Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist dad
Photo Cred: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist

A young woman discovers she has the ability to hear the innermost thoughts of people around her as songs and musical numbers.. but the story is so much deeper than that.

 

Johannesburg, South Africa (20 October 2020) – You will laugh, you will cry, you will sing, and you may even dance a little but ultimately Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is a reminder of what matters most – family, love and life itself. And it may be the best thing you’ll watch in 2020!

If there’s a song in your heart, it will get in her head. Jane Levy stars in this high-concept drama as Zoey Clarke, a whip-smart computer coder forging her way in San Francisco.

After an unusual event, Zoey, who always preferred podcasts over pop songs, suddenly starts to hear the innermost wants, thoughts and desires of the people around her – her family, co-workers and complete strangers – through popular songs.

At first, she questions her own sanity, but after getting some guidance from her musically adept neighbour, Mo, and making a breakthrough with her ailing father, Zoey soon realizes this unwanted curse may just be an incredibly wonderful gift as she connects with the world like never before.

Especially because it allows her to communicate with her father who suffers from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), their father-daughter relationship could be sad, but instead, it brings joy with their communication through music. Peter Gallagher plays the role of Zoey’s father.

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
Photo Cred: Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

The story of the new series is full of heart, but the most powerful part of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is how it was created — because it actually is rooted in reality. The creator Austin Winsberg took the most “difficult, painful time in his family” and turned it into something beautiful, optimistic, and full of hope.

“It started from the fact that my father passed away several years ago from PSP, this degenerative neurological disease,” Winsberg tells EW. “In a year, my dad went from being this super dynamic, vibrant, outgoing guy to pretty close to a vegetable. He couldn’t move; he could only kind of move his right hand. He was losing weight rapidly. He couldn’t speak anymore. For the last six months that my dad was alive, we didn’t really know how much he was processing, if he was processing what was really going on, in his brain.”

Winsberg was welcoming his first child at the same time this was happening with his father. “So I was losing my dad while becoming a dad,” he adds. Since he’s a writer at heart, he knew that eventually he would write about the whole experience, but he didn’t know when he would be able to or how he would even approach it.

“With some distance, when I started thinking about it, I thought, ‘What was really going on in my dad’s head during that time that he was sick?’”

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist has already been renewed for a second season but the first season is available to watch right now on Hulu, Apple TV and will be on DSTV on the 7th of November 2020.

Watch the trailer here:


Sources: Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
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About the Author

Brent Lindeque is the founder and editor in charge at Good Things Guy.

Recognised as one of the Mail and Guardian’s Top 200 Young South African’s as well as a Primedia LeadSA Hero, Brent is a change maker, thought leader, radio host, foodie, vlogger, writer and all round good guy.

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