There was a lot of great television in 2015—you can see a comprehensive list of old and new shows here, but standout newbies included Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Jessica Jones and Master of None. Good work, Netflix! Still, one of my favorite new shows from last year, TV Land sitcom Younger, still hasn't been given its due—and its second season premieres tomorrow night, so you've got time to catch up!
Younger is the brainchild of Sex & The City creator Darren Star. It's about a 40-year-old divorcée and mother of a teenager who, upon finding it nearly impossible to score an entry-level job at her age, moves to Brooklyn, poses as a 26-year-old and lands a gig at a publishing house. There are some pretty goofy elements here, which is to be expected from a showrunner whose previous effort suggested a columnist could afford $40,000 worth of shoes—in the Younger universe, Williamsburg is still hip, publishing is lucrative, and 20-somethings look like they're dressed by Patricia Fields.
But Younger is fun as hell, thanks in no small part to star Sutton Foster, who plays lead character Liza. It's hard to imagine that a 40-year-old could fool a whole cast of characters into believing she's 26—wouldn't her boyfriend be able to figure it out, at the very least?—but Foster's exuberance is adorable enough that even 26-year-old IRL me might mistake her wrinkles for childhood sun damage.
As a 20-something, you want Liza to be your friend, and not just because she's got a rad thrift store wardrobe. The 20-somethings Liza befriends at her publishing assistant gig—played by Brooklyn Mom Hilary Duff, amazingly, and relative newcomer Molly Bernard—like Liza because she's loyal, fun, and down to stay out too late drinking, which is a determining factor for youth hangs. But Liza's got a wealth of wisdom us 20-something babies haven't picked up yet, and though she's rarely openly judgmental of the shenanigans Duff & Co. get up to in Season 1, she is someone to turn to, like a decade-older sister who doesn't try to compete with you in front of mom and dad.
Lizzie Maguire aside, Foster's co-cast members include Nico Tortorella, who plays her hunky tattoo artist boyfriend; Debi Mazar, who plays her lesbian artist adult best friend; Miriam Shor, as her ultra-competitive 40-year-old boss, and Peter Hermann, a silver fox head honcho at her publishing house. Season 2 premieres tomorrow at 10 p.m., but TV Land is streaming the whole first season online until Thursday if you missed it. The new season's trailer is below, and it looks just as promising as the first. I'm going to watch it with my mom.
