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Love Daily

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Meredith Foster and Jack Griffo in 'Love Daily.' (Showmax)
Meredith Foster and Jack Griffo in 'Love Daily.' (Showmax)

OUR RATING

3/5 Stars

WHAT IT'S ABOUT:

Love Daily is a romantic anthology series that tells the stories of 14 couples, former couples, or wanna-be couples as they hook up, break up, make up, get it on, get it wrong and get caught off guard by love.  

WHAT WE THOUGHT: 

If you're looking for a brain-break but can't commit to anything serious right now, or just need a dose of the feels to get your mind off the news for a while, Love Daily might be just what the doctor ordered.

The snack-sized love stories in this Writers Guild of America-nominated anthology series come in all flavours - sweet, funny, sad, silly, tender, awkward, hopeful, as-if, and oh-that-was-me.

The show revolves around young couples, and while I would probably have fallen in love with more of the stories in my teens, it's easy viewing, and the 12-minute short story format means my level 4 concentration span can actually go the distance. 

Each of the seven episodes is around 21 minutes long and contains two stories, so I scoffed the lot in two very chilled sittings.

If you're looking for popcorn, this is a pretty sweet batch. Good stories can speak to anyone, and there are some real charmers in this series.

As with most anthology series, it's a bit of a lucky packet. The stories have different writers, directors, and actors, some good, some okay, and some great. Here and there a plot might get a little iffy, but then, the narrative devices of short stories can also mine truths that are harder to get to in longer formats.

The cast includes favourites from the Disney and Nickelodeon shows you might have been into as a kid, but they're all grown up now – and a very different kind of cute. We're talking stars like Kelli Berglund (Lab Rats), Joey Bragg (Liv and Maddie), Laura Marano (Austin and Ally), Kids' Choice nominee Kira Kosarin (The Thundermans) and Jack Griffo (Alexa & Katie). And then there are the YouTube mega-stars like Alexis G. Zall, Meredith Foster and Jay Versace.

The anthology format lends itself to playing around with genre (think Room 104) and I found the more loony and surreal episodes held the most appeal for me.

Among my favourite episodes was The Truth About Dating (Ep 3.1), starring Matt Shively from The Real O'Neals and American Housewives, and Jillian Rose Reed from Awkward. The characters weren't instantly crush-worthy, but that made them more real – you could totally meet someone like this on Tinder.

The story's premise, which sees two people get hit with an honesty spell during a first date, is sublime, and plays out beautifully. It left me thinking, "Imagine if we all actually were that honest on first dates?" Sure, you might get a lot more walkouts, but the people who actually stayed would be far more likely to stick around when it turns out (shock and horror!) that you don't just naturally wake up smelling like that in the morning.

Then there's Christmas Dumplings (Ep2.1), in which Christine says, "My stomach hurts, and my heart wants to throw up. This is super cool and fun." Ooh! Ooh! I know that feeling! I recognise those symptoms! Bad news, girl – it's love.

Whatever Christine keeps telling herself about how she's totally emotionally honest and puts it all out there, she clearly has some deep-down stuff going on that needs dealing with - specifically, the way she can't tear her thoughts away from geeky waitress Sam, but won't actually say so out loud.

My favourite bit in the story is when Christine admits: "If I like you, and you like me back … I don't know what happens next." And Sam comes back with: "Probably something terrifying."    

It's an adorable two-hander starring Emmy nominees Brianne Tju (Light as a Feather) and Alexis G. Zall (Bec in Zac & Mia, The Goldbergs), whose YouTube channel has 77million views, and counting.

In Paul's Broken Heart (Ep 4.2), Paul's girlfriend dumps him on the last day of high school, making a mockery of all the yearbook superlatives. They were supposed to be "Best Couple" forever.

For Paul, this is not your common or garden heartbreak… You know that feeling when your heart is breaking, and it feels like someone physically punched you in the chest? Well, what if your heart did get broken? Like, literally, physically broken.

This episode is kind of ridiculous. So how did it get to be one of my favourites in the series?

Because while, yes, it's thoroughly silly and sweet and cheesy, it totally pulls it off, thanks to some clever writing and great performances. And the sucker-punch payoff is so worth it.

It stars Jack Griffo from Alexa & Katie and The Thundermans as the freshly dumped Paul. His best friend Harold is played by Vine star Jay Versace, and mega-star vlogger and podcaster Meredith Foster (who has over 410 million views on her YouTube channel) plays Paul's girlfriend.

The episodes that hit home are going to vary for every viewer, and if you do hit a dud, the next one is bound to grab you. If you've ever experienced love, searched for love, or lost love – basically, if you're not a robot – there are stories here that will sing for you.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:

WATCH IT NOW ON SHOWMAX

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