Margo's Got Money Troubles, based on the 2024 novel by Rufi Thorpe, is now an eight-part series on Apple TV starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nick Offerman and Nicole Kidman.
The series was created by David E. Kelley, who wrote or co-wrote several of the eight episodes. Kelley's impressive TV career goes all the way back to L.A. Law, Ally McBeal, Picket Fences and Boston Legal — but more recently, he's made a specialty of adapting other writers' novels for TV. Those include Margo's Got Money Troubles, but also adaptations of the novels Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers.
In the title role, Fanning plays Margo Millet, a promising first-year student at a California community college whose literature professor praises her writing, has an affair with her, gets her pregnant, then ghosts her — all within the show's opening episode.
Margo decides she wants to have the baby, which upsets her mother Shyanne, a flamboyant woman played by Pfeiffer. Margo's father played, by Offerman, eventually shows up on Margo's doorstep, confessing that he's come straight from rehab, after years of drug abuse.
Offerman's character is a former pro wrestler named Jinx, and his exploits inside the ring might sound like comic relief, or a broad caricature. But like Margo's mother, and Margo herself, these characters have depth, and darkness, and can be serious as well as amusing.
The "money troubles" in the title mount up for Margo after her baby is born. Her unusual solution for paying the bills is to open an OnlyFans account. Some of the offerings and interactions on that site can be quite sexual — and quite lucrative.
Margo keeps it PG-rated, first by writing playful prose, then by appearing in still photos, and finally by producing and starring in saucy, sci-fi-themed videos. Her goal is to keep her source of income secret, and completely apart from her private life — but that goal fails.
Because Margo's Got Money Troubles is as realistic as it is fanciful, the ramifications of her actions are real, and sometimes painful. She experiences shaming, regret, even legal troubles — which I mention only because, in a single courtroom scene playing an eccentric judge, actor Paul McCrane almost steals the show from all these other powerful players. As a judge in a Kelley drama, he's as much fun as Ray Walston was in Picket Fences.
Even the characters you expect to be peripheral, or one-dimensional, end up surprising you in this miniseries, and the dynamics of friends and family are equally complicated. Margo and Shyanne yell at each other a lot, but they also demonstrate a delightful mother-daughter bond.
Margo's Got Money Troubles includes instances of casual nudity, but they never seem gratuitous. Fanning throws herself into this role in a way that's both vulnerable and empowering, and it's an enthralling performance to witness. Kidman doesn't show up until halfway through, but wow, is she worth the wait. And when she and Pfeiffer finally get to share the screen, Margo's Got Money Troubles is pure gold.
There are so many strong performances here, and so many rich characters, that it's riveting from start to finish. And in between those two points is one wild, and brazen, emotional ride.
Copyright 2026 NPR
