It seems like no matter what decade we find ourselves in, there will always be a TV show about a group of friends navigating the highs and horrors of their twenties. The 90s gave us Friends, the 2010s were about Girls and Broad City, and now, we have landed in the era of Adults.
The FX comedy follows a group of friends navigating the limbo between youth and actual adulthood, complicated – and united – by the fact that they are squatting in their friend Samir’s parents’ house. Now into its second season (which reported a 40% audience increase from season one), it’s clear that the formula of young friends balancing work, dating and the general indignities of your twenties still lands, no matter what decade we’re watching from.
Luckily, there’s plenty more where that came from. If you’ve already made your way through Adults and are wondering what to watch next, we’ve rounded up the shows that capture a similar mix of friendship, bad decisions and figuring-it-out-as-you-go adulthood.
Girls
It would be almost impossible to talk about Adults without mentioning Girls. More than a decade after Lena Dunham’s series first premiered, its portrait of four friends stumbling through their twenties still feels remarkably familiar. Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna are ambitious, self-absorbed, confused and occasionally (or often) terrible to one another. No matter how old you are, consider Girls required watching.
Where to stream: HBO Max
Broad City
Created by and starring Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, this series follows two best friends navigating life in New York, usually with very little money and even less common sense. Take it from me, it’s hard to get through more than a minute without laughing.
Where to stream: Stan
Fleabag
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s series is admittedly darker than Adults, but shares its interest in people who are technically grown-up but don’t always behave as such. Fleabag is funny, sexually charged, and emotional in its dealing with grief, family, friendship and heartbreak.
Where to stream: Prime Video
I Love LA
I Love LA is something of a West Coast counterpart to Adults. Created by and starring Rachel Sennott, the comedy follows her character Maia, a young attempting to make it in the brutal scene of Los Angeles. Her friend group both helps and hinders her, as they all try to work out what they actually want – and whether they’re willing to admit they might not be as successful as they’d hoped.
Where to stream: HBO Max
The Sex Lives of College Girls
The characters in The Sex Lives of College Girls are a few years younger than the friends in Adults, but they have more than a few things in common. Created by Mindy Kaling, the series follows four roommates at a fictional New England college as they navigate sex, dating and friendship. It’s essentially the university-era precursor to Adults.
Where to stream: HBO Max
Overcompensating
Another series set in a college that’s equally worth watching. The Prime Video series follows Benny (played by the show’s creator, Benito Skinner), a closeted former high school football star during his first year of college. An awkward but hilarious watch, with a second season on the way.
Where to stream: Prime Video
Friends
Of course, no list of shows about friends navigating adulthood would be complete without the OG, Friends. The ’90s sitcom follows six friends living in New York, with their friendship serving as the constant through every romantic mishap and career crisis. The blueprint.
Where to stream: Netflix
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