How is Tina Fey’s ‘The Four Seasons’ Different From the 1981 Carol Burnett Original?
Tina Fey‘s new show The Four Seasons, which premieres on Netflix today, has more than a little in common with its inspiration, the 1981 film of the same name starring Carol Burnett and Alan Alda. The film and the series share the same premise: three couples who take seasonal vacations together find their dynamic disrupted and their relationships stressed when one couple divorces. The show also uses the same character names, settings, plot points, and even some jokes with the Alda-directed film, which received multiple Golden Globe nominations, including Best Actor for Alda and Best Actress for Burnett, and won for Best Screenplay.
But the show, which Fey stars in and produced, also differs from the source material significantly. Some of that is just a matter of run time — the film was 107 minutes long, while the show is made up of eight half-hour episodes, giving it more room to explore each character’s life. But some of the changes reflect the difference of 44 years, or just differences in taste between comedic masterminds of different eras. Both the show and the series are hilarious, and in the end, each is a fairly unique experience.
Read on to learn how the new Four Seasons compares to the original.
Warning: mild spoilers ahead.
The cast is more diverse
©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Perhaps the most immediately notable difference between the two versions in that, while the film followed a group of three heterosexual, white couples, the Netflix series includes a mixed race gay couple: Danny, played by Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo, and Claude, played by Italian playwright and actor Marco Calvani. They take on the roles played by Rita Moreno and Jack Weston in the original — though Moreno is Puerto Rican, her character in the film was Italian-American.
Anne has more of an inner life
(c) Universal/courtesy Everett Collection
In the film, the relationship between Anne (Sandy Dennis) and Nick (Len Cariou) begins on a similar note to the way things begin between the show’s Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) and Nick (Steve Carell): Nick is bored with Anne, who he claims is dull and without any real interests.
However, as the film goes on, Anne retreats into the background, only popping up for a quick joke about her odd attempts to become more “interesting” after the divorce; the group doesn’t seem to have stayed in close touch with her.
The show, meanwhile, delves into Anne’s inner life, following her on a tropical vacation that takes some unexpected twists, and eventually, on a group vacation that Nick has been excluded from.
Nick and Anne’s daughter also has more of an inner life: while in the film, she briefly expresses her depression at her parents’ divorce, in the show, she stages a hilarious play about the split during her college’s parents weekend (cue the Euphoria “wait, is this play about us?” meme).
The dramatic vow renewal ceremony
Jon Pack / ©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Speaking of Anne: the show’s first two episodes, “Spring,” climax with a surprise vow renewal ceremony, organized by Anne, to honor the anniversary of her fizzling marriage to Nick. The sequence — which ends with a hilarious metaphor for a relationship in decline — has no parallel in the film; instead, Nick complains about his marriage in one scene, and in the next, he has taken up with a new, younger woman named Ginny (Bess Armstrong).
The group has known each other for longer
(c) Universal/courtesy Everett Collection
In the film, the three couples met as adults, after Kate (Carol Burnett), who works as a magazine editor, encountered Claudia, an artist, at an event for creative women. In the show, several of the main characters, including couple Kate (Tina Fey) and Jack (Will Forte), met in college, giving their relationship a longer history and deeper texture (and more grudges to eventually work out).
Danny neglects his health
Jon Pack / ©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
The biggest character change from the film are Danny and Claude, and not just because they’ve been reimagined as a queer couple. In the film, Danny is a neurotic dentist who obsesses over his health and small amounts of money, while Claudia mostly rolls her eyes. By and large, the couple serves as comic relief, with Jack and Kate, as well as Nick and new girlfriend Ginny, bringing the drama.
In the show, Danny is reimagined as someone struggling to admit that — as a man in his 50s who recently underwent heart surgery — his wild party animal days are behind him. He and Claude frequently clash over Danny’s disregard for his health, whether that means ordering a butter-soaked lobster roll for lunch instead of a salad, or hanging out with a bachelorette party who happen to be staying at the same hotel as them.
Things are a little more luxurious
(c) Universal/courtesy Everett Collection
The White Lotus, this isn’t — but still, the new Four Seasons group seem to have a bit more cash to throw around. A scene that takes place in a large rowboat in the film is moved to a cruiser on the show. And while the film’s Nick has a career in insurance sales that the other characters sometimes mock, the show’s Nick is an incredibly successful banker; Danny has also been upgraded from penny-pinching dentist to successful architect. Of course, this could just be another nod to the modern era — after all, who actually has the money to go on four vacations a year these days?
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