Keri Russell

CHARACTERIZING KERI RUSSELL'S NEW SHOW THE DIPLOMAT (NETFLIX, April 20) is difficult, but that's part of its charm.

- H.Alan Scott

"The drama of politics, the absurdity of that kind of politics, the pomp and circumstance mixed in with a complicated marriage." Sounds intense, but in fact "it's a bit saucy." Russell plays Kate Wyler, a career diplomat "plucked from the Middle East to go and host tea parties and talk to stylists" as the new U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom amid an international crisis. The tone of the show blends high-stakes drama with the humor of being a fish out of water, which is "part of the joke and the fun." The seamless blend in tone is credited to the show's creator, Debora Cahn. "I don't think she could write something that is super serious without a joke in it. That's just the nature of who