Younger

Synopsis

Set in New York City, after a contentious divorce with her gambling ex husband, a single 40 year old mom, Liza Miller, is forced to look for work as she needs to continue paying for her daughter's college education, however, she quickly realizes how the job market became ageist over the years. However, after a freak encounter with an attractive tattoo artist, Josh, who thinks she's in her mid 20s, Liza decides not only reboot her career, but her entire life as a mid 20-something to help get her a job. However, she realizes she needs to work twice as hard to keep both her old and new life separate as there are times when they collide at inopportune times.

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)

Nico Tortorella as Josh, a 26-year-old tattoo artist who owns his studio

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

Molly Bernard as Lauren Heller, Kelsey's 26-year old 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 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 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 as Gabe, one of Josh's nerdy friends

Kathy Najimy as Denise Heller, Lauren's mother

Michael Urie as Redmond, an agent and social media icon

Noah Robbins 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 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

Guest

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

Richard Masur 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's A Song of Ice and Fire. 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 as Tam, Lauren's personal assistant

Production

Development

The series is based on the Pamela Redmond Satran's novel of the same name. In October 2013, TV Land ordered the pilot from creator and executive producer Darren Star. Patricia Field, who worked with Star on Sex and the City, is a costume consultant on the production. The pilot 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 Hulu 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. Hilary Duff 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, Molly Bernard 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, 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 Laura Benanti 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, Janeane Garofalo 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. In 2025, it is now streaming on Netflix. Broadcasters carrying Younger include M3, E!, and CTV 2 in Canada; and Sony and Comedy Central in the United Kingdom.

Marketing

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

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album, Younger (TV Land Series Soundtrack), was released by Lakeshore Records on July 2, 2021. The release features songs used in the series, including Hilary Duff's cover of "Little Lies", "Soundbite from Cast" by Sutton Foster, Hilary Duff and Miriam Shor, and their performance of "9 to 5".

Reception

Critical response

Younger has received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes 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 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, Margaret Lyons 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." 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."

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."

Viewership

According to data from Showlabs, Younger ranked tenth on Netflix in the United States during the week of 13–19 January 2025.

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 spin-off, How I Met Your Father. According to Star, 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".

International adaptations

Initial reports disclosed that South Korean television network JTBC had plans to broadcast the Korean adaptation of Younger, with Kim Seong-yoon attached to direct.

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.

Ukrainian TV channel Novyi Kanal broadcast an adaptation called Молода. The premiere was supposed to take place in the spring of 2022, but due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it was postponed to 2023. It began airing since March 20, 2023.