Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: September 27, 1990
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: If you were writing this as a movie, sisters Lola and Jemina Kirke would be arch-enemies. Sisters born to the same parents but with different accents and setting up shop in different areas of indie film and TV. Jemima is probably the best of the four Girls actresses, but Lola may have the career that is most on the rise. After snagging the lead role in Mistress America — and holding her own in scenes opposite Greta Gerwig — Kirke had established herself as an indie actress to watch. Which was the perfect time for Mozart in the Jungle to come alone.
Kirke plays Hailey, an aspiring oboist in the New York Philharmonic, enduring the antic-heavy goings on at the symphony. She’s as perfect for that role as she was for the Mistress America role: she’s an ambitious little mouse in a very specific version of New York City where ambitious little mice can make good.
It’s an odd little show, and Kirke can be an odd actress, but they make for a perfect marriage, and the more that TV becomes about hourlong slogs of intensity, Lola Kirke’s Mozart in the Jungle seems more and more crucial.
