TV review: Pam & Tommy

Pam & Tommy depicts the infamous events of the mid-90s, which deny it as we may try, are around 30 years ago. We return to a time before the internet took hold, used by a nerdy few and very slow to use. A time when going viral was word of mouth and no-one had yet thought to sell content. It centres around the stolen sex tape scandal which took over the lives of the hot celebrity couple of the 90s. Pamela Anderson is played by Lily James in a truly stunning unrecognisable transformation, and Tommy Lee is played by, not quite as lookalike but still very impressive, Sebastian Stan. Both actors are absolutely fantastic in their roles, to the point you have to remind yourself of what you’re truly watching.

Pam was the international star of the beach drama Baywatch and Playboy model, Tommy the hellraiser wild man drummer with rock band Motley Crue. The series is really a three hander, also telling the story of electrician Rand Gautier, contracted to work on converting Lee’s bachelor pad into a marital home for the newly wed couple.

The series came to be by way of acquiring the rights to and adapting an article written by Amanda Chicago Lewis for Rolling Stone. The article in question tells the story of electrician Rand, whose story forms a second narrative. Indeed his story is the basis of the opening episode. Rand, played by Seth Rogen, also a show producer, has such a bad experience working for the couple, being unpaid for work done and threatened by Lee with a shotgun, it causes him to seek revenge. The heist and safe theft he methodically plans results in the infamous private sex tape falling into his hands and the historical die being cast.

The initial opening 3 episodes rather belie the true nature of the series as a whole, in so doing don’t really do justice to it’s real depth. The opening focusses heavily on Rand as he works on the newly weds home, his being wronged by non-payment and seeking revenge.

The second episode shifts back in time to the wild whirlwind romance of the titular couple, who meet, Pam being almost stalkerishly pursued by Tommy, they get high, and they get married. All in four days. The third episode available in the opening mini-binge viewing, returns to the Rand as he tries to shop the sex tape around, teaming up with an old porn-world associate. Finding no porn outlet will buy it, he comes up with using the early days internet to hide their identity and sell physical copies of the tape.

The story really kicks in from there, mostly focussing on Pam and Tommy, occasionally returning what’s going with Rand. They go to increasingly desperate measures to get their property back and prevent sales of the tape. This is largely driven by Pam, who as the woman featured in the video being shared without her consent is the only one who truly understand the power and threat of it all. Despite Tommy protestations of being in it too, he fails to really understand. She knows it impacts a woman far more negatively than a man, him more likely to be high fived in the street than it held against him. Especially with his infamously considerable endowment on display. Indeed from the VHS tape copies to the website set up to sell it, it’s always “The Pamela Anderson Sex Tape” - it’s very clear the woman is the commodity on sale.

As the video lands in the hands of Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione it spirals out of control irretrievably, if it ever were, and the couple seek a legal injunction to try and stop images from the tape being published. Far from ending anything, it causes Pam to be subjected to a gruelling deposition of truly demeaning proportions that feels designed to belittle her as much as possible. It leaves her emotionally reeling and feeling broken by it, and worst of all the law comes down on Penthouse’s side allowing the article to be published. The implication, stated in as many words by Pam, is that because she dares to be famous for being sexy and to have chosen to appear naked in Playboy, in the eyes of the law she has given up her right to consent. There is the inherent implication that it shows how bad and unenlightened things were in the 1990s. I’m afraid I can’t say confidently that the same misogynistic injustice wouldn’t happen in 2022 honestly. Everything inevitably changes when a young internet entrepreneur enters the scene making it globally available.

Throughout, the producers are clearly intending to portray Pam as the most sympathetic person of the piece. You can’t help but feel for this woman who never did anything to bring this world of anguish and torment upon herself, but who nevertheless suffered in the full light of the public gaze and judgement for it. Indeed while there are few if any out and out villains with full-on ill intent, it is entirely possible to come away from viewing Pam & Tommy disliking everyone involved except for Pam.

Tommy goes from almost cartoonish bad guy towards Rand at the start, to somewhat endearing wildman with a quick temper. In episode 7 he agrees to meet with Rand who is making a final money demand. Unable to beat Rand up as he had intended due to a wire fence in the way, instead he burns the cash in front of him. He seems to have willingly accepted his status as not a good man.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the truly bizarre scene in episode 2 where, in the midst of a drug high and about to have sex with Pamela for the first time, he has a full on conversation with his own penis as voiced by Jason Mantzoukas and animatronicaly animated. As nuts as this scene is, it is based upon a real Tommy Lee experience as documented in his book "Tommyland".

For his part Rand becomes increasingly less sympathetic as the events play out. At the start you can’t but feel for him being mistreated by Tommy and his every changing whims, refusing to pay him owed $20,000 due to supposedly shoddy workmanship. Worst is when he returns to collect his tools left behind due to departing in haste, Tommy holds a shotgun to his face, refuses to return his property and demands he leaves. In this one violent act you can’t help but feel Tommy triggered everything Rand felt motivated to do, indirectly causing everything that happened.

As the story unfolds Rand eventually realises the true nature of what he’s done. That the tape is not “just porn” as he initially opines to his ex Erica, played by Taylor Schilling, but a private sex tape never intended for public viewing. That he has hurt Pamela Anderson in so doing, who had never done a thing to him beyond happening to marry Tommy Lee. Sadly his epiphany is all too little too late and there’s is nothing he can do to make it right, beyond a sad empty apology to a Pam lookalike. He at least makes things right with Erica and gives her money to pay phone bills owed and to set her free to do what she wants with her partner.

So is Pam & Tommy good?

The series has a sort of morbid curiosity about it. You can’t help but be fascinated by how the unfolding events, and in turn be moved by what happens to Pam as a result. It is undeniably compelling TV and one which I watched as soon as a new episode was released during it’s run.

The performances all round are absolutely fantastic, notably the central leads. Lily James becomes lost in the part playing Pam, and Sebastian Stan is equally great as Tommy. He is the sort of sure of himself rocker who thinks nothing of parading around displaying his toned tattooed body wearing not much more than skimpy underwear. It has to take a bit of doing as an actor to adopt that level of self confidence, as much as it becoming the iconic 90s babe Pamela Anderson. As Rand, third lead Josh Rogen pretty much plays the stoner loser guy he’s made his trademark. That said he does so with range and depth, Rand goes through quite some high and lows on his journey.

Should the series exist at all?

A central question that needs to be addressed is, should this drama ever have been made at all? While every attempt was made to contact those involved, with Tommy Lee being predictably un-phased and okay with it, Pamela Anderson chose not to be involved. She has remained officially silent on it preferring to say nothing. However sources have indicated that she didn’t want it to be made and feels horrified by it. Given the life changing trauma the events inflicted upon her, it is entirely reasonable to suppose she doesn’t want to bring it all up again and instead try to live her life in peace.

Given the real Pamela Anderson’s non-involvement, the whole show is lent an eerie meta quality. The whole piece is about the violation of private content being released to the entire world without the participants, notably the woman’s, consent. However the dramatisation itself which brings all these events very much back into the public eye, was itself made without Pam’s consent. The irony is palpable. The whole thing has a third underlying narrative of commenting on the dangers of the media, but does so while perpetuating some new ones of their own by its very existence.

The series opens with a preview of her appearance on Jay Leno’s show, as played by Adam Ray, to promote her new movie Barb Wire. Instead Jay rather cruelly centres the entire interview on talking about the sex tape. “How does it feel?” she is asked. However it takes until much later in the series for us to hear her answer, in which she says how horrific and violating it is to her. But while saying this, aren’t they doing it to her all over again by making this series?

The real danger is that by recreating these events they are re-awaking interest in them. You can’t help but feel that some viewers will inevitably go to their search engines and seek out the real sex tape, which I believe to be still readily available to anyone wanting to watch it. The producers must surely have done so themselves to recreate relevant scenes, which are not shown graphically but nevertheless feel accurate. I should say for disclosure that I have not personally ever watched it myself, without taking a moral high ground I honestly don’t wish to do so, less now than before if anything. One can but hope that viewers latch onto the positive qualities of it, as regards the what it has to say about consent and how women are treated by the legal system.

The ending is somewhat less than satisfying, despite trying to tie things up, simply by virtue of reflecting reality. As is common in docu-dramas, we are told in captions at the end what happened to the real life participants afterwards. Perhaps inevitably Pam and Tommy’s marriage failed, we hear of marital violence by him which despite his short fuse temper is never shown on screen. Both of their careers stalled, Pam never got the acting roles she longed for, while Motley Crue were rendered old hat by the incoming Seattle grunge bands such as Nirvana. They both had multiple failed relationships. Strangely despite committing what was undeniably a robbery and property theft, Rand Gautier was never prosecuted and disappeared into obscurity. Today he continues to work as a contract electrician and grows marijuanan. Ironically perhaps he came out of it the best after all.

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How to view the series

Pam & Tommy is available on Hulu in the US as their original production.

In the UK and elsewhere it is available via the Disney+ streaming service under the Star banner.

(Yes Pam & Tommy, talking penis and all, is available through Disney!)