The Miniature Wife

The amalgam of zany premise and insight into how the characters’ interpretations of past familial relationships sabotage the ones they’re trying to repair in the present yields a show much stronger than either half of the concept would’ve been alone.

Despite the occasional dips of this roller-coaster, The Miniature Wife mines from its concept well, turning a largely escapist dramedy into one of surprising substance.

The series is both watchable and trying, given its many tonal shifts and an able, attractive cast, some of whom are assigned to play quite annoying people. .... Anyways, good and bad, it’s easy enough to recommend the series. Delightful and disturbing, size-related fantasies are eternally appealing.

Fans of that movie will assuredly find this series captivating. But the life of the story has run its course by the time the credits roll on episode 10.

At 10 episodes, it quickly runs out of steam and almost falls apart, with its premise betrayed by other needless drama. It's still worth recommending, because it finds a way past those flaws in favor of embracing its deeper themes.

It is a pleasant enough diversion, which feels as though it should be on at Christmas, but I wouldn’t put it in the category of “must-see”.

At the end of Episode 8, my one-word review would have been “Tedious.” Here’s the surprise: “The Miniature Wife” didn’t leave me cold. The characters take us through an array of emotions. Mostly I wanted them to implode—demonstratively—but that’s NOT nothing. .... Episode 9 is a Hail Mary that pulls you back in for a somewhat satisfying final Episode 10.

Too often, the air leaves the room when Les, Lindy and Vivienne do. Making my way through the screeners, I kept yearning for focus and concision — a version of the show pared down to its most essential elements. For a story about a shrinking woman, “The Miniature Wife” can’t seem to recognize the virtues of staying small.

Long before the end of its nearly 10-hour run you begin to feel the limitations. Ames and Turner adapted The Miniature Wife from a short story of the same name by Manuel Gonzales, but they needed to bring a lot more to the table to justify this kind of run time. Lindy might not agree, but quite often shorter is better.

This kind of tonal clash – trenchant marriage satire meets sci-fi meets physical comedy – can work but it needs a pin-sharp script to hold it all together. The Miniature Wife’s problem is that it doesn’t have one.