Pam and Tommy gets a joint Disney Plus and Hulu release date

Pam and Tommy, the upcoming drama series based on Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson's infamous sex tape scandal, has finally received a Disney Plus release date.

In a press release, the Walt Disney Company revealed that the limited series will arrive on the streaming platform on February 2, 2022. Unusually, this is the same date that Pam and Tommy will land on Hulu in the US – meaning that UK viewers won't have to wait for the show to land on British shores at a later date.

Pam and Tommy's first three episodes will air on Hulu and Disney Plus on its premiere date. The TV series will be released under latter's Star branded banner, which houses numerous Disney subsidiary companies including Hulu, FX, Freeform and 20th Century Studios for UK audiences.

Pam and Tommy will focus on the eponymous couple – Motley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and actress Pamela Anderson – and their 1990s whirlwind romance, which culminated in the bombshell leak of their honeymoon sex tape.

Lily James (Downton Abbey, Baby Driver) and Sebastian Stan (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Devil All The Time) will portray Pam and Tommy respectively. The duo lead an all-star cast that also includes Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express, Invincible) and Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation, Devs) as Rand Gauthier and Uncle Miltie, who unearth the celebrity pair's honeymoon recording.

Developed by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and written and directed by Robert D. Siegel and Craig Gillespie respectively, Pan and Tommy will launch on Disney Plus and Hulu on February 2.

Analysis: US and UK TV audiences finally sync up

UK audiences will be pleased to hear that Pam and Tommy will premiere on Disney Plus at the same time as US viewers can enjoy it on Hulu.

For too long now, UK TV fans have had to play catch up to their neighbors across the proverbial pond, with some Disney-owned TV shows not arriving on British shores until a few weeks after they launched in the US.

FX's recently cancelled TV adaptation of Y: The Last Man is a prime example of this. The Eliza Clark-developed drama series first aired on FX on September 13 in the US, with the show's first three episodes releasing on that date.

UK viewers, meanwhile, had to wait a further nine days for the post-apocalyptic TV show to premiere on Disney Plus – again, the first batch of episodes launched simultaneously for British viewers. However, US audiences had already seen four episodes of Y: The Last Man by that date, with the next instalment airing on September 20. 

By the time Y: The Last Man's ninth episode landed on Disney Plus for UK fans, too, the series had already ended in the US, opening up the prospect of UK audiences having the season 1 finale spoiled for them online.

Pam and Tommy's simultaneous release on Hulu (for US fans) and Disney Plus (for UK audiences) is a welcome change in release strategy policy for The Walt Disney Company. There's no reason why TV shows can't launch at the same time in the US and UK, particularly when certain studios hold the cards over when their in-house productions should launch on their own streaming platforms.

With Pam and Tommy's joint Hulu and Disney Plus release setting a new expectation for shows simultaneously launching in the US and UK, here's hoping it becomes the norm and isn't just a one-off.

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