‘Minx’ This Emmys Season (Even If It Was Canceled)  : Don’t Forget About

It’s been an emotional roller coaster for fansof “Minx,” the 1970s-set comedy about the ragtag band of misfits who put together the first erotica magazine for women — complete with full frontal male nudity. The Ellen Rappaport-created show premiered on HBO Max in March 2022 and was promptly picked up for a second season. Then the streamer reversed that choice, leaving a completed second season without a home — until Starz stepped in.

The reprieve was short-lived as Starz also canceled the show, effectively ending the series run on a high note — but one that still felt unjustly premature. “I think we’ve come to the end of that road,” says Ophelia Lovibond, who played the titular magazine’s editor, Joyce Prigger. “Unless you hear different — in which case, sign me up!”

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If there’s any justice to be gleaned, it’s that the second season — which began airing in July 2023 — is eligible for Emmys this year in the comedy category. That includes its wildly talented ensemble, led by Lovibond as the brilliant but fallible Joyce. Perhaps best-known for her role as Sherlock Holmes’ protégé Kitty Winter in “Elementary,” Lovibond was always endearing and relatable, even when her character could be, in her own words, “a bit of a bossy boots and a know-it-all.”

Though Joyce is truly trying to further her cause and empower women, she is not without her own blind spots, often being self-absorbed and stub- born. She is slow to catch on to the machinations of her new owner, a wealthy widow named Con- stance (Elizabeth Perkins) and takes her loving sister Shelly (Lennon Parham) for granted.

In Episode 6, “This Is Our Zig,” Joyce returns to her alma mater Vassar College with Shelly in tow and is horrified when her former mentor seems more intrigued by her sister. We later learn of Shelly’s unspoken sacrifices, including how she dropped out of college to raise Joyce after their mother abandoned them. Joyce -

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realizes she’s been self-absorbed in her attempt to spread her message of independence. “She has unwittingly used her own sister’s lack of freedom to talk about freedom for other women,” Lovibond notes.

Still, Lovibond says, “I loved her drive. She was ahead of her time, in terms of what she was campaigning for.” And Lovibond appreciated that she was a work in progress. “What Ellen so brilliantly captured with Joyce is that you can be well-meaning and make mistakes,” she says. “And also, it’s OK to make mistakes. For women, generally speaking, they’re given a lot less allowance to make mistakes and be forgiven.”

To prepare for the role, Lovibond read every one of the books that Joyce mentions in the show, many of which she was already familiar with “as a long-standing feminist myself.” She also perfected an American accent, which she jokes she’s had years to prepare, thanks to all the American movies and shows she’s watched.

“I’ve always kind of been able to do accents, but I did have a voice and dialect coach as well who was fantastic,” she notes. “In fact, a lot of the crew didn’t realize I was English, which delighted me to no end.”

While the show may have concluded, Lovibond has taken away so much from the experience of playing Joyce. That includes “being more confident in terms of talking about sex with my friends, male and female,” adding, “It was a part of friendship that I didn’t realize was missing until I played Joyce. And now it’s all we can bloody well talk about. So, thanks, Joyce. And thanks Ellen, for creating that world and letting us play.”

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