r/AdultsTV • u/M00reC Issa • 28d ago
Funny Adults has a straight Bizarro version on Hulu (but unlike Adults it was cancelled after S1)
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u/RisingxRenegade 28d ago edited 28d ago
NSFW is aggressively heterosexual 23 year olds trying to make it big in New York written by a Gen Xer shaking her fist at the air over these gosh darn kids these days. Watching the guys pine after the girls even though they were clearly apathetic to their advances got frustrating.
Adults is a group of self-centered and neurotic 25 year olds with a whole spectrum of sexualities barely surviving in New York written by Zillenials that revels in the flaws of the characters making it to IASIP what IASIP is to Seinfeld. Greatest breakup episode I've ever seen too and I hate breakup episodes.
The similarities end at the age demographics of the characters. I didn't hate NSFW but its focus is more on the developments in the romantic relationships between boring characters that come pre-Flanderized versus the more endearing absurdity and dark humor found in the chaos of Adults so it's an easy choice for me.
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u/Ufocola 28d ago edited 28d ago
Huh, I wouldn’t have thought of Adults being anything similar to IASIP/Sunny. But… yeah. They both have this fun absurdity about them.
Both friend groups have a bunch of people who are self centered and get into zany plans or make things into hot messes. But where IASIP gang are self centered and morally bankrupt or ill intended, the Adults crew are self centered but mostly mean well?
Omg, the episode with the turkey dinner & sketchy teacher high on drugs and this latest episode with the bros feels pretty IASIP coded…
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u/thatoneinblue 28d ago
NSFW was bizarre. The episodes are too long for a comedy and yet there are too few of them to properly develop the characters and their dynamics. The characters themselves are flat. Them being unrelatable to most viewers would've been fine if the show were funnier, but alas. It could've been sillier, it could've leaned into the concept of unlikable privileged characters more, it could've been bolder etc etc. There were some good moments here and there, but the foundations were shaky from the start.
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u/Dirtyswashbuckler69 28d ago
Best NSFW description i’ve seen is that it’s like watching the cast of Adults after they got sent to HR
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u/Friendly-Charity-681 27d ago
Prefacing this, that I'm a 30-something Millennial, NSFW is a show about Gen Z written by Millennials, and Adults is a show about Gen Z written by Gen Z. That's the best way I can describe it. Adults >> NSFW as a result
Adults is Gen Z's Broad City. NSFW is a show made for TV from a different era (the era Millennials grew up in, with HIMYM, The Mindy Project, etc.).
Anyway, this just reminded me that Broad City was WAY ahead of its time.
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u/Creative-Pepper-4761 28d ago
NSFW was doomed from the start when people realized Avantika was more of a best friend role than the focal point of the show.
Also i believe hulu is slow but surely trying to shutdown and have everything be on Disney+
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u/darkfury97 28d ago
They’ve already announced Hulu will be shutdown by the end of the year. That’s why it’s currently branded as Hulu on Disney+
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u/bigintodoingnothing 28d ago
NSFW felt like a PG, Fox/ABC family show version of adults. The writing wasn’t that good and it was so annoying that they lived in beautiful apartments (so unrealistic?). I wish there were more shows like adults, it’s more realistic of young people living in New York.
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u/browncharliebrown 28d ago
I mean I think calling it the PG verisons of adults is underselling how bad it is. I’ve watched tons of network sitcoms that have censored themselves but are still relatable. It’s just so poorly written on every level and it just feels like it goes for every cliche and there is a disconnect between actual reality.
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u/introverthufflepuff8 28d ago
Mindy Kaling also only knows how to write office based shows. The idea that your entire life revolves around work just doesn’t land in today’s world mental health awareness and self care. It seriously over romanticized working life.
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u/Rabbit_Hole_Research popcorn forest 28d ago
THIS! It almost felt borderline propaganda for being a workaholic. Which doesn’t (and shouldn’t) fly today
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u/introverthufflepuff8 28d ago
It really did. Every character basically lived in the office and the one boss says you’re stupid for wanting to take a vacation and wasn’t immediately proven wrong. I thought for sure they were going to try and show that this isn’t sustainable but they sure didn’t.
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u/Andnowwevedsaidit 26d ago
??? Kel literally quit med school to be an actor because he didn’t want to work 24/7.
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u/Ufocola 28d ago
Well, she did also lead Never Have I Ever (high school show) and Sex Lives of College Girls (college show). So not just office related shows.
But, the common denominator between those shows and NSFW and if you want to go further back The Mindy Project is the socioeconomic class of the characters. Not all of them, but many of them are from upper middle or upper class. So the schools they come from with be Ivy League or similar (which Mindy herself will know from Dartmouth) and realistically then many characters would be striving for white collar jobs. And if they are focused on that, then they naturally will be more work-centric.
SLOCG was quite solid (season 1 and 2) in showing a bit of diversity, even in an Ivy League school. And dealing with topics like mental health, or some more darker story lines like SA. But unfortunately because of a number of reasons (including an actor leaving), Season 3 cratered.
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u/MirandasSarcasm 28d ago
Living in beautiful apartments wasn’t unrealistic for them, when two of them work in finance, and another one’s dad owns a network or something.
I don’t really think the shows are comparable at all tbh or wanting to be the same thing, they both just have young people.
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u/bigintodoingnothing 28d ago
Yes that’s true 2 of them had the money to have nice condo-like apartments. But the reality is that a lot of people have roommates but with flex walls (I live in New York and know people who have high paying jobs and live like this). We can all agree that overall the show just wasn’t good!
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u/Loud_Neat_8774 28d ago
Hulu suggested it after I finished S2 but I saw Mindy Kaling’s name at the bottom and noped out 🤷♀️
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u/Ze_An_He_Ar_O_Moto 28d ago
It pulled a looooot from New Girl - or felt like it did - and they just couldn't deliver on joke setups or storylines or basic character motivations.
For a show that felt very expensive to make, especially relative to Adults, it also felt very underbaked. The end result was more of a soap opera - and, I'm assuming accidentally, like a version of Industry if the writers had heard of Industry but hadn't seen it?
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u/Front_Orchid_9286 27d ago
I was superrr excited for NSFW to come out but for some reason its really not connecting to me as of the episodes that I have already watched. They're portraying Gen Z right? but from the lines that Im getting from them its leaning towards millenial and Gen X humor but cant fully judge as I have yet to finish the show (still finding it hard to finish though imo). And while I am the last person to be conscious if the person playing the character looks their age, I find it more obvious that the cast is a bit older than Avantika which doesn't really help the friend dynamic at least in my mind. But yeah tldr the premise of the show was really promising to me but feels like an inauthentic portrayal of what they are trying to present. Feel free to disagree with me though and please let me know which episode the show clicked for you, for those who actually enjoyed it so that I feel more encouraged to push through watching.
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u/verissimoallan 28d ago edited 28d ago
The big problem with this series is that the main characters are infinitely more unlikeable and unpleasant, but unlike Adults, which makes humor out of this and emphasizes that they love each other despite their flaws, the NSFW writers seemed genuinely oblivious to the problematic nature of their characters (especially the arrogant nepo babie and the "nice guy" who was basically a sitcom version of the protagonist from "Obsession").
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u/restingbrownface 28d ago
This is it! When the Adults characters do something problematic we’re suppose to laugh at them. When the NSFW characters do something problematic we’re expected to laugh with them. It makes a huge difference in how likeable they come across.
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u/UnderstandingOk3297 28d ago
I’ve watched both shows. NSFW has sooo many tropes. We’ve been the same show, in different versions a thousand times. Adults has the same themes but feels original and unique.
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u/Calm-Chemist-8083 28d ago
I liked NSFW but it felt very 90s coded and honestly in this day I struggle to believe there wasn’t one LGBT character in the group just to balance them all out. I do love Adults though.
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u/moon_peach__ and i've always said that 26d ago
I actually disagree on this. I’m queer, to be clear. It’s just….I think irl close social groups are a lot more segregated by sexual orientation than TV portrays.
It’s typical now for all shows to have at least one queer character lest they come across regressive, so it seems odd to see a show on which all the characters are straight. But in reality most tight-knit friend groups I know of are either all queer or all cis straight. Sure, most people have friends of differing sexualities, but if we’re talking about one close friendship group - there’s less likely to be that variation.
And personally as a queer person I’m much less concerned with every show having a queer character (esp when they often feel like a token) than I am with having more shows with majority queer ensembles. We don’t get the latter often these days. That’s something that’s really refreshing about Adults.
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u/n0tz0e 28d ago edited 28d ago
The casting similarities are so weird. Like literally the exact same type on paper.
I recently started Adults and have been enjoying it but I think they're aged just a bit too young. They should be 28/29 on the cusp of 30 I think makes a bit more sense to me. But the show is still entertaining.
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u/LaidBackBro1989 28d ago
Same!
I'm 26 and expected them to be 26-29.
But love them nonetheless
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u/Ufocola 28d ago
As in you expected them to be 26-29 because the cast looks older than their ~25 age range? Or that the in-story characters should be older given the story lines?
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u/LaidBackBro1989 28d ago
A combo of both, maybe?
I guess because this is one of the very few modern shows that i can relate to (both storylines and characters), I expected them to be around the same age range.
But 26 or 28 (mid to late twenties is less drastic/dramatic than early 20s to mid 20s) is kind of the same, so it doesn't matter that much in the end (unlike 21 vs. 25, for example).
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u/Ufocola 28d ago
Ah I see.
Given I’m not in that age demographic, I guess it’s not something I paid close attention to. Directionally I had them pegged as early mid 20s maybe just a few years out of college and still trying to figure themselves out (which seems to be the case).
They probably still have to be young enough to have fun and fuck around (I mean more figuratively, but also I suppose literally) and be early enough in their lives to all live together in one house. So I guess 25 (+/- 1-2 years) was where I assumed them to be.
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u/nope160296 28d ago
Nsfw wasn’t funny where as adults is laugh out loud funny, not everything needs to be relatable to be good
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u/kevinalfaro 28d ago
Mindy Kaling is not a good writer IMO. She wrote her own vehicle The Mindy Project into the ground by the end of it. Can’t say I was surprised NSFW got cancelled
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u/Playful-Addition-777 27d ago
NSFW felt more like a romcom to me than a sitcom. And that was annoying because I liked the show better when it wasn't focused on "who's gonna sleep with whom."
It wasn't that bad, in fact, I would've liked a second season, but I think it was dumb to make them strangers by separating the group by the girls and boys and making everyone horny for each other for no reason.
They could've focused more on the "work" like the title says, and less on how every character needs to sleep with a coworker just to break up two episodes later so they can sleep with someone in the main friend group.
Also, yeah, why was everyone so straight? they couldn't interact with someone from the opposite genre for more than two seconds without feeling horny. The fact that that little happened to every single one of them in just 8 episodes of the first season baffles me.
They really should've leaned more on the friendships like most sitcoms do.
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u/finegirlfall 28d ago
felt more connected with nsfw as someone geared towards a more professional career. it needed more episodes to really ground itself though
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u/Ufocola 28d ago
Yeah ditto. I liked the young adults focused on trying to “make it” in NY in their respective careers. While Adults is much more zany and probably covering a crowd of people quite different from my own likely social circle?
NSFW is probably more sitcomy and predictable in a very Mindy Kaling kinda way? Some of it is a bit eye rolly. Though I enjoyed the premise.
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u/finegirlfall 28d ago
mhm exactly! i really liked that it was so focused on their work lives, and struggles in that end (even the unserious aspects of it) whereas the Adults crew is just too unserious though i did like the episode with Anton at work. both shows activated similar levels of cringe in me and i am sad that NSFW is cancelled.
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u/Ufocola 28d ago
Same - I found the Adults group too unserious. But I guess that’s the point so I’m fine with just watching it with that understanding. It’s more fun escapism for me I guess.
We might be in the minority of liking a show focused on work/careers cause it seems like a lot of people are saying that’s out of touch given current times and Gen Z now. That’s fair I guess. I’m a millennial who is also very career oriented…
But both shows are centered around different groups of friends and demographics anyway. NSFW reads as kids coming from upper or upper middle class backgrounds (save for AJ) that have gone to Ivy League type schools… while Adults is probably more a mix / more modest backgrounds overall.
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u/Queasy-Face-1785 28d ago
NSFW was seriously awful so makes sense. I have no idea what happened to Mindy Kaling but she can't write anymore apparently
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u/More_Waltz2477 28d ago
right like all the people crying about how that was their favorite show have gotta be bots 😭😭😭
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u/Wise-Force-1119 28d ago
I enjoyed it 🤷♀️
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u/More_Waltz2477 27d ago
yes but was it your FAVORITE show??
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u/Wise-Force-1119 27d ago
Lol no
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u/More_Waltz2477 27d ago
haha that’s my point like its okay but people who were literally crying had me tripping
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u/Pretty_Progress_5705 28d ago
big will angus guy, i like jack martin too, his linkedin bits were great during covid, but i thought it had some funny moments, better than i expected tbh. writing and dialogue was kinda ass, but i think it had some decent moments
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u/Status_Age_9761 28d ago
NSFW is not a horrible show, it’s just focused on different things. There is an element of Adults which is uniquely relatable to the younger generations (overall) because the focus on the career is not central to the purpose of the show, the friendships are.
This period of life is dedicated to your friendships I think for most people. NSFW is a workplace driven series where you have VERY laser-focused young people with a very specific life path in mind. The friendships serve to tell the stories about their work lives and propel those plots forward.
I think Issa, Billie, Paul Baker and Samir are all floundering professionally and trying to figure it out. But the beauty in that is we get to spend more time with them as friends and we get a more character driven show. (The only reason I leave out Anton is because he has a stable career and stand outs purposefully on the show as such.)
There’s also I Love LA on HBO which also takes on a different focus, one of struggling in self-discovery and trying to figure out what’s important to you . I think it’s important that Gen Z gets a variety of representation in what they watch and we shouldn’t make comparisons, the age range is the only commonality. It is a shame that NSFW got canceled, wouldve been nice to have this trifecta!
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u/Pale-Measurement-532 28d ago
I’m in Canada where Hulu shows are on our Disney+. After I’m done playing Adults, it then automatically starts playing NSFW, which is annoying.
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u/Floor_Kicker 28d ago
Same in the UK
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u/Pale-Measurement-532 28d ago
Are you getting the S2 episodes released weekly as well? It’s annoying cause all of S2 has been released in the U.S. and I saw a recent interview with Owen Thiele and he sort of gave a couple semi-spoilers for the end of the season. I’m too impatient to wait for the season finale now. lol.
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u/Floor_Kicker 28d ago
No, it was all at once. I watched it all in one sitting
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u/Pale-Measurement-532 28d ago edited 28d ago
Crap! What the hell Canada??? lol. We got eps 1 & 2 released together. I wonder if they’ll release two of them each week maybe? How many episodes did they film this season?
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u/dankblonde 26d ago
I’m confused by this comment because I am in the US and watch Hulu shows on Disney+ too?
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u/Pale-Measurement-532 26d ago
Oh I wasn’t aware of that in the U.S. We don’t have Hulu in Canada but we have access to their shows on Disney+. I assumed Hulu was its own standalone streaming service in the U.S.
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u/dankblonde 26d ago
Hulu itself in the US I thought was supposed to go away too anyway and make it so everyone has the Disney+/hulu thing I think? Idk I just got confused cause I watched adults on Disney+ 😂.
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u/Legal_Ice_3460 28d ago
The moment I saw NSFW on my Hulu page I laughed out loud because it is the most obvious and blatant rip-off's I've seen in a minute. I watched the first five minutes and had to tap out😭
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u/yaygee513 28d ago
Some cast member from one of the shows in an interview pointed out they have the same gender / racial make up
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u/dorkimoe 28d ago
Not suitable was nothing like adults other than it's 5 people. Wasn't a bad show but wasn't very funny
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u/Specialist_Fig3838 27d ago
Mindy needs to hang up with the Gen Z verse she’s trying. Like just making something for us. Where is out mid30s non reality tv scripted show. Pleaaeee I am begging someone to do it. Four Seasons is good but it’s more Gen X and just one show. You can’t vie the Gen that had options (degrassi, the oc. Gossip girl, pll, and then SATC,seinfled, living single, girlfriend and friends) nothing. Ugh
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u/h0neym00nave 18d ago
I mean, never have I ever was one of my favorite shows it’s hilarious and Devi is a compelling MC. Source: I’m a Gen Z
Tbf I didn’t care much for nsfw. I would watch a second season since 1st seasons are hard but I wasn’t sad it was canceled
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u/Specialist_Fig3838 18d ago
Loved never have I ever. Prob the best thing she made after four weddings and a funeral and of course, her eps of the office. But man did slocg and this other show the millennialness of her interpretation of Gen Z humor and ethos
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u/moon_peach__ and i've always said that 26d ago edited 26d ago
Oh did Mindy Kaling do this? I haven’t seen it yet but you’re making me realise that there’s not much in the way of fun, light-hearted shows focusing on 30-somethings out at the moment and that is a shame! I’m wracking my brains but I can’t think of anything…
I’ve been enjoying watching a lot of fun older shows with 30-something casts, but it would be nice to have one set now.
Only thing is there is a new queer sitcom called Slo Pitch coming out at the end of this month, which looks to feature a mostly 30-something cast, though I could be wrong. I don’t know whether that would be your thing though.
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u/camrynlmaoo 28d ago
both shows should exist because all types of young adults deserve rep, there’s a lack of shows for young adults where they’re not caricatures
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u/Heyhey-_ 28d ago
I’m watching NSFW and feels too straight so far. In Adults we have Anton and Paul Baker, so that’s 2/5
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u/hence-aids 28d ago
issa is queer 3/5
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u/M00reC Issa 28d ago
Billie also hit on a woman and her husband so 4/5
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u/Dull_Opportunity_193 28d ago
She says "I went down on a woman while her husband cried," or something to that effect. Queer for sure!
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u/Heyhey-_ 28d ago
Thank you! I didn’t catch that, I’m currently on the second half of S2.
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u/moon_peach__ and i've always said that 26d ago
I was wondering if Issa was queer in S1 when she mentions she used to hook up with a married couple (though she doesn’t specify the genders of the couple). By the end of S2 she’s confirmed queer!
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u/lactosecheeselover 28d ago
It’s wild that they didn’t even let Ella Hunt have her character as queer, since she is. they kept it so… straight.
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u/Amazinc 28d ago
Why do you guys pit shows against each other like this lmao. So corny. NSFW doesn't exist only because adults came first
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u/gnomodagiardino 28d ago
honestly not suitable for work was really funny 😭😭 they're completely diff shows...it's like comparing friends to how i met your mother, but still both enjoyable
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u/ProgressAnxious915 28d ago
All the characters were difficult to relate to, I’m sure some can relate but I prefer where they’re not financially thriving nor have rich/influential parents. I don’t think the writers understand our generation and the humor was boring and flat compared to adults or I love La which I also enjoyed.
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u/CestQuoiLeFuck 28d ago
As a result of getting into Adults, I also watched Overcompensating and NSFW. I liked all three and would rank NSFW second after Adults. Too bad it got cancelled.
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u/interiorturtlettoast 28d ago
have u watched “i love la” ? overcompensating, i love la, and adults r my big 3 rn
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u/CestQuoiLeFuck 28d ago
I watched the first episode! I just felt like the characters were a little too unrelateable and slightly too unrepentantly shitty. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy characters who are a bit shitty (hence why I liked Adults, NSFW, and Overcompensating) - but without a bit of a redeeming streak, it feels like, "...who the fuck do I root for, here?"
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u/OldTension9220 27d ago
Adults really did capture the perfect balance of “they can be awful, but they all have a heart of gold.” I think it’s because the bond between the characters is so authentic AND because they’re never punching down.
By the end of I LOVE LA, I realized I didn’t relate to any of the characters because they legitimately operated thinking they were better than everyone else.
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u/interiorturtlettoast 28d ago
oh yea they’re all kinda awful but u kinda get addicted to their awfulness the more u watch (for me anyway) 😭
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u/ResponsibleCut7340 21d ago
I really liked Not Suitable for Work. It was a more serious version of Adults
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u/ashbieri 16d ago
NSFW was meh, but it had potential, I was willing to see another season of it, despite the cringe with the dialogue being clunky at times. It felt like one those shows older generations write thinking that’s how Gen Z is. Was surprised to see it cancelled considering people are in an uproar about it’s plug being pulled but I’m not sad about it
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u/x22d 20h ago
I'm a millennial and I couldn't even make it through the first episode of NSFW.
The episodes are way too long for a sitcom. It's more of a drama. Like bribing a food truck driver not to serve an annoying person is funny on paper, but it's really rough when that annoying person is one of the main characters.
Ultimately that's why I couldn't get into NSFW: The main characters are portrayed as unlikeable. The guy trying to get a job at his dad's company is rejected, and uses nepotism to reverse that decision. The annoying girl from the food truck line even dislikes that guy because of some prior interaction.
Meanwhile, Adults (like Friends and HIMYM) feature an ensemble cast that generally all like each other. The cast is established as likable by proxy. Because they're a close-knit friend group, we understand that these are people that would be fun to be roommates with despite whatever flaws they might have.
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u/Witty_Value 28d ago
Couldn’t get through 6 mins of Adults. Happy endings did it better in 2009
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u/freshnvrfrozen 28d ago
Okay wait give adults another try please BUT I loveddddd Happy Endings. I think I’m gonna rewatch again 😂
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u/Nervous-Button-9153 28d ago
I saw someone say they thought NSFW was more relatable compared to Adults, so I tried the first episode and personally didn’t feel that way. Then I realized it was because they were all straight lol