Movies

In FX’s ‘Adults,’ growing up is hard to do

BBG News

In the initial scene of the upcoming FX sitcom “Adults,” airing on Wednesday, the character Issa (portrayed by Amita Rao), who stands out among her group of five 20-something friends for her assertive nature, engages in a provocative act. This occurs when she responds to a man masturbating on a New York City subway train by doing the same, as if to reprimand him. However, her lesson goes unlearned. This action serves to establish the show’s tone.

The title is, of course, ironic.

In my humble opinion, I’ve found myself sharing a temporary abode with Samir (Malik Elassal), his parents being jet-setters at the moment, along with my friends Billie (Lucy Freyer) and Anton (Owen Thiele). My beau, Paul Baker (Jack Innanen), affectionately known as “Paul Baker,” is an integral part of this motley crew I’d love to see welcomed into our shared space. Our group, though not without its merits, tends to stumble into miscommunications, blunders, and calamities – qualities that, in the realm of a sitcom, are hard to botch!

Issa constantly dishes out poor guidance and is dismayed that “my friends don’t treat me with the respect I deserve.” Billie grapples with the notion that her best days were in high school, a place she still frequents. Anton is notorious for being a “people magnet,” who has this tendency to make individuals feel like they are the center of the universe so they become enamored with him, only for him to quickly lose interest afterwards. Samir, who’s been acquainted with Billie since middle school, finds himself in need of employment (and a functioning water heater) and is perplexed by even the most basic social encounters. Paul Baker, who hails from Canada and is generally friendly, simply goes along with whatever happens, but he does have an annoying habit of leaving used condoms around the bathroom (Issa: “As I warned you, we need to use protection.”).

Television

The recently launched FX comedy series from Rebecca Shaw and Ben Kronengold, unlike “Sex and the City”, follows the lives of five young adults in their twenties, striving to simply survive. Get acquainted with the characters here.

Similar to “Friends,” the show “Adults” may be compared to, it tells the tale of young individuals residing under one roof, which is beneficial not only for them but also for the humor. For an elderly version, consider “The Golden Girls.” When paired with “Broad City” and “Girls,” you’ve outlined my hypothetical course titled “Biting the Apple: Television Portrayals of Youth in New York City during the Early 21st Century.

It’s unclear how accurately or satirically “Adults” reflects the youth of 2025. However, creators Rebecca Shaw and Ben Kronengold, who gained fame with their humorous Yale commencement speech in 2018 and later worked on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon”, might be taking a jab at their own generation. In the show, when one of the roommates gains fame from being harassed at work, Billie jealously comments, “I can’t believe someone we know is already a big deal.” Anton then reminds them that Kyle, who orders expensive drinks and never pays for them, is not admirable. Interestingly, Anton wears a lanyard with the label “victim,” which Issa matches with ones reading “woman”, “child of immigrants” and “sex worker”; she even reads horoscopes on Only Fans as part of the joke.

If they’re struggling financially, daydreaming doesn’t cost anything; Issa and Anton envision a future for him based on tracking a dot’s movement on a GPS map. In another instance, Anton’s excessive friendliness lands him in trouble with a potentially dangerous “stabber,” resulting in humorous situations at the police station and gun shop, as well as some suspenseful, horror-movie moments. When Billie is hospitalized, Samir, acting as her representative, feels compelled to be assertive, while Paul Baker and Anton transform the hospital into a playground with the help of sympathetic nurses.

The characters can come off as irritating at times, intended to be humorous but occasionally falling flat and merely annoying. However, they grow on you as the series progresses, offering more laughter and less frustration as the story unfolds. As audiences get to know the personalities and idiosyncrasies of the cast, they might even look forward to their presence; Freyer’s Billie and Thiele’s Anton particularly shine in terms of emotional connection. People enjoy watching characters like these who support one another through thick and thin, whether it’s during a downpour or when stuck in neutral. This is evident in the reported $20 million annual residuals the “Friends” cast still earns each year.

Billie, expressing her desire to move past the old self who jokingly asks questionable things, asserts an effort to align with the series’ title by hosting a dinner party, defying societal expectations about our age group being unpredictable and aimless. She suggests we are in the phase of life where we cook roast chicken, capable of growing up and becoming more conventional.

But not as long as they’re in this television show.

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2025-05-28 13:31

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