Grace and Frankie: Season One

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are frenemies in this Netflix original sitcom from the creators of Friends and Home Improvement. Retired businesswoman Grace (Fonda) is tightly wound and status conscious, while Frankie (Tomlin) is an artist and socially-conscious free spirit. They only socialize because their husbands, Robert (Martin Sheen) and Sol (Sam Waterston), are partners in a legal practice. Then the men drop a bombshell: both are gay and are coming out of the closet to marry one another. Grace and Frankie, opposites who don't even really each another, end up sharing a beach house and reluctantly becoming a mutual support system while going through their respective divorces (the shake up also reverberates through the lives of their grown children). Fonda and Tomlin are superb as the oil-and-water duo whose initial antipathy eases to friendly sparring (they even help one another break out a little, especially as Grace begins dating), while Sheen and Waterston are more low key as they explore their new life together. The writing is witty and sometimes profane (which can be entertaining coming from this cast) but the show is mostly built on the affection shared by the characters, who remain close and caring despite the divorces—embracing healing and new opportunities rather than rancor. Presenting all 13 episodes from the 2015 debut season, extras include episode commentaries, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and a gag reel. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)