March 30, 2025

One of the privileges of this job is getting to watch screeners — advance streams of TV shows that haven’t premiered yet. It’s a perk that can sometimes feel like homework: Television just isn’t what it used to be; mediocrity begets mediocrity. So when I first watched Dying for Sex, an eight-episode FX limited series debuting April 4, I was immediately excited; it’s unlike any other show on TV right now. Starring Michelle Williams as Molly, a stage-four cancer patient, and based on an incredible true story and hit podcast of the same name, the show toggles between laugh-out-loud humor and deep pathos, as Molly leaves her husband (Jay Duplass), moves in with her best friend Nikki (Jenny Slate), and embarks on a quest to find out what really turns her on before she dies. It’s a show that celebrates kink and features the return of some old favorites — Rob Delaney as a neighbor who enjoys getting kicked in the dick, Sissy Spacek as Molly’s mother — and its depiction of death is unblinking and unflinching. “The show careened from dramatic to absurd to hilarious to unbelievable and then back again,” Williams tells New York’s Rachel Handler in our new cover story about the making of the series. The result is something truly special: “We would kind of all look around at each other and be like, ‘Is this okay?’” says co-creator and writer Kim Rosenstock. “‘I think so. Let’s hope so. Let’s just keep going.’” 
—Tomi Obaro, culture editor, New York  

By Rachel Handler

Photograph by Ellen von Unwerth

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