It's a fool's errand to devote every waking moment to becoming one of the hip people in status-obsessed Los Angeles – but such a quest rises to tragic hilarity when the vanity seekers are two platonic friends who lack the common sense to realise they belong together.
That's the premise of Alone Together, a new sitcom about two outsider kids now grown up who are always there for each other when it comes to chasing their foolish dream. Even as they press their eager faces, metaphorically, up against the plate glass of the Hollywood candy shop of money, beauty and fame – so close and yet so far – they fear they'll be perennially stuck on the outside looking in. They're probably right.
That's the charm of Alone Together, a show which represents the younger, edgier brand – along with Grown-ish, the Black-ish spin-off set on a college campus – that the Disney-ABC Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company, has been developing over the past two years for Freeform, its new cable and satellite TV channel.
Heavily promoted on social media prior to its January launch in the United States, the show stars two established stand-up comics – Esther Povitsky and Benji Aflalo – and hails from the comic minds of the Lonely Island gang, led by former Saturday Night Live and current Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Andy Samberg and his fellow executive producers Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone.
“Our audience will quickly fall in love, as we did with real-life best friends Esther and Benji, who navigate a world of perfect 10s as self-proclaimed 6s,” predicts Karey Burke, Freeform’s vice president of programming and development, who’s already renewed the show for a second season.
Vanity Fair characterises the show as "a new kind of buddy comedy" – while Aflalo vows their characters will never be romantically involved: "Let's be honest. Romance doesn't really work out for anybody, ever."
This is not the kind of sanitised show one might expect from Disney, or what was previously known as the ABC Family platform of kid-friendly wholesome fare. To their relief, Povitsky and Aflalo readily admit they were handed enough creative freedom to keep it real.
“We’re not into graphic stuff, but we do want to be edgy,” says Aflalo. “[Disney] doesn’t push back on anything, really. I don’t ever feel like there are things we can’t do – and there was never a sense of that. I don’t feel restricted in any way.”
“I think we got to do the version we wanted because neither of us are super-dirty,” adds Povitsky. “We’re not squeaky-clean pilgrims, but neither of us are blue.”
In real life, the comedy couple describes their relationship as “co-dependent friends”, which has raised more than a few eyebrows among their mates, who persistently wonder if there’s something more between them than funny business.
“We met at The Comedy Store, which at the time was not the cool place to be. It was kind of where losers congregated and we identified as that,” says Povitsky. “That was how we met, as two of the misfits who were hanging [there] until 3am
every night.
"In terms of being a partnership, I do want to be clear, and Benji will agree: We're not a comedy duo. We both do stand-up on our own, we do a lot of stuff on our own, so it was never like, 'Let's team up.' It never felt like a partnership, just a friendship, and we wanted to do one thing together."
“We have a co-dependent friendship and those friendships get a bad rep,” says Aflalo, “but I think the co-dependent friendship helped us because we relied on each other. We made that short [film that led to our series]. We really had to lean on each other. It was a partnership out of necessity because I don’t think either of us could have put a short together on our own.”
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Netflix's 'Altered Carbon': explore a nightmare future where money can buy you immortality
'House of Cards' final season: Diane Lane, Greg Kinnear join cast
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The platonic concept for Alone Together, says Povitsky, "was borne out of how we spent so much time together and people took notice. "'Why are those two always hanging out? They're not dating. Are they dating? Are you dating?
People are always asking us those questions.
"We couldn't understand what was going on, and that sort of became the starting point for us. People clearly want to know what's up – so that just got us in the mood to do stuff together."
In a smart, millennials-friendly marketing campaign – with their network’s blessing – Povitsky and Aflalo recently took to Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and other digital platforms to whine that Freeform was being a cheapskate about marketing their show – and wouldn’t spend a dime to promote it. Playing along, the network brass relented somewhat and promised the pair a status-symbol billboard in Hollywood ... but only if they could get 10,000 Tweets.
They got their billboard.
Alone Together airs on Monday on OSN Series Comedy HD.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
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Jawab Iteiqal
Director: Mohamed Sammy
Starring: Mohamed Ramadan, Ayad Nasaar, Mohamed Adel and Sabry Fawaz
2 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Company%20Profile
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
WHAT%20IS%20THE%20LICENSING%20PROCESS%20FOR%20VARA%3F
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Sukuk explained
Sukuk are Sharia-compliant financial certificates issued by governments, corporates and other entities. While as an asset class they resemble conventional bonds, there are some significant differences. As interest is prohibited under Sharia, sukuk must contain an underlying transaction, for example a leaseback agreement, and the income that is paid to investors is generated by the underlying asset. Investors must also be prepared to share in both the profits and losses of an enterprise. Nevertheless, sukuk are similar to conventional bonds in that they provide regular payments, and are considered less risky than equities. Most investors would not buy sukuk directly due to high minimum subscriptions, but invest via funds.