High Fidelity premiered on Hulu on February 14, 2020 to positive reviews from critics. The series was canceled in August 2020 after one season.[2]
Premise
High Fidelity follows "the ultimate music fan, a record store owner who's obsessed with pop culture and Top Five lists" in the neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.[3]
Cast and characters
Main
Zoë Kravitz as Robyn "Rob" Brooks,[4][5] the owner of Championship Vinyl who struggles with a lifetime of failed relationships
Robyn "Rob" Brooks is the owner of a record store called Championship Vinyl. Breaking the fourth wall, she explains her history of failed relationships, five of which are her All-Time Top 5 Most Memorable Heartbreaks. One of her ex-boyfriends is Simon, who is now working at the store and is best friend with her alongside Cherise. Rob's latest breakup was Russell "Mac" McCormack, who left her brokenhearted to live in London. A year later, thinking she has recovered from Mac, she decides to go on a date with Clyde. On her way to the meeting spot, she bumps into Mac, who has moved back to New York. Distraught, she behaves poorly at the beginning of the date, but ultimately warms to Clyde, inviting him over to her house. The next day, she is dismayed to wake up and find Clyde gone. When he returns to her house later that night with an explanation, she acts coldly and rebuffs him. Breaking the fourth wall, she admits she still has feelings for Mac.
2
"Track 2"
Jeffrey Reiner
Veronica West & Sarah Kucserka
February 14, 2020 (2020-02-14)
Rob is developing a playlist about Mac with no intention of sending it to him. While explaining how to make a good playlist, she rewinds past events from their relationship. One night, she found a wedding ring among his stuff and panicked; she left suddenly and only returned late in the night, saying that she was ready to be his fiancée. As Rob flashes back, Simon and Cherise show up at her apartment and take her to watch the show of an up-and-coming punk rock singer named Liam Shawcross. They end up adoring Liam and his musical expression, so they invite him to show up someday at the store. Rob returns home with the perfect song to close the playlist and sends it to Mac. The next morning, having brunch with Cam, Rob's brother, and his wife Nikki, Rob discovers that Mac is dating another woman and leaves infuriated.
3
"What Fucking Lily Girl?"
Jeffrey Reiner
Josh Koenigsberg
February 14, 2020 (2020-02-14)
Rob discovers via Cam that Mac met Lily one year earlier and is about to propose. As she starts obsessing with Lily, Liam Shawcross shows up at the store and invites them to a concert he's performing. Simon questions Cherise why she hasn't released a song yet, even though she wants to launch a music career. Rob misses Liam's show because she was trying to spot Lily in a frose bar, but she and Liam have a good time together afterwards, ending up in Liam's apartment. When they start kissing, Rob discovers that Liam's much younger than her and leaves abruptly. Questioning why she always becomes miserable after a breakup, Rob calls Kevin Bannister, number one on her top 5 heartbreaks, and learns through one of his family members that he has married Hannah Shepherd, the girl he dated after Rob, when they were children. This revelation makes Rob understand that the end of their relationship was fate and was beyond her control. Relieved, she decides to search for the other ex-lovers she had.
4
"Good Luck and Goodbye"
Andrew DeYoung
Eli Wilson Pelton
February 14, 2020 (2020-02-14)
Rob starts her search to track down her Top 5 heartbreaks to find out why she's always "rejected." Though initially planning on speaking with them chronologically, she runs into Simon at a pretentious coffee shop. Simon becomes annoyed when Rob tells him he's on her list of heartbreaks, but also insists that since they've maintained their friendship, in a way, they've never broken up. At the store, Rob and Simon notice Cherise putting in more work than usual and that she's put up a flyer in search of a band. Rob reaches out to Kat Monroe through Instagram, where Kat's found a moderate amount of fame as an influencer but is left on read. Rob decides to move on to Justin Kitt, her fourth ex, who still performs stand up comedy as he did when they were dating. Rob becomes moderately disinterested in their conversation, but she does feel a lot better when reminded that she was the one who ended things with Justin not the other way around. The next day, Kat follows up with Rob. They meet at a sponsored event for Kat and her fellow influencers, which Rob leaves dismissed and irritated by Kat. That night, Simon and Cherise heavily advise Rob not to talk to her final ex: Mac. Instead, Rob decides to show up to Mac's apartment unannounced. They share a drink and at first things seem well, until Rob brings up Lily. She leaves, upset that she could not bring herself to ask Mac why he left her and smokes alone in her apartment in frustration.
Veronica West, Sarah Kucserka, and Leigh Ann Biety
February 14, 2020 (2020-02-14)
10
"The Other Side of the Rock"
Jeffrey Reiner
Veronica West
February 14, 2020 (2020-02-14)
Production
Development
On April 5, 2018, Disney announced it was developing a television series adaptation of their 2000 Touchstone film High Fidelity to be written by Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka with the intention of distributing it through their then-unnamed upcoming streaming service, now known as Disney+.[6] Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Midnight Radio and ABC Signature Studios.[7] On September 24, 2018, it was announced that Disney had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. Executive producers were expected to include West, Kucserka, Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg, and Zoë Kravitz.[3] On April 9, 2019, it was announced that the series has been moved from Disney+ to Hulu.[8] In July 2019, during an interview, Natasha Lyonne revealed that she was directing an episode of High Fidelity.[9] On August 5, 2020, Hulu canceled the series after one season.[2]
Casting
Alongside the series order announcement, it was confirmed that Zoë Kravitz, whose mother Lisa Bonet appeared in the 2000 film adaptation, is set to star in the series.[3] On April 22, 2019, it was announced that Jake Lacy had been cast as a series regular.[10] On May 17, 2019, it was reported that Da'Vine Joy Randolph and David Holmes had joined the main cast.[4] In the same month, Kingsley Ben-Adir was cast in a guest starring role.[11]
Filming
The principal photography started around July 2019 in Brooklyn.[12]
Release
Broadcast
High Fidelity premiered on February 14, 2020.[13] The first three episodes were also aired on March 16, 2020, on Freeform.[14] Internationally, the series premiered on February 21, 2020, in Canada on Starz and on May 1, 2020, in Australia on ABC iview and ABC Comedy.[15][16] It was also released in select territories like Australia, the UK and Canada on Disney+ under the Star content hub and on Star+ in Latin America.[6]
Marketing
The first set of images were released in late October 2019 with the announcement of series premiere date.[17] The teaser trailer for the series was released on December 20, 2019 [18]
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an 86% approval rating with 70 reviews, with an average rating of 7.79/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Though it skips the occasional beat, High Fidelity's fresh take on a familiar track is as witty as it is emotionally charged, giving the charming and curmudgeonly Zoë Kravitz plenty of room to shine."[19] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[20]
