Editor’s Note: this review contains spoilers.
One thing about me is that I love a good sitcom. The short, spiffy episodes with recurring characters and hilarity fill me with an unmatched joy. It seems like the past few decades have all had their quintessential sitcom. There was “Seinfeld” in the 80s, “Friends” in the 90s, “The Office” in the early 2000s and “Parks and Recreation” in the 2010s, to name a few. But in the past 10 years, there has been a notable lack of sitcoms tailored specifically for Generation Z. And as a certified situational comedy connoisseur, this was a problem for me.
Enter, “Adults.”
This show centers on five young adults, Issa, Anton, Samir, Billie and Paul Baker all living in Samir’s parents’ house in New York City. Across the two seasons currently released, each episode focuses on all the hijinks that ensue in the house as everyone tries to survive their 20s.
What became clear immediately after watching “Adults” was just how thought-through each character was. They all felt like someone I have known in my life, with very specific desires and difficulties to face. From Billie struggling to feel like a real grown-up, waiting to be in her “roast chicken stage of life,” to Anton, who works to become less of a “friend slut” and set boundaries with the strangers he meets on the streets of New York, this show encompassed so much of what young adulthood feels like. It was messy, loud, romantic and ridiculous.
“Adults” is also wildly funny with absurdity around every corner. There were multiple dance numbers, an original (and comically bad) song and even an acid trip gone wrong. Each episode is full of all the characters making hilarious (albeit predictable mistakes) and the creative ways they try to fix them. There was not a single episode that did not have me laughing out loud.
This show made me deeply nostalgic for a bygone era of television. In one of the episodes, all the main characters dropped down on a couch together and it made me think of some of my favorite shows like “Friends” and “New Girl.” And tonally, “Adults” is very similar. These shows are all about young adults living together and navigating the world while falling in love, finding jobs and having fun. It reminds me that there is still so much joy after college and that being young is about going on adventures and living life to the fullest.
“Adults” is the type of show that will always make you smile because of how perfectly weird and heartfelt it is. It will remind you that there is so much delight and friendship to be had in this life. It is a reminder that nothing is that serious, exactly the sitcom we needed.