Amy Sherman-Palladino was a dancer in her youth and there’s a famous story about how she chose writing on Roseanne over a possible dancing role in Cats, so it’s no surprise that dance has peppered some of her shows across the years. Though prematurely canceled, the most famous of these was formerly Bunheads, but now her now show Étoile is even more on pointe.
Amazon Prime TV has been upping its game recently, and there’s a lot to like about Étoile if you haven’t started binge-watching it with an Amazon Prime subscription already. .Luke Kirby – arguably the best part of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel– is given a lead here as the head of the ballet just trying to keep everything together (and keep his family’s name in good standing in the process). There’s Sherman-Palladino and her writing partner and husband Daniel Palladino’s swift and over-the-top dialogue commenting on everything from Crest toothpaste to bulls taking over press conferences. All these things would be enough to keep me hooked for the whole of the eight-episode series, but it’s not the thing I appreciated most.
Even I Was Surprised By The Moment I Looked Forward To Most Each Episode
The majority of Étoile is heightened in that specific way only shows Amy Sherman-Palladino has produced --the most famous of these being Gilmore Girls and its ending -- are. Tonally, the shows she works on really balance the comedy with more sentimental moments, and there’s a lot to like in each episode of the show. Surprisingly, however, my favorite moment in each episode actually runs through the credits scenes at the end.
While the production names roll, fans are treated to real BTS footage of the lifestyles of the dancers on set. We see dancers sitting against a wall and gossiping, stretching out their toe shoes, lying around with a book beside them, and stretching, always stretching. While we actually get a reasonable amount of dancing during each actual episode, this footage is rawer and realer, and it’s actually the bit I most look forward to.
You’d be forgiven if you hadn’t really paid attention to these scenes. Sometimes Amazon Prime cuts off to kick to the next episode before I feel like we really get the chance to savor the footage, but what I love so much about these BTS shots is they simultaneously give us a taste of what life is both like as an actor on a set and as a dancer for work rather than sport. It feels a bit more realistic than most of the ballet I’ve seen on TV in the past.
Professional ballet dancer and body double on Étoile Constance Devernay told Time the dancers took classes in between shoots while filming was going on, which is likely where a lot of this rawer footage comes from. This helped them to gel since they’d all come from different backgrounds and different companies prior to the show.
It is different [from] a company, but in a way, it wasn't because we created, as dancers, a ballet company.
There's some daily life footage also peppered into the series, but I love the way they set up the end of each episode and I feel like if they can tonally pepper those real moments in with Amy Sherman-Palladino's heightened outlook, the series could be all the better for it.
Still, the show has already managed to make waves and been ranked on Amazon’s Top 10 list since its debut on the 2025 TV schedule on April 24th. I’m most of the way through the first season at this point, and I’m hopeful it will get a renewal as Amy Sherman-Palladino’s shows tend to do. We’ll have to wait and see if it gets as much notice as Marvelous Mrs. Maisel before it ended, but I'll be savoring the pop cultural references in the meantime.
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