Apple TV and sex workers — who’d have thought they’d make such a delightful pairing? Earlier this year, the streaming service released the drama series Margo’s Got Money Troubles, based on the book of the same name, which follows a young woman as she turns to cam work to support herself and her new baby.
It’s a great show, and you definitely should check it out. That said, I should point out that this article isn’t about that Apple TV show; it’s about a different one involving the same sorta thing — and it involves blackmail, fraud and murder. That sounds heavy, I know, but I assure you, the show I am talking about is a comedy. A dark comedy, mind you, but still.
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is the program I’m talking about. The series drops new episodes each Wednesday on Apple TV and is in the middle of its first season. If everything I’ve said thus far has piqued your interest, keep reading, because this here’s a show you should be paying attention to.
Read more: This Apple TV Horror Comedy Is Fun, Frightful and One of the Best Shows of the Year
Jake Johnson plays Paula’s ex.
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed doesn’t tread lightly with its subject matter, whether we’re talking about the sex work storyline, the violence strewn throughout each episode or the compounding emotional trauma Paula is subjected to as she tries to keep it together.
I should probably remind you that this is a comedy. It’s got a similar vibe to, say, HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, which also follows a character who gets sucked into a murder conspiracy and must make unsavory decisions. The levity comes through the show’s quick-cut edits, the brash techno soundtrack that accompanies the opening credits and the jarring attention to random voices and phone noises.
You could easily read that sentence and think I’m talking about a horror series, but the line between laughs and scares is thin. With David Gordon Green behind the camera — a director who has worked heavily in both genres — this all makes sense.
