After finishing “Adults” season one on Hulu over the summer, I was left craving more. There was something about the depravity of the characters that made it so relatable. Their unhinged and unfiltered discussions in the crowded living room of Samir’s parents’ house, the desperation in Anton’s actions as he navigated friendship, the insecurity of growing up as Billie faced unemployment, the confidence to be yourself like Issa in settings that called for restriction and the laid back fluidness of Paul Baker. The group’s dynamic was chaos personified, and yet it succeeded in what many TV shows lacked: authenticity.
Many shows that are heavily marketed towards Gen Z often fall flat on the intended audience. Take “Ginny & Georgia,” for example. The cringy, unnatural dialogue and actions of Ginny made her insufferable. Maybe that was the point, to hate the young girl navigating high school life and cringe at her salute as she turns away from her ex in the hallways of her school as though she was my own unwanted high school memory.
I’ll give it to the show, it did a decent job at representing the messiness of teenage mental health and parenting. But as Gen Z grows out of high school and into cramped college dorms and first-time apartments, so do our tastes in entertainment.
Shows like “Adults,” “Not Suitable for Work (NSFW),” and “I Love LA” have that authentic energy to them that these other shows are missing. The characters are complicated and make laughable mistakes, but are facing real issues that Gen Z navigate in their day-to-day lives. The increasingly difficult job market, housing insecurity and navigating love and friendship are themes that these shows share.
Instead of making these issues daunting, they turn them into plot structures that propel character development. I believe this reflects Gen Z’s ability to adapt to our ever-changing environment. The timeline of our twenties have shifted, and it’s no longer embarrassing or bummy to live at home with your parents. Rather, some might see it as a smart financial decision in an increasingly expensive world.
I was heartbroken at the announcement of NSFW’s cancellation after the first season. I was excited to see another show with similar dynamic and racial makeup as “Adults,” however “NSFW” under the direction of Mindy Kaling had many more obstacles to overcome, like alleged low viewership.
Additionally, Mindy Kaling has a notorious history of making her characters desperate and white-male-centered. “Never Have I Ever’s” Devi had a beautiful progression of navigating grief and cultural expression in the West, and yet the show was watered down to chasing two boys.
If “NSFW” does ever get picked up by another streaming service, I hope Kaling does it justice by taking a few notes from “Adults” and understands that true authenticity comes from shared experiences. With that shared experience comes a collective understanding of our ever changing world, and maybe the solution to many of our problems is to be understood.
