Hulu's 'Extraordinary' Looks Too Fun To Be Ordinary

Since Disney+ started getting into the international productions game, Hulu has been reaping the benefits. Disney owns both, but due to complications in Hulu's origin story, the two currently are separate services in the states. (That's not true in the U.K., where Hulu is known as "Star" and is a tile within Disney+'s umbrella, like Marvel and Star Wars.)  Since Hulu is the more "adult-oriented" streamer in America, most of the new titles Disney+ is launching for itself in the U.K. wind up on Hulu, including the recent tv series Wedding Season and Oscar contender The Banshees of Inisherin. The latest, Extraordinary, takes Disney+'s superhero standard and turns it into a roaring comedy.

Before it merged under Disney's control after the 2019 merger with 20th Century, Hulu already had a standing relationship with U.K. TV, featuring everything from high-end co-productions with BBC Three like Normal People to hosting seasons upon seasons of trashy reality shows from ITV and Channel 4 like Love Island. While Disney+ was launched with a particular brand in mind, Hulu has become the default "everything else" store featuring Disney and FX co-productions along with its own, plus its backwash of filler TV shows.

Each set of co-productions has a different flavor: Hulu's choices are female-focused Conversations with Friends and Harlots. In contrast, FX has more controversial stuff like Steven Knight's A Christmas Carol and the forthcoming Great Expectations. Disney+'s, on the other hand, have been comedies. Wedding Season, while not great, was a wild romp making gentle fun of romcoms. Extraordinary looks to be the same soft-focused comedy making light of the superhero craze (of which Disney is a major proponent) while departing family-friendly lessons of being yourself.

Here's the series' official synopsis:

Ten years ago, everyone over the age of 18 got their superpower. But Jen, a painfully self-aware 25-year-old woman, is still waiting to get hers. She’d take anything at this point. Adrift in a big, confusing world and armed with nothing but a bit of hope, a lot of desperation and her flatmates, Jen begins her journey to find her maybe-superpower.

The show is led by the up-and-coming Máiréad Tyers (Belfast), who is also part of the forthcoming My Lady Jane at Amazon Prime Video, as the superpowerless Jen. She's joined by Sofia Oxenham (Poldark), Bilal Hasna (Layla), and Luke Rollason (Becoming Elizabeth) as her three BFFs. Other costars include Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls), Robbie Gee (Guilt), Safia Oakley-Green (Sherwood), and Ned Porteous (Bridgerton). The series is the debut comedy from writer Emma Moran, with directors Nadira Amrani (On The Edge), Toby MacDonald (Ragdoll), and Jennifer Sheridan (Rules of the Game) sharing helming duties over the eight-episode series.

All episodes of Extraordinary will debut on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, on Hulu.