Tiny Beautiful Things: Everything We Know About Your Next Obsession on Hulu

Spring can't come soon enough, with the news that Tiny Beautiful Things, based on Cheryl Strayed's best-selling book and starring Kathryn Hahn, will premiere this April on Hulu. Details were announced at the Television Critics Association winter press tour.

The limited series, which is based on Strayed's life and her time writing the advice column Dear Sugar, has all the makings of the next hit series for the streamer. Aside from Strayed’s and Hahn's involvement, Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern are executive producers, and it's adapted for TV by Liz Tigelaar, who was an EP on Witherspoon's limited series Little Fires Everywhere. 

“When I read the source material, there was such generosity in that, and such a heart in there,” Hahn told journalists at the TCAs on January 14. “Then, when I saw Liz [Tigelaar] had adapted that into this [show], I was incredibly moved to be a part of it.”

Hahn also noted that TV is where she wants to be right now, especially given that there's more room to tell complex stories with more depth. She noted that in a series such as Tiny Beautiful Things, it's nice to see “women's bodies that are older, that can feel deep, complicated [things that are] not the butt of the joke, and that are interesting, funny, illuminating and powerful. In all ways. And all different kinds of voices. I feel super psyched to be around at this age, at this time, in this medium.” (By the way, if you haven't read Hahn's letter about getting sexier with age, which she wrote for Glamour at the age of 44, check that out here.)

So what else do we know about the new, must-watch series? Read on for everything we know, including the first trailer that just dropped.

What is Tiny Beautiful Things about? The limited series is based on the best-selling collection by Cheryl Strayed, the author of the wildly popular memoir Wild. The TV adaptation of Tiny Beautiful Things follows Clare (played by Kathryn Hahn), a floundering writer who becomes a revered advice columnist while her own life is falling apart.

“We knew Clare isn't going to be [me exactly], but many of her experiences had to be mine,” Strayed said at the TCAs. “She had to have a mother who died young of cancer, who got married young and then divorced. She had to grow up in a rural environment like I did. Those are the things that made me, those are the things that make Clare. So those are the pieces that come from my life.”

Courtesy of publisher

“Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life” by Cheryl Strayed

$17 $15 at Amazon

When we first meet Clare, her marriage to her husband, Danny (Quentin Plair), is barely surviving. Meanwhile, her teenage daughter, Rae (Tanzyn Crawford), is pushing her away, and her once promising writing career doesn't seem to be going anywhere. So, when an old writing pal asks her to take over as the advice columnist for Dear Sugar, she thinks the idea is ridiculous. Of course, she eventually concedes and is able to explore and internalize her most pivotal moments from childhood through the present day. As the voice of Sugar, Clare is able to relay to her readers that none of us are too broken to thrive in life.

When does it premiere? Friday, April 7, on Hulu. There are eight 30-minute episodes in the limited series, which will drop at once.

Who stars in the series? Kathryn Hahn (How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, The Holiday, Transparent, among many, many others), Sarah Pidgeon (The Wilds), Quentin Plair (Welcome to Chippendales, Roswell, New Mexico), and Tanzyn Crawford (Alexander), with guest stars Owen Painter (The Handmaid's Tale), Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie, The Walking Dead), Elizabeth Hinkler (The Good Doctor), and Michaela Watkins (The Unicorn, Catastrophe). 

How are Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern involved? Witherspoon and Dern are both executive producers of the series. As you might remember, Witherspoon played Strayed in the film adaptation of Wild, in which Dern also starred. They both earned Oscar nominations. Liz Tigelaar, creator and executive producer of Tiny Beautiful Things, was also showrunner and executive producer of Witherspoon's series, Little Fires Everywhere. In addition, Lauren Neustadter, Jayme Lemons, Stacey Silverman, and Kathryn Hahn serve as EPs on Things, which is from ABC Signature, and Witherspoon and Neustadter's company, Hello Sunshine. 

Is there a trailer? Yes! The first trailer was released on March 6, 2023. Watch:

I want more. Are there episode descriptions? Sure are! See the breakdown below:

Episode 101: “Pilot” 
Logline: We meet Clare as her husband, Danny, has kicked her out of their home for giving her brother Lucas their daughter Rae’s college fund. But an old friend needs someone to take on his advice column Dear Sugar. And it might be exactly what Clare needs.
Written by: Liz Tigelaar Directed by: Rachel Goldenberg

Episode 102: “Yours, Sugar”
Logline: Clare grapples with whether or not she wants to become Sugar as she reels from trouble at work and with Rae. In the past, Young Clare and Young Lucas must confront their grief at Frankie’s funeral. If Clare can’t figure out her own life, can she be Sugar?
Written by: Nancy Won Directed by: Rachel Goldenberg

Episode 103: “The Ghost Ship”
Logline: Danny and Clare try to untangle their relationship—and Rae’s threesome—as Clare considers her path not taken. In the past, Young Clare finds out she’s pregnant with Rae.
Written by: Ellen Fairey Directed by: Desiree Akhavan

Episode 104: “Under the Stars”
Logline: As Clare deals with her TikTok-famous Montana confrontation and Rae’s recent partying, she’s haunted by a letter writer who desperately needs Sugar’s advice. In the past, Young Clare learns of Frankie’s diagnosis and desperately tries to save her.
Written by: Jocelyn Bioh Directed by: Desiree Akhavan

Episode 105: “The Nose”
Logline: When a furious Rae tells Clare and Danny that she doesn’t want to go back to her school, Clare remembers her own college experience with Frankie—and the reason she never got her degree.
Written by: Des Moran Directed by: Stacie Passon

Episode 106: “Broken Things”
Logline: Danny and Clare take a good (ahem) hard look at their sex life as a letter writer writes in about her boyfriend’s secret shame. Meanwhile, Rae grapples with letting Montana back into her life as she realizes she might just have the upper hand. 
Written by: Naomi Iwamoto Directed by: Stacie Passon

Episode 107: “Go”
Logline: Clare and Amy attend a writers retreat, but when Amy gets great news, Clare can’t help but question if her sacrifices for Danny and their family have been holding her back. As she remembers her first marriage to Jess, she wonders: Should she stay or go?
Written by: Deirdre Shaw Directed by: Desiree Akhavan 

Episode 108: “Love”
Logline: Fresh off shocking news from Danny, Rae reveals who really dropped off the missing money—causing Clare to bring Rae along on a mad dash road trip to Clare’s childhood home. In the past, Clare rushes to get Lucas to the hospital for Frankie’s last days.
Written by: Kaitlyn Fahey Directed by: Desiree Akhavan 

What about photos? Yep, we've got those for you! 

We'll update this post as more info becomes available. 

Jessica Radloff is the Glamour senior West Coast editor and author of the New York Times best-selling book The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series.