Peacock scores with starry airport-read TV
Peacock's Jennifer Garner-led Elin Hilderbrand adaptation is No. 1 as the streamer keeps turning airport reads into starry TV.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
Peacock’s latest beach-bag play has landed at the top of its chart: The Five-Star Weekend, a glossy adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s novel, is the streamer’s current Number One show, according to Rolling Stone.
The series stars Jennifer Garner as Hollis, a food influencer whose husband dies in a car crash. After an on-air breakdown during a cooking segment with Jenna Bush Hager, who appears as herself, Hollis follows her publicist’s advice and heads to Nantucket for a girls weekend.
The guest list is built for maximum TV sparkle. Chloë Sevigny plays Tatum, Hollis’ childhood best friend. Regina Hall plays Dru-Ann, her ambitious college roommate. D’Arcy Carden plays Brooke, a mom friend going through a midlife sexual awakening. Gemma Chan plays Gigi, an Instagram follower who has become close to Hollis.
Rolling Stone’s CT Jones noted that the cast is so packed that Timothy Olyphant and Judy Greer are pushed into smaller background roles.
Beach walks, tequila and secrets
The plot follows the women through a carefully curated Nantucket weekend, with shopping, pajama dance parties, tequila shots, sunrise yoga and beach walks all on the schedule. Along the way, the characters deal with strained friendships and private pain, according to Rolling Stone’s description of the show.
Jones framed The Five-Star Weekend as part of Peacock’s bet on what the critic called the “airport novel”: books designed to be easy, absorbing travel companions rather than prestige literary monuments.
That strategy comes as streamers and studios continue to chase books with built-in audiences. Rolling Stone pointed to upcoming or anticipated adaptations including Wuthering Heights, The Long Walk, Heated Rivalry, Project Hail Mary and The Odyssey, while noting that BookTok and other online reading communities have helped turn book fandom into a valuable TV and film pipeline.
Peacock has another book hit in the mix
The Five-Star Weekend is not Peacock’s only recent win in this lane. All Her Fault, based on Andrea Mara’s airport thriller, received seven Emmy nominations on July 8, according to Rolling Stone.
Those nominations include Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Supporting Actress for Dakota Fanning and Outstanding Lead Actress for Sarah Snook. Rolling Stone noted that the show landed nominations over titles including Netflix’s Lord of the Flies adaptation and Half Man, Richard Gadd’s follow-up to Baby Reindeer.
More book-based Peacock projects are already on the runway. Deadline reported in June that Such a Nice Girl, also by Andrea Mara, is in development at the streamer with the All Her Fault team involved. Variety has reported that Peacock is also developing Before I Let Go, Kennedy Ryan’s contemporary romance.
Rolling Stone’s verdict on the trend is clear: Peacock is putting recognizable stars and polished production behind accessible books, and the audience is showing up. The Five-Star Weekend may be frothy by design, but for Peacock, the formula is working.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.