Younger (TV series)

Younger
Genre	Comedy-drama
Created by	Darren Star
Based on	Younger by Pamela Redmond Satran
Starring	Sutton Foster Debi Mazar Miriam Shor Nico Tortorella Hilary Duff Peter Hermann Molly Bernard
Composer(s)	Chris Alan Lee
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	33 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Darren Star Larry W. Jones Keith Cox Tony Hernandez
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	20–22 minutes
Production company(s)	Darren Star Productions Jax Media TV Land Original Productions
Release
Original network	TV Land
Original release	March 31, 2015 (2015-03-31) – present
External links
Website

Younger is an American single-camera comedy-drama television series based on the Pamela Redmond Satran novel of the same name, created and produced by Darren Star. The series stars Sutton Foster as the lead character, with Hilary Duff, Debi Mazar, Miriam Shor, Nico Tortorella, Molly Bernard and Peter Hermann co-starring in other main roles.^[1] The series' first season consists of 12 episodes and premiered on March 31, 2015, at 10 pm Eastern time, on TV Land.^[2][3] The series has received generally positive reviews from critics and was renewed for a 12-episode second season in April 2015. Before the premiere of the second season on January 13, 2016, the show was renewed for a third season on January 6, 2016 which will begin airing on September 28, 2016 at 10PM.^[4] On June 14, 2016 the show was renewed for a fourth season.^[5]

Premise

Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) is a recently divorced 40-year old mother. As her teenage daughter, Caitlin (Tessa Albertson), studies abroad in India, Liza has to figure out a way to support herself and her daughter since her ex-husband's gambling addiction has left them in a financial hole, losing all their savings and their house. Following her ambitions from college, Liza attempts to get a job in publishing, but has to start at the bottom, which proves difficult for a woman of her age. During her hunt, she meets Josh (Nico Tortorella), a tattoo artist who thinks that they are the same age. Maggie (Debi Mazar), Liza's best friend, comes up with the idea of giving Liza a makeover in order to pass her off as a 26-year old. Ultimately, she becomes an assistant to Diana Trout (Miriam Shor), at the publishing firm Empirical Press, where she befriends Kelsey Peters (Hilary Duff), her 20-something co-worker.

Cast and characters

• Sutton Foster as Liza Miller^[6]
• Debi Mazar as Maggie^[7]
• Miriam Shor as Diana Trout^[8]
• Nico Tortorella as Josh^[9]
• Hilary Duff as Kelsey Peters^[10]
• Peter Hermann as Charles Brooks (recurring season 1, season 2–present)
• Molly Bernard as Lauren Heller (recurring season 1, season 2–present)^[11]

Episodes

Production

The series is based on the Pamela Redmond Satran novel of the same name. In October 2013, TV Land ordered the pilot from creator and executive producer Darren Star.^[12] Patricia Field, who worked with Star on Sex and the City, is a costume consultant on the production.^[13] The pilot was picked up to series in April 2014 with a 12-episode order.^[1] On April 21, 2015, Younger was renewed for a second season of 12 episodes, which premiered January 13, 2016. After a recurring role in the first season, Molly Bernard was added to the main cast.^[14][15]

Reception

Critical response

Younger has received acclaim from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the first season a rating of 97% based on reviews from 34 critics and an average rating of 7.6 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states: "Darren Star's witty writing and Sutton Foster's charisma help elevate Younger above some of TV Land's previous sitcoms."^[16] Metacritic gives the first season a score of 75% based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[17] Metacritic gave season 2 a score of 75%, based on reviews from 4 critics.^[18]

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."^[19]

On the New York magazine website Vulture.com, Margaret Lyons also 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."^[20] 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."^[21]

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."^[22]

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official website
• Younger at the Internet Movie Database
• Younger at TV.com