The real world sucks. Paying bills, working a 9-to-5, and maintaining a social life during all this is a Herculean task—so much so that a great many comedy series have tried to capture the chaos (looking at you, Friends). But FX’s latest comedy series, Adults, whose eight-episode first season is now streaming on Hulu/Disney+, not only captures the feeling of navigating your early twenties perfectly—it does so with an eclectic cast of lovable characters you’ll relate to immediately, even during their raunchiest moments.
Adults focuses on a group of friends living together in a single house in Queens, New York. There’s Billie (Lucy Freyer), who loses her job in the pilot and has a bad habit of checking in on her old high school; Samir (Malik Elassal), whose parents’ home the gang is crashing in; Anton (Owen Thiele), whom his friends refer to as a “Friendslut” due to his 4,000+ unread texts from random strangers; Issa (Amita Rao), best described as the next Bela Malhotra of The Sex Lives of College Girls; as well as her boyfriend, Paul Baker (Jack Innanen), who, for some reason, is exclusively referred to by his full name.
The gang is diverse, sure, but the bonds are realistic. Even during the most extreme comedic rituals they go through—especially in episode 3, “Have You Seen This Man?”—everyone is in full support of each other through thick and thin. Everyone gets a moment to shine in nearly every individual episode, a hard feat for most ensemble comedies to pull off. You get the gang’s shtick immediately, mostly thanks to the raunchily memorable opening scene and the show’s mile-a-minute writing.
Much like 30 Rock, Adults fires jokes at the viewer so rapidly it borders on whiplash, but each and every moment is not only laugh-out-loud funny, but character-driven. One episode pits Anton and Paul Baker against a sinister teenage girl who believes 9/11 was a movie, while another has Billie negotiating on behalf of a passionate Issa, who wants her class of young ballet students to perform a sketchily defined original play. The show mines every possible opportunity for comedy out of simple moments, especially in the chaotic sixth episode, “Roast Chicken,” in which the gang’s efforts to have a simple fancy dinner party meet Murphy’s Law.
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But through all the raunchy humor and mile-a-minute pace, there’s an honest and endearing heart in the show. These people are in the awkward phase between dependent innocence and, well, adults—and watching them navigate that transition is almost cathartic, especially for those who have been through such an ordeal. The show feels like it was made by Gen Z, for Gen Z, and with a compelling and modern cast anchoring the proceedings, you’ll find yourself not only laughing but caring—despite the low stakes and lack of character drama. In this case, that’s not a weakness, since the design of the series is to make you sit back, laugh, and have a good time.
Adults is a hysterical and boundary-pushing comedy with a cast that, by season’s end, will feel like your own friends. It’s rare to get a comedy that feels real yet makes you laugh out loud this much, but Adults could hold a candle to the best moments of any of the best comedies of yesteryear.
Adults is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
