For those fans still mourning the loss of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Hulu is offering a new show that may take away some of the sting. Its upcoming rom-com series Up Here, releasing March 24, isn’t exactly a successor to the prematurely cancelled show. It’s a different genre, for one thing. But in some ways, the trailer gives it a similar feel.
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist premiered on NBC in January of 2020 (with a movie on the Roku Channel following cancellation). A series about celebrating life and love through the lens of grief and loss, it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Starring Jane Levy, Skylar Astin, Alex Newell, John Clarence Stewart, Mary Steenburgen, and Peter Gallagher (in a heartbreaking performance), it was the show the world didn’t even know it needed. The story centered on the titular Zoey (Levy), who started to hear people’s inner feelings through song as she struggled with the loss of her father (Gallagher) to a rare disease.
Up Here stars Mae Whitman and Carlos Valdes. And on its face, it seems to have a vastly different premise from the cancelled show. Hulu describes the series as follows:
A musical comedy set in New York City in the waning days of 1999, following the extraordinary story of one ordinary couple as they fall in love – and discover that the single greatest obstacle to finding happiness together might just be themselves – and the treacherous world of memories, obsessions, fears, and fantasies that lives inside their heads.
It isn’t specifically about grief, but it is about two characters struggling to find themselves among complicated emotion. Both experiencing something nobody else can hear. Including, apparently, large musical numbers. Check out the trailer:
Fans of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist may always regret that such an excellent show was cancelled before its time. But Hulu’s upcoming series Up Here may help take a little bit of the sting away.
Up Here premieres on Hulu on March 24.
