Younger (TV series)

Younger is an American comedy-drama television series created and produced by Darren Star. It is based on the 2005 novel of the same title by Pamela Redmond Satran. The single-camera series premiered on TV Land on March 31, 2015 and has since received generally positive reviews from critics. Ahead of the fifth season's premiere, it was renewed for a sixth season, which premiered on June 12, 2019. In July 2019, TV Land renewed the series for a seventh and final season, making it the longest running original series in the network's history.
Sutton Foster stars as Liza Miller, a 40-year-old divorcee who has to manage her career in a publishing company having faked her identity as a younger woman to get her job, while her romantic and professional lives are measured against up and comings. Hilary Duff, Debi Mazar, Miriam Shor, and Nico Tortorella co-star in major supporting roles in the first season, with Molly Bernard and Peter Hermann in recurring roles. For the second season, Bernard and Hermann were promoted to series regulars. Charles Michael Davis had a recurring role in the fourth season and was promoted to the main cast for the fifth season.
The series moved from TV Land to Paramount+ with the seventh and final season which premiered on April 15, 2021.
Premise.
"Younger" is mainly set in New York City and chronicles the personal and professional life of Liza Miller, a divorced 40-year-old woman with a teenage daughter and a failed marriage that collapsed due to her former husband's gambling addiction. After 26-year-old tattoo artist Josh mistakenly thinks that he and Liza are about the same age, she concocts a plan to pass herself off as a 20-something to re-enter the ageist industry of publishing, later becoming the assistant of Empirical Press marketing head Diana Trout and befriending Kelsey Peters, a co-worker.
Production.
Development.
The series is based on the Pamela Redmond Satran's novel of the same name. In October 2013, TV Land ordered the pilot from creator and executive producer Darren Star. Patricia Field, who worked with Star on "Sex and the City", is a costume consultant on the production. The pilot was picked up to series in April 2014, with a 12-episode order. On April 21, 2015, "Younger" was renewed for a second season of 12 episodes, which premiered on January 13, 2016. Ahead of the fifth season's premiere, it was renewed for a sixth season, which premiered on June 12, 2019. On July 24, 2019, TV Land renewed the series for a seventh season, making it the longest running original series in the network's history. The series will move from TV Land to Paramount+ with the seventh and final season which premiered on April 15, 2021 with the first 4 episodes available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis.
Casting.
Sutton Foster was cast in the lead role of Liza Miller in December 2013. Hilary Duff and Miriam Shor joined the main cast in the following month. Debi Mazar was cast in February 2014. After a recurring role in the first season, Molly Bernard was added to the main cast from the second season onward. In February 2018, it was announced that Charles Michael Davis had been promoted to series regular, after appearing in a recurring capacity in the fourth season. On March 14, 2018, it was announced that Christian Borle would appear in the fifth season in a guest starring role playing the journalist Don Ridley in two episodes. On May 4, 2018, it was confirmed that Laura Benanti would appear in the fifth season, playing a self-made billionaire named Quinn. On March 17, 2021, it was announced that Miriam Shor and Charles Michael Davis have been demoted to recurring guest stars for the seventh and final season. In April 2021, Janeane Garofalo was cast in a recurring role for the final season.
Release.
Broadcast.
On September 5, 2018, it was announced that the series would be moved to Paramount Network from the sixth season onward; however, it was announced on April 3, 2019 that the series would stay on TV Land. Broadcasters carrying "Younger" include M3, E!, and CTV 2 in Canada; and Sony and Comedy Central in the United Kingdom.
Marketing.
In June 2018, during the opening night screening at the annual ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas, a first look at the second episode of the fifth season was showcased, whilst a panel discussion with Darren Star and cast members took place. That same month, the book "Marriage Vacation," mentioned in the series, was launched in real life by Simon & Schuster. In June 2019, the sixth-season premiere was also screened at the ATX Television Festival, followed by an interview with cast member Debi Mazar and writers Sarah Choi and Joe Murphy.
Reception.
Critical response.
"Younger" has received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes gives the first season an approval rating of 97% based on 37 reviews, and an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Darren Star's witty writing and Sutton Foster's charisma help elevate "Younger" above some of TV Land's previous sitcoms." Metacritic gives the first season a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 100% based on 8 reviews, and an average rating of 7.1/10. Metacritic gave the season a score of 74 out of 100, based on reviews from 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Brian Lowry of "Variety" gave the series a mostly positive review, describing it as "not perfect but highly watchable" and pointing out that "inevitably, there are stereotypical aspects on both sides of the age gap—from the flakiness of Kelsey's contemporaries to Diana too often coming across as a bitter scold—but the series seldom pitches so far across those lines as to be unable to find its way back."
On the "New York" magazine website Vulture.com, Margaret Lyons gave a mostly positive review, describing "a sweetness to the series, an almost admiration for the various crummy behaviors [of the characters]." She went on to say that she wished the show "had a longer first season not just because I liked it, but more because it's featherweight, and as its current run stands, might have been better off as a feature-length rom-com." Megan Garber reviewed the show for "The Atlantic" saying, ""Younger", a fairy tale fit for basic cable, is a treacly confection of a show: witty but not wise, delightful but not deep. And yet—like its creator Darren Star’s previous exploration of age and sexuality and identity in a tumultuous time, "Sex and the City"—it offers, almost in spite of itself, deep insights into the culture of the moment."
Tom Conroy of "Media Life Magazine" criticized the show mainly for portraying Sutton Foster's character Liza with "early-middle-age cluelessness", featuring "particularly silly" publishing-industry details and presenting "a relationship between an educated 40-year-old mother and a 26-year-old college dropout" that, in his belief, "has nowhere to go."
But Jonathan Alexander writes in the Los Angeles Review of Books that ""Younger" works in part because it plays to both millennials, who are often portrayed as hip and hardworking, creative and generous, as well as to late Gen-Xers who are facing a corporate and consumer world that's seemingly forgotten them in its drive to cater to the needs, tastes, and interests of a younger (and numerically larger) generation."
Darcie Wilder of "Vice" wrote in her review: ""Younger" is unexpectedly addictive, nothing short of extremely soothing and pleasurable to watch. It's a bedtime story that's supposed to lull but is too engaging to ever actually let you doze off. Usually when I binge, there's a hard out when I finally get caught up to real time, entering the headspace of its regular audience and eventually losing interest—but that hasn't happened with "Younger", not yet."
Spin-off.
It was reported in May 2020 that ViacomCBS and Darren Star have partnered to develop a spin-off series which would revolve around Kelsey Peters, with Hilary Duff starring.
International adaptations.
South Korean television network JTBC plans to broadcast the Korean adaptation of "Younger" in early 2020. It will be directed by Kim Seong-yoon as his first project under JTBC after leaving his longtime home network, KBS.
The series is being adapted in China by Endemol Shine China and Huace Group. It is being remade as a 40-part series in Mandarin with episodes of 45 minutes.