His novel was so disturbingly prophetic that it takes relatively little updating to modernize it.

Huxley synthesized the 1930s’ latest innovations in industrialized capitalism, genetics, and psychology to imagine a future where the population is divided into rigid caste systems, and pleasure and stability are the highest priorities. By leaning into the absurd aspects of the show’s setting and sharing stories of largely likable or at least highly relatable characters, Wiener and his crew have produced a show that’s far less emotionally taxing than Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, but still delivers sharp insights about human nature and the societies we build. Showrunner David Wiener ( Homecoming and The Killing) has managed to produce a surprisingly funny work of dystopian fiction. Still, it’s far from the boring same-old Helm is worried about. And because it’s premiering on an all-new streaming service without the built-in audience investment that Disney+ brought to projects like The Mandalorian, it’s unlikely to be the next big thing. The Brave New World TV series certainly isn’t a New Thing for an audience used to slick, oppressive dystopia stories. Helm is worried about the novelty wearing off, but her monologue could easily be an expression of the anxieties felt by the show’s writers. Feelies incorporate physical sensation along with sights and sounds, but they’re just another iteration of movies. Helm directs feelies, a form of cinema author Aldous Huxley envisioned in his 1932 novel Brave New World. And if it’s boring, they will turn it off and they’ll be alone with their thoughts. It’s really just the old thing, but more of it. We have to give it to them like that, because if we don’t, they might realize that the New Thing isn’t new at all.

“They want the New Thing, because with every new thing, there’s a chance that it could be the Big Thing,” she muses.

About halfway through Brave New World, one of the most prominent launch series on NBC’s new Peacock streaming service, Wilhelmina “Helm” Watson ( Killjoys’ Hannah John-Kamen) discusses the challenge of constantly entertaining the pleasure-obsessed residents of New London.

The brave new world show