HBO's Charming Rom-Com Sitcom 'Starstruck' Has Just Dropped the Trailer for Its Second Season
Rose Matafeo's delightful 'Notting Hill'-style series is back, once again charting the reality of dating a world-famous film star.
Calling all rom-com fans, Notting Hill aficionados and Rose Matafeo devotees — aka everyone who discovered marvellous new series Starstruck in 2021, fell head over heels for its firmly 21st-century take on dating a famous actor and has probably binged it more than once in the past eight months. Because February is stereotypically a time for all things romantic, the HBO sitcom is making a return, and it's just dropped its first trailer.
Last year saw plenty of great new TV shows hit screens and streaming queues, and Starstruck was one of the best of them — which, given Matafeo's talent and the show's deep-seated love for its chosen genre, really didn't come as a surprise. The premise: a 28-year-old New Zealander in London who splits her time between working in a cinema and nannying, Jessie (Matafeo, Baby Done) isn't expecting much when her best friend and roommate Kate (Emma Sidi, Pls Like) drags her out to a bar on New Year's Eve. And, for most of the evening, her lack of enthusiasm proves astute. But then she meets Tom (Nikesh Patel, Four Weddings and a Funeral), ends up back at his sprawling flat and realises the next morning that he's one of the world's biggest movie stars.
From featuring Matafeo enjoying a morning-after stride of pride to the sounds of 90s hit 'Return of the Mack' to swirling through the chaos of being in the orbit of someone so famous (and just general twentysomething life and dating mayhem as well), Starstruck's first season was smart, sidesplittingly funny and all-round charming — and the trailer for its second season sets it up to continue the trend. After its initial six episodes ended with a nod to The Graduate (yes, this show knows its rom-com history), the new batch of chapters is poised to dive into the reality of Jessie and Tom's efforts to make a real go of it.
In other words, get ready for the story after the point where big-screen romantic comedies usually end — which doesn't look like it's going to go smoothly for the show's protagonist. Jessie has never just been a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her, and that still appears the case in Starstruck's sneak peek at its second season.
Also a part of season two: Minnie Driver, after the About a Boy star first popped up in season one as Tom's agent, and also Russell Tovey (Years and Years). And, behind the scenes, Matafeo and fellow comedians Alice Snedden and Nic Sampson are still on scripting duties.
Starstruck's new episodes will hit ABC iView in Australia from 9pm on Wednesday, February 16 — with an airdate via TVNZ in New Zealand yet to be confirmed, but hopefully arriving sooner rather than later.
Check out the trailer for Starstruck's second season below:
Starstruck's second season will be available to stream in Australia via ABC iView from 9pm on Wednesday, February 16 — and we'll update you with a New Zealand airdate via NZTV as soon as we have one.
Read our full review of Starstruck's first season.
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