-for-being-famous influencer culture.” The new series, starring Emmy Rossum as Angelyne, premieres on May 19th.
If watching Angelyne leaves you wanting more shows from the “decade of greed,” outrageous tales from Tinseltown, or stories full of unapologetic self-promotion, then be sure to check out these series for all that and more!
Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021)
Brand New Cherry Flavor, a strange series on making it big in LA, follows Lisa (Rosa Salazar), an up-and-coming director who is willing to do anything to make her movie and get her big break. When the man she trusts to help her finance her movie betrays her, Lisa is willing to do anything to take back creative control of her story.
Set in the early 90s, and featuring more than a few homages to horror films of the time, Brand New Cherry Flavor is a surreal and supernatural look at filmmaking, control, and revenge. While we don’t think Angelyne had to resort to literal witchcraft to get her big break, that might have been the next logical step if the billboards hadn’t worked out. All 8 episodes of Brand New Cherry Flavor are streaming on Netflix.
BoJack Horseman (2014-2020)
What could be more LA than BoJack Horseman and its tragicomic protagonist’s adventures through “Hollywoo?" There’s even a reference to Angelyne and her iconic billboards in Episode 17 of Season 1, where an “Angelfish” billboard can be seen.
BoJack Horseman, created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, follows the misadventures of washed-up actor BoJack Horseman, voiced by Will Arnett. Bojack, along with his many friends, enemies, and enablers (voiced by Aaron Paul, Alison Brie, and Amy Sedaris among others) searches for purpose, meaning, and parties in this often hilarious and surprisingly thoughtful look at both the allure and the price of fame and adoration. All six seasons of BoJack Horseman are streaming on Netflix.
Mr. Robot (2015-2019)
Angelyne’s trailer makes sure viewers know that Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail is the executive producer for Angelyne and considering what a great show Mr. Robot is, we can understand why. Mr. Robot follows Elliot (Rami Malek), a programmer and hacker who is struggling with addiction and mental illness. When Elliot is invited to join the secretive fsociety, led by the mysterious Mr. Robot (Christian Slater), to help bring down some of the world’s most powerful and dangerous corporations, he finally sees a way to deal with the hypocrisy and corruption he hates in the world.
It’s hard to go into too many more details without getting into spoiler territory, but this twisty and surreal series will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end as Elliot battles capitalism, his past, and his inner demons. Mr. Robot is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
The Hills (2006-2010)
This 2006 MTV reality series was a sequel series to Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and follows Lauren “LC” Conrad as she tries to make it big as a fashion designer in LA. Throughout the show, LC, along with Audrina Patridge, Whitney Port, Spencer Pratt, Heidi Montag, Kristin Cavallari, and other beautiful people of the Santa Monica Mountains fights to turn a reality TV series into lasting fame. While starring in a reality show isn’t exactly the same as renting out giant billboards of yourself, trying to achieve dreams of stardom in LA is never easy.
Watch Lauren and her friends, enemies, and frenemies as they try to balance self-promotion and partying in this classic MTV reality show. The Hills is streaming on Hulu and Paramount+.
Weeds (2005-2012)
After the sudden death of her husband, soccer mom Nancy Botwin, played by Mary-Louise Parker, resorts to drug dealing in an effort to cling to the upper-middle-class SoCal lifestyle she and her kids are accustomed to. Armed with her iced coffee, Nancy relentlessly climbs her way up to kingpin in this dark comedy about drugs, family, and the allure of power. Incidentally, Weeds came out several years before the superficially similar but tonally and visually very distinct series Breaking Bad.
Weeds was created by Jenji Kohan of Orange Is the New Black fame. It ran for 8 seasons and had its highs (no pun intended) and lows over its run, but at its best, it could be a heartfelt and hilarious look at the stifling conformity and hypocrisy of suburbia, perfectly encapsulated in its opening theme song, Malvina Reynold’s 1962 classic “Little Boxes." Weeds is streaming on Peacock as well as Amazon Prime Video.
GLOW (2017-2019)
If Angelyne had you looking for more stories of 1980s women reinventing themselves in the city of angels, then GLOW is a must-watch. It follows the stars of “The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,” a women’s professional wrestling group. Coming from a variety of different backgrounds, the characters all have wildly different points of view on acting, wrestling, and the role of performance, not to mention a few personal grudges with each other.
GLOW stars Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Marc Maron, and Sydelle Noel. It was created by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch. All three seasons of GLOW are streaming on Netflix, and fans are still mourning the sudden cancellation of the series.
Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later (2017)
Ten Years Later and the other projects in the Wet Hot American Summer franchise are over-the-top comedic looks at the drama and romance of summer camp in the 80s and early 90s. While the original movie, Wet Hot American Summer, was made in 2001 and takes place in 1981, Ten Years Later was not made until 2017 but takes place in 1991 when the campers and counselors return for a camp reunion, ready to show off their new job titles and lifestyles to old friends and new campers alike.
Members of its large ensemble cast include Elizabeth Banks, H. Jon Benjamin, Michael Ian Black, and Amy Poehler among others. Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later is streaming on Netflix.