‘Alice & Steve’s Trailer Introduces the Wrong-Com
The trailer for Nicola Walker’s latest oddball comedy series, 'Alice & Steve' will raise some eyebrows.
I am open to being proved wrong about Alice & Steve, but currently, I have a hard time believing this show will not flop in the U.S. It’s not that the show looks bad – it debuted at Canneseries in April 2026 to standing ovations and walked away with multiple awards from the festival juries, including Best Series. Nor do I think it’s about the cast – Nicola Walker is a beloved PBS actor. Had Annika not accidentally written itself into a corner, Walker would be a regular staple for public TV the way she was on Last Tango in Halifax and Unforgotten.
The problem is that there’s a certain kind of acerbic British comedy that simply does not translate to American viewers. Consider, for example, the first season of the U.S. remake of The Office. Most people remember the later seasons and Jim and Pam, but that first season, which hewed too close to the British version, nearly killed the show upon arrival, with the general reaction that it was too dark, too mean, and too uncomfortable.
Walker tends to gravitate towards these more oddball offerings, and I would not be surprised in the least if the show is a decent-sized hit in the U.K. But trying to sell Americans on the idea of the “wrong-com” instead of the “rom-com” feels like a bridge too far. The trailer certainly doesn’t help with this impression either.
Here’s the series synopsis:
Alice is devastated when her best friend Steve starts dating her 26-year-old daughter, Izzy. She’s going to lose her best friend and her daughter in one fell swoop. Alice tries everything she can to end the relationship. Unfortunately for her, Steve’s more than ready for the attack, and what begins as a perfect friendship devolves into an all-out feud.
A hilarious, messy, and complicated exploration of friendship, family, and love, “Alice and Steve” is an anti-romantic comedy that asks the question, how far would you go for love - or revenge? Will Alice forgive Steve? Will Steve and Izzy make a relationship work? Amongst all the questions hanging in the balance, one thing is certain: their lives will never be the same again.
The series stars Walker as Alice, Jemaine Clement (Time Bandits) as Steve, Yali Topol Margalith (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder) as Izzy, and Joel Fry (Our Flag Means Death) as Izzy’s friend Daniel. The supporting cast includes Tyrese Eaton-Dyce (Sherwood), Marcia Warren (The Crown), Eilidh Fisher (Dope Girls), and Ebony Aboagye (Mood).
The half-hour series was created and written by Sophie Goodhart (Sex Education), with director Tom Kingsley (This Is Going to Hurt) helming all six installments, with Fran du Pille producing. Petra Fried, Andy Baker, and Wim De Greef executive produce for Clerkenwell Films.
Alice & Steve will debut on Hulu in the U.S. with all episodes on Monday, June 8, 2026.
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