Pam & Tommy: Here’s What You Need to Know About the Scandalous Series

Pam & Tommy: Here’s What You Need to Know About the Scandalous Series
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Limited series Pam & Tommy is coming to telly screens soon, and folks are unsurprisingly eager to dig into the scandal that changed the lives of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee forever.

There are some juicy details worth looking at for this upcoming series, so here’s your guide on what to expect from Pam & Tommy.

What is Pam & Tommy about?

Pam and Tommy Australia
Image: Disney/Hulu Pam & Tommy

As the series title implies, Pam & Tommy follows the story of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee. Specifically, it looks at the pair’s relationship, speedy marriage and the infamous leak of their honeymoon sex tape.

The series synopsis reads as follows:

Set in the Wild West early days of the Internet, Pam & Tommy is based on the incredible true story of the Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape. Stolen from the couple’s home by a disgruntled contractor, the video went from underground bootleg-VHS curiosity to full-blown global sensation when it hit the Web in 1997.

A love story, crime caper and cautionary tale rolled into one, the eight-part original limited series explores the intersection of privacy, technology and celebrity, tracing the origins of our current Reality TV Era to a stolen tape seen by millions but meant to have an audience of just two.

If you’re wondering how much of it is true, we broke that down for you here.

Who is in the cast lineup?

Lily James has been cast as Pamela Anderson and Sebastian Stan plays Tommy Lee in the Pam & Tommy series. Seth Rogen also appears as Rand Gauthier, the electrician who stole the sex tape.

Other cast members include Taylor Schilling as Erica, Nick Offerman as Uncle Miltie, Paul Ben-Victor as Richard Alden, Fred Hechinger as Seth Warshavsky, Paul Sinacore as Vinny, Mozhan Marnò as Gail Chwatsky, Larry Brown as Lonnie, Spenser Granese as Steve Fasanella, Christopher Matthew Cook as Tino, Adam Dunnells as Patches, Jay Hieron as Dirty, Paul Guzman as Vince Neil, Mike Seely as Hugh Heffner, Iker Amaya as Nikki Sixx, Chris Mann as Mick Mars and Sam Meader as Zakk.

Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) directed the project and is written by Rob Siegel and DV DeVincentis.

Pam & Tommy: Trailer

If you’re after a trailer, you’re in luck because Disney+ has dropped a couple of trailers for the Pam & Tommy series. The first teaser was released a little while back and the official trailer (which is quite the sneak peek) dropped on January 27.

Check it out to see the unrecognisable James and Stan in character below – it’s pretty mind-blowing, honestly.

Where can I watch the series in Australia?

Pam & Tommy is set for release in Australia via Star on Disney+. It’s slated for release on February 2, 2022, and will consist of eight episodes, streaming weekly. It’s expected new episodes will drop on Wednesdays on Disney+.

Will Pam & Tommy be worth my time?

Critics reviews have begun to file on in and so far, the series is being well-received. Currently, Pam & Tommy is sitting with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 86 per cent.

Kathryn VanArendonk of New York Magazine/Vulture wrote:

“It’s enough to satisfy that cultural-revisitation urge: the desire to be surprised by a story you thought you already knew.”

Kristen Lopez of indieWire added that:

“James and Stan are astounding, with the former completely transforming herself physically and utilising that to show Anderson as the fully realised person she was never allowed to be.”

Sounds pretty promising to us.

Anything else I should know?

The series has seen some criticism. As this recent piece in Vogue highlights, the series covers some traumatic ground and seemingly has done so without Anderson’s involvement or approval.

The Sun reports that a friend of Anderson’s shared with the outlet that “Pamela has no intention of watching this God awful show, absolutely not. Never.”

“She and her family think the show is a cheap knockoff. The whole thing is a joke to them.”

Vogue also reported that Courtney Love shared a Facebook post regarding the series’ production, which has since been deleted.

“I find this so fucking outrageous,” Love is quoted writing.

“…all the staff engineers/producers/owners were watching the sex tape with huge schadenfreude [and] guffaws. It was disgusting. I banned anyone [from] discussing it. It destroyed my friend Pamela’s life. Utterly.”

In a recent interview with Variety, Sebastian Stan spoke about the pain at the centre of the story in the series, and why he feels it’s so significant.

“It’s an important story, I think, from being able to understand what the impact of that media tornado really was,” Stan told the outlet.

“For them as a couple but particularly for her as a woman. I can’t imagine what having a private home video stolen from you — how that wouldn’t impact a newlywed couple.”

We’ll continue updating this piece as more details on Pam & Tommy are released. If you’d like to read more about titles coming to Disney+, check out this list of Star Wars series that are on the way.

This article has been updated since its original publish date.


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At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

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