Original caricature by Jeff York of Elle Fanning with Graham Hendrix in MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES (copyright 2026)
One of the marvels of screenwriter/show-runner David E. Kelley has always been his unique ability to integrate varying shades of drama and comedy into one cohesive narrative. For most screenwriters, that would create tonality problems, but not Kelley. Somehow, he’s able to mix the ridiculous and the sublime into a believable story. Maybe he knows that tragedy and comedy not only are juxtaposed on the theater masks, but in real life as well. And his new series MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES manages to be laugh-out-loud hilarious and quietly heartbreaking too. It’s an amazing accomplishment and one of the best dramedies to come down the pike since, well, what Kelley was able to do with BIG LITTLE LIES almost a decade ago.
Kelley is superb at adaptation too. He got the spirit of Liane Moriarty’s soapy novel about the desperate housewives of a quaint California beach town exactly right in BIG LITTLE LIES, and he’s done similar work with his adaptation of Rufi Thorpe’s 2024 bestseller about Margo. (Kelley was also wise to retain Thorpe as one of his screenwriters for this show.) The premise for MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES is outrageous enough as a young, single mom named Margo Millet turns to selling pics of her scantily clad self on OnlyFans to make ends meet when her back is against the wall after an unplanned pregnancy and motherhood. Yet, even with such a trendy, naughty subject as sex for sale on the Internet, Kelley infuses all of such farce with enough grounded drama to make the whole shebang feel wholly believable and, dare I say, even admirable.
I found it admirable for several reasons. For starters, Margo is a good egg. A smart, upbeat 20-something who chose to keep her baby even though it was born out of wedlock after a misguided and wayward tryst with her married college professor. And as played by the wonderful Elle Fanning, Margo is a heroine for our time. She knows what lines not to cross on OnlyFans and is laughing all the way to the bank as she makes moolah selling snaps of her motherly rack to doofuses online more than willing to pay top dollar for such a peak. Then, when she develops an alter ego for the site – a green space alien she dubs Hungry Ghost – it brings out even more of a goofy clientele, namely those who find cosplay as much an aphrodisiac as foreplay. Margo’s amusement at it all gives it a rollicking sense of comedy, not tawdriness, and Fanning plays such humorous scenes with the skill of a comic. She knows where the beats are in the lines, and turns out to be an expert physical comedian as well. Fanning underlines it all with strength too; she underlines Margo’s giddy joy at discovering how silly a world of such online work can be and shines as she paints a portrait of a young woman refusing to play the victim.
Those she has trouble convincing of her choices are – surprise, surprise – her parents. Mom Shyanne (Michelle Pfeiffer) used to be a party girl and a Hooter’s waitress, but now as she’s almost engaged to a stalwart and kindhearted Christian named Kenny (Greg Kinnear), she wants to re-position her life as one pure and unfettered. Meanwhile, Margo’s dad Jinx (Nick Offerman) is a retired professional wrestler and former drug addict who’s rejoined his daughter’s life, albeit to spend a good deal of time worrying about the oddballs clamoring for her glamour. One of the great surprises of the series lies in how Margo almost becomes more a parent to them and that’s where a lot of the family-themed satire excels in this show. Margo is helping guide her parents, not to mention the rest of society and those in her orbit, into understanding that she’s a good person and all of this is to take care of her child with few better choices in front of her. At one point she tells a headhunter, with her newborn in tow for the interview, that she’d be happy to dig ditches, to which the HR person tells her, “Looks like you’ve already dug one.” Great line!
Margo doesn’t date in the show which is a wonderful choice of hers, and the show too, as the love of her life is her baby Bodhi (Graham Hendrix). She’s also smart enough to incorporate her upbeat roomie Susie (Thaddea Graham), not to mention her folks, into the village idea to raise her child. The show could not be more pro-family if the new FCC chairman penned it, yet its uniqueness comes from how it defines family. Kelley knows, as he demonstrated in writing LA LAW, ALLY MCBEAL and BOSTON LEGAL, that a work family passes for family in our modern era. Only here, that work family’s profession turns into the job of giving Bodhi the best upbringing possible, one filled with love, humor, attention, and full-time presence. As someone famous once said, parenting is 90% showing up.
And even if all kinds of financial obstacles continue to occur for Margo as the title of the show is plural, she has a positive approach to making lemonade out of the lemons. Fanning does double-takes and humorous facial reactions as well as most comics, and yet she also shows Margo wearing her heart on her sleeve, as well as losing her temper when Bodhi’s father Professor Mark (Michael Angarano) returns wanting custody as he now considers Margo to be a whore. It’s the kind of performance that Nicole Kidman gave in BIG LITTLE LIES that showcased so many new sides of her talent, it’s breathtaking. (BTW…Kidman has a large supporting role here as a former colleague of Jinx’s in the ring who is now practicing family law, a nice way of Kelley combining his legal background as well as his relationship with her from their award-winning miniseries.) Fanning is phenomenal in the role and here’s hoping she wins an Emmy for her incredible work.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Pfeiffer and Offerman are Emmy contenders in the supporting categories as well. They both do exemplary work, making us laugh and tear up at their own private problems, let alone when they showcase their characters getting out of their own heads and helping the greater good of Margo’s immediate family needs. The whole cast is top-notch, as are all the production values and especially the costuming. The wardrobe of Margo during her OnlyFans shows are hilarious, both kitschy and cool, and the frocks that Mirren Gordon-Crozier dresses Pfeiffer and Offerman in are always a hoot.
Kelley and his team of co-writers and directors ensures that every part, even guest shots by Marcia Gay Harden and Paul McCrane, are written vividly and performed equally as well. The show connects so well with everyone’s issues with money and survival today too without ever becoming heavy-handed or strident about it. Instead, the eight-episode series find the universal in all of Margo’s troubles. Premiering on AppleTV Plus April 15th, it all feels fresh, fun, continually moving and incredibly uplifting without ever turning schmaltzy or preachy. And as dimensional as the storytelling is, as layered as all the characters are, and as brilliant as all the cast is, the thing that stands out the most is how the show is so pro-Margo’s motherhood. She’s a terrific mom, sometimes struggling and learning, but always putting Bodhi first, and the baby is in almost every scene to drive home that no matter what happens, Margo’s primary role here is as the primary caretaker making a good life for her child, even if it’s not everyone’s ideal of success.
Consider me a ginormous fan, and I doubt I’ll be the only fan saying that about this superior and heartfelt show.
