First Look at Baz Luhrmann's 'The Get Down'
At the annual Consumer Electronics Show, Netflix took a moment to remind viewers that its not just the place where you can binge-watch everyone’s current favorite true crime addiction, Making a Murderer. The streaming service is also the place to see acclaimed, award-winning dramatic series like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Daredevil. And more — many more — shows are coming down the pike in 2016. Netflix showed off sizzle reels for two such series, The Get Down and The Crown.
Overseen by the unlikely, but somehow perfect duo of Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann and The Shield creator Shawn Ryan, The Get Down transports viewers back to 1970s New York, when the Bronx had just started grooving to the sounds of hip-hop. The 13-episode series will follow a quartet of teenage boys (including Justice Smith, Shameik Moore, Skylan Brooks and T.J. Brown Jr.) and an adolescent girl (Herizen Guardiola) from a strict religious background as they pursue their music dreams in the face of the harsh realities of their neighborhood. Hip hop icon Grandmaster Flash will also be both an advisor on the series and also appear as a character, played by Mamoudou Athie. Based on the above sneak peak, Luhrmann’s eye for production design and ear for music perfectly complements Ryan’s street-level storytelling. Here’s hoping the finished version qualifies as a Rapper’s Delight.
The Crown, meanwhile, takes place an ocean away and two decades before the events of The Get Down, depicting the early years of Queen Elizabeth II’s six-decade reign as England’s Matriarch-in-Chief. Creator Peter Morgan– previously chronicled Elizabeth’s later years in the 2006 Oscar winner, The Queen — has assembled an all-star English cast that includes Claire Foy as Her Majesty, John Lithgow as Winston Churchill and Jared Harris as Elizabeth’s father, King George VI. But the cast member inspiring the most affection has to be former Doctor Who, Matt Smith — cast here as Elizabeth’s future husband and prince, Philip Mountbatten. Here’s hoping he gets her a TARDIS as a wedding present.
The Get Down and The Crown premiere in 2016 on Netflix
