If there's a fashion lesson to be had from "Palm Royale," it's that you can look fabulous even if you're broke, marooned at sea — or, say, in a coma. The 10-part Apple TV+ series is set in 1960s Palm Beach, Fla., and is loosely inspired by Juliet McDaniel's 2018 novel "Mr.
and Mrs. American Pie." The story follows Maxine Simmons (Kristen Wiig), a former Tennessee beauty queen married to Douglas (Josh Lucas), a dashing pilot who is also heir to the plastics and mouthwash fortune of his aunt, the formidable Norma Dellacourte (Carol Burnett).
Maxine is a desperate social climber who will literally climb walls to enter the exclusive Palm Royale country club, a candy-colored oasis of indulgent leisure and unbridled envy. With Norma in a coma, the inheritance is in limbo, but that doesn't stop Maxine from lying, stealing and charming her way into Palm Beach high society. And yet, we are inclined to like her.
Advertisement She encounters her social and style opposite, Linda Shaw (Laura Dern), who runs a feminist collective out of a West Palm Beach bookstore, Our Bodies Our Shelves. Los Angeles native Alix Friedberg had the enviable costume design duties, which became a deep dive into those opposing midcentury styles — luxe socialite versus earthy hippie. "Initially, Laura Dern called me about it.
She said the story took place in 1969 in Palm Beach, a Slim Aarons environment, and you immediately know what that is. It's that rarefied aspirational, colorful, poolside world," said F.