When “Younger” premiered on cable network TV Land in 2015, its main point of comparison was “Sex and the City,” another Darren Star-created comedy set among high-powered, high-fashion New Yorkers, with lots of soapy romantic intrigue and a core focus on female friendship.
Since “Younger” ended its seven-season run in 2021, another Star-created show has become the kind of pop-culture sensation that “Sex and the City” once was: "Emily in Paris."
“Younger” is perfect for fans of "Emily in Paris," and now, all seven seasons of “Younger” are available on Netflix right alongside its sibling comedy. Like Emily, “Younger” protagonist Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) finds herself in over her head when she takes a dream job without entirely considering the consequences.
The difference is that Liza has spun an increasingly elaborate web of lies to secure her position in New York City’s publishing industry, and part of what makes “Younger” so fun to watch is seeing Liza attempt to maintain her ruse while also navigating a complex love life and career path.
Feeling lost after divorcing her philandering, gambling-addict husband and sending her daughter off on a gap year before college, 40-year-old Liza leaves New Jersey for a new start in Brooklyn with her old friend Maggie (Debi Mazar), and decides to return to the workforce. Unable to get a publishing job because of her age and her lengthy work hiatus, Liza impulsively decides to lie on her resume and claim to be 26. Right away, she’s hired as an assistant at the prestigious Empirical Press, and her whole life becomes devoted to that lie.
‘Younger’ is a stylish, fun workplace comedy
While Liza’s ongoing fraud is an ever-present concern, “Younger” offers up plenty of other juicy drama at Empirical and in the larger publishing industry. The New York City of “Younger” is just as glossy and unrealistic as it was in “Sex and the City,” in a way that plays into the glamorous wish fulfillment of anyone who’s dreamed of making it in the big city. That includes Liza as well as her actually 26-year-old co-worker Kelsey Peters (Hilary Duff), who quickly becomes her best friend and strongest ally.
Liza’s boss and eventual reluctant friend is the severe, judgmental Diana Trout (Miriam Shor), who’s a well-established marketing director and resents the perceived entitlement of young millennials like Liza and Kelsey. Diana’s bold, classical fashion sense contrasts with the trendier looks of her younger co-workers, and one way that “Younger” connects back to “Sex and the City” is the influence of legendary costume designer Patricia Field, who worked on both shows.
The friendship between Liza and Kelsey forms the emotional core of “Younger,” but Liza’s romantic life also blossoms at work, thanks to her inappropriate but undeniable attraction to her married boss, Charles Brooks (Peter Hermann). Charles may be closer to Liza’s actual age, but between his position of power and his existing family, he’s clearly not someone she should be pursuing — which of course means that it won’t take long for him and Liza to hook up.
‘Younger’ presents an irresistible ongoing love triangle
Another problem with Liza’s attraction to Charles is that her entire scheme to pretend to be in her 20s originated from her chance encounter with tattoo artist Josh (Nico Tortorella), who mistakes her for someone his age when they meet in a bar. Liza and Josh have instant chemistry, and what she initially regards as a fun fling turns into something deeper.
Star and his fellow writers get lots of mileage out of Liza’s slow reveal of her secret to the various people in her life, but it’s clear that Josh is the person she can most trust with the truth.
Even so, Charles seems like a more grounded, long-term prospect, despite all his baggage. I was always Team Josh (perhaps for obvious reasons), and Foster and Tortorella have excellent chemistry from the moment their characters meet in the first episode. The chemistry between Foster and Hermann is more of a slow burn, but that’s also key to what sets Liza’s two love interests apart.
Across seven seasons, “Younger” never tips its hand too far in one direction, while also never making it seem like the romantic reversals are just taking Liza in circles.
The supporting cast is full of appealingly offbeat characters
It would be easy for a show like “Younger” to become consumed with its central characters’ love lives, especially since both Kelsey and Diana have their share of romantic drama in addition to Liza’s. But the creators keep things light thanks to a supporting cast of oddball NYC characters, including eccentric artist Maggie and Kelsey’s even more eccentric publicist pal Lauren Heller (Molly Bernard). Other recurring characters add to the prestige and the absurdity of working in publishing, including temperamental authors played by Richard Masur, Laura Benanti and Camryn Manheim.
“It’s a completely ludicrous idea, and you are pulling it off,” says Manheim’s renowned psychiatrist Dr. Jane Wray when Liza comes clean as part of an intricate plan to land Wray’s book, and that assessment could easily apply to “Younger” as a whole. It’s completely ludicrous and yet also completely charming, an effervescent celebration of being young, no matter what your age.
Watch "Younger" now on Netflix.
More from Tom's Guide
