''Younger'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series created and produced by

Darren Star Darren Star (born July 25, 1961) is an American writer, director and producer of film and television. He is best known for creating the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–2000), ''Melrose Place'' (1992–1999), ''Sex and the City' ...

. It is based on the 2005 novel of the same title by

Pamela Redmond Satran Pamela Redmond Satran (born April 10, 1953), now known as Pamela Redmond, is an American entrepreneur and author of fiction and nonfiction. Her novel ''Younger,'' published in 2005, is the basis for a TV series of the same name created by Dar ...

. The single-camera series premiered on

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cla ...

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 Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including seven Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, four Teen Choice Awards and two Young Artist Awards. She began her act ...

, Debi Mazar, Miriam Shor, and

Nico Tortorella Nico Tortorella (born July 30, 1988) is an American actor and model, known for roles in filmsincluding ''Scream 4'', the Fox crime drama series ''The Following'' (2013–2015), and the TV Land comedy-drama series '' Younger'' (2015–2021). Fro ...

co-star in major supporting roles in the first season, with

Molly Bernard Molly Kate Bernard (born April 10, 1988) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Lauren Heller on the television series ''Younger''. Life and career Molly Bernard began her career in 2000 in the drama ''Pay It Forward'' besi ...

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. However, for the seventh and final season, Shor and Davis were downgraded to recurring guest stars, as they each appeared in only one episode of the season. The series moved from TV Land to Paramount+ and

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

for its seventh and final season, which premiered on April 15, 2021, and concluded on June 10, 2021. The seventh season was later aired on TV Land.

Synopsis

Set in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the story follows the personal and professional life of Liza Miller, who is now single and all alone in her 40s following a contentious divorce from her gambling-addicted husband, and learning that her only daughter decided to live in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

full time. After a run in with a 26 year old

tattoo artist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

, Josh, who believes he and Liza are the same age, she devises a plan to pass herself off as a 20-something in order to re-enter the world of

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, which has gotten rather

ageist Ageism, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler defi ...

over the years, and becomes assistant to the head of Empirical Press Marketing Chief Diana Trout while befriending Kelsey Peters, her coworker. She finds it hard to live the best of both worlds as she has to balance her old middle age life with her renewed 20s.

Cast and characters

Main

* Sutton Foster as Liza Miller, a 40-year-old divorced mother * Debi Mazar as Maggie Amato, Liza's lesbian artist best friend and roommate * Miriam Shor as Diana Trout, Liza's temperamental boss, who works as head of marketing at Empirical Press (seasons 1–6; guest season 7) *

as Josh, a 26-year-old

who owns his studio *

as Kelsey Peters, a 26-year-old book editor at Empirical Press who befriends Liza after they start working together *

as Lauren Heller, Kelsey's 20-something friend (seasons 2–7; recurring season 1) * Peter Hermann as Charles Brooks, head and heir of Empirical Press (season 2–7; recurring season 1) * Charles Michael Davis as Zane Anders, an editor at Rivington who competes with Kelsey to discover who's best (seasons 5–6; recurring season 4; guest season 7)

Recurring

Dan Amboyer Dan Amboyer (born December 28, 1985) is an American actor, known for his starring roles on the Darren Star series '' Younger'' and the NBC spin-off series '' The Blacklist: Redemption'', and for starring as Prince William of Wales in the televis ...

as Thad and Chad Weber, twin brothers with strange behavior. Thad was Kelsey's boyfriend, until his death. Afterwards, Chad appeared and began to pursue Kelsey. * Tessa Albertson as Caitlin Miller, Liza's college-age daughter *

Thorbjørn Harr Thorbjørn Harr (born 24 May 1974) is a Norwegian actor. Background Harr was discovered in a schoolyard by NRK people who were scouting for actors for youth series. Career He soon became a familiar face on programs like ''Blikkbåx'' and '' ...

as Anton Björnberg, a Swedish writer who got his book signed at Empirical Press. He and Kelsey were having an affair while Kelsey was working on his book. * Paul Fitzgerald as David Taylor, Liza's ex-husband and Caitlin's father *

Jon Gabrus Jon Gabrus (born January 31, 1982) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his work on ''Guy Code'', the podcast ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'', and TVLand's ''Younger (TV series), Younger''. He is a performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade ...

as Gabe, one of Josh's nerdy friends *

Kathy Najimy Kathy Ann Najimy ( ; ar, كاثي ان نجيمي ; born February 6, 1957) is an American actress and activist. She is best known for her roles in the films ''Soapdish'' (1991), ''Sister Act'' (1992), '' Hocus Pocus'' (1993), ''Hope Floats'' (1 ...

as Denise Heller, Lauren's mother * Michael Urie as Redmond, an agent and social media icon *

Noah Robbins Noah Robbins is an American actor. Background Robbins is a native of Washington, D.C. and graduated from Georgetown Day School in 2009. Robbins made his Broadway debut in the 2009 production of ''Brighton Beach Memoirs ''Brighton Beach Mem ...

as Bryce Reiger, a 20-something tech billionaire who is interested in investing in Empirical * Ben Rappaport as Max Horowitz, Lauren's ex-boyfriend * Jay Wilkison as Colin McNichol, a writer who infatuates Kelsey *

Mather Zickel Mather Zickel (born ) is an American actor, mainly known for comedy roles, as well as the character Kieran in ''Rachel Getting Married''. A native of New York City, he has worked in both film and television since the late 1990s. He graduated from t ...

as Dr. Richard Caldwell, a doctor who starts a relationship with Diana * Meredith Hagner as Montana Goldberg / Amy, a barista friend of Maggie. She starts working as Maggie's assistant and hooking up with Josh, but he soon discovers that she was copying Maggie's arts. * Aasif Mandvi as Jay Malic, A man who discovers Liza's secret and befriends her * Burke Moses as Lachlan Flynn, a spy novelist who becomes the motive of Zane and Kelsey's quarrel * Jennifer Westfeldt as Pauline Turner-Brooks, Charles' ex-wife, with whom he has two daughters, and who naively believes that they can get back together * Chris Tardio as Enzo, Diana's plumber boyfriend * Phoebe Dynevor as Clare, an Irish citizen who begins dating Josh after Liza's recommendation. She and Josh then plan a

green card marriage A sham marriage or fake marriage is a marriage of convenience entered into without intending to create a real marital relationship. This is usually for the purpose of gaining an advantage from the marriage. Definitions of sham marriage vary by ...

in Ireland. *

Laura Benanti Laura Ilene Benanti (née Vidnovic; born July 13, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Over the course of her Broadway career, she has received five Tony Award nominations. She played Louise in the 2008 Broadway revival of '' Gypsy'', winni ...

as Quinn Tyler (seasons 5–7), a businesswoman and author who purchases Empirical Press and makes Kelsey the head publisher of Millennial. She later dates Charles. *

Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...

as Cass Dekenessey (season 7), the dean of a local art school who hires Maggie as an Artist in Residence

Guest

Martha Plimpton Martha Plimpton (born November 16, 1970) is an American actress. Her feature-film debut was in '' Rollover'' (1981); she subsequently rose to prominence in the Richard Donner film ''The Goonies'' (1985). She has also appeared in '' The Mosquito ...

as Cheryl Sussman, a rival publisher who knew Liza early in her career and threatens to expose her *

Richard Masur Richard Masur is an American character actor who has appeared in more than 80 films. From 1995 to 1999, he served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). He is best known for Nick Lobo on ''Rhoda'' (1974-1977), Stanley Uris in th ...

as Edward L.L. Moore, the writer of ''Crown of Kings'', one of Empirical Press' biggest-selling novel series, which is a homage to

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

's ''

A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who init ...

''. The character himself is a homage to Martin, having similarity to Martin's physical traits. * Camryn Manheim as Dr. Jane Wray, a famous therapist who records a podcast which inspires a book called ''The Deciding Decade'' * Lois Smith as Belinda Lacroix, a romance novelist, one of Empirical Press' oldest members. After decades of successful works, she dies during a lunch with Liza, Charles and Diana. *

Jesse James Keitel Jesse James Keitel is an American actress, writer, and artist, known for starring in Asher Jelinsky's award-winning short film '' Miller & Son'' (2019), the ABC crime drama '' Big Sky'' (2020) and on '' Queer as Folk'' (2022). Early life Jess ...

as Tam, Lauren's personal assistant

Episodes

Production

Development

Miriam Shor and Darren Star on Sidewalks Entertainment about Younger

The series is based on the

's novel of the same name. In October 2013,

ordered the pilot from creator and executive producer

Patricia Field Patricia Field (born February 12, 1942) is an American costume designer, stylist and fashion designer. Early life Field was born in 1942 in New York City to an Armenian father and a Greek mother, who emigrated from Plomari, Lesbos, Greece. Fi ...

, who worked with Star on '' Sex and the City'', is a costume consultant on the production. The

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

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 moved from TV Land to Paramount+ and

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.

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,

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 In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, i ...

, 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

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,

was cast in a recurring role for the final season.

Release

Broadcast

The series aired on NickMom from September 16 to September 27 2015, 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 , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

and

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

in the United Kingdom.

Marketing

In June 2018, during the opening night screening at the annual ATX Television Festival in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, 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 Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

. 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

Ratings

Critical response

''Younger'' has received critical acclaim.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

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 Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

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 ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

, Margaret Lyons gave a mostly positive review, describing "a sweetness to the series, an almost admiration for the various crummy behaviors f 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 ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' 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 The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012. ...

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 A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

'' 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." The seventh and final season of ''Younger'' had good reviews from critics and mixed reviews from fans. Nicole Galluci of ''

Mashable Mashable is a digital media platform, news website and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2005. Early iterations of the site were a ...

'' wrote in a review "Ultimately, the episodes are engaging as ever, and though it's rare with final seasons, I find myself struggling to squash the belief that this show still has so much left to give." Fan reacted to the final season with "mixed feelings," according to multiple reports.

Awards and nominations

Cancelled ''Kelsey'' 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. However, on June 10, 2021, following the series’ conclusion, it has been revealed that the spin-off is no longer in the works, due to Duff being cast on the ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...

'' spin-off, '' How I Met Your Father''. According to creator

, he stated that the ''Kelsey'' spin-off has been resolved after the series finale, regardless of any notion of one. Star also stated that "it was always going to end with Kelsey doing her own thing, alone, heading to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

International adaptations

South Korean television network

JTBC JTBC (shortened from ''Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company'' (; stylized as jtbc) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on 1 December 2011. JTBC ...

plans to broadcast the Korean adaptation of ''Younger''. 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.

References

External links