Just like in real-life, Adults needs time.

Now streaming on Disney+, Adults tells the story of Issa (Amita Rao), a young man who lives in Queens, NY in his parents’ home. But New York is expensive and Issa invites his friends to come live with him to help pay the bills. Together, they attempt to navigate the social pitfalls of 2025, ranging from ‘cancellation’ to ‘over-friending’.

Created by Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw, Adults is a modern-era take on an age-old concept. Similar to Friends, How I Met Your Mother, and a host of others, the series’ emphasis on a group of twenty-somethings attempting to navigate love and life in New York City is certainly nothing new. Yet Adults does manage to set itself apart from its predecessors with some incisive humour that cuts to the quick.

Admittedly though, it does take some time for us to want to move in with them.

At first glance, one could be forgiven for not particularly falling in love with Adults. Firing on all cylinders from the opening frame, the series almost feels like it’s trying too hard to impress the audience out of the gate. Sharp writing is genuinely funny (and has a darker tone, at times) yet less time is taken when the characters themselves.

However, thankfully, first impressions can be deceiving. As the series develops, the comfort between cast members continues to grow. As the writing settles in, so too do the central characters. The dialogue remains frenetic in pacing but performances feel more at ease with one another. We get to know these young people in ways that make us invested.

In fact, without losing the series’ edge, they all become pretty dang likeable.

As Billie, Lucy Freyer moves quickly from frustrating to endearing. Jack Innanen’s Paul Baker becomes more engaged in the group. As Anton, Owen Theile is delightfully obtuse, creating a unique blend of self-absorbed and genuine. And, of course, the fiery and free Malik Elassel may actually be a star-in-waiting. (The one hold-out seems to be Amita Rao as Issa, a character who seems to be the show’s central core but also struggles to find his footing.)

What makes the show unique is the fact that it genuinely wants to sit in the everyday world of its characters. While the set-up has been done (many times) before, it’s Adults’ emphasis on the modern era that fuels its stories. Whereas series like Friends and, to a lesser extent, How I Met Your Mother kept the emphasis on the characters and their relationships in an almost timeless way, Adults is more than happy to bring in the real world. Conversations about getting ‘cancelled’ and health care underscore the humour in early episodes, allowing the show to explore the effect of current issues without getting ‘preachy’. (Even the fact that they all live together because of the high-cost of rent feels more authentic than Friends’ expensive New York apartments.) This unique tone to the show allows it to have that ferocity that fueled Dan Harmon’s Communitywhile still allowing it to celebrate the core youth as they fumble their way through life.

Even so, it’s that fumbling that makes these characters work. Though they may be dealing with topical issues, the characters are truly at their best when they’re working on their relationships with one another. Storylines like ‘air-tagging’ a potential partner and being a ‘friend-slut’ work better than any social commentary because it shows the ways that these characters care about one another. It’s these relationships that gradually form into the centre of the series—and that’s when it begins to really work.  There’s a reason that this style has been done so many times.

Quite simply, it works

It’s one thing for us to care about the world that they live in but it’s quite another to wish them well. Watching characters struggle as they lose their jobs (or can’t find another) and struggle to pay bills are more entertaining as we get to know them. And, as Adults spends a little more time with its characters, the show really starts to take off.

It must be difficult to start a new series at a time when people make snap judgments from the premiere itself. After all, with most great shows, the pilot is usually one of the lesser episodes. (You can’t just The Office or Parks and Recreation from its earliest eps.) And, for that reason, Adults deserves more time. This is a show that’s rife with potential in its stories and, most importantly, its characters. So, for that reason, this isn’t a show that deserves a ‘memory wipe’.

Instead, like the characters themselves, maybe Adults just needs time to grow up so it can become something special.

The first four episodes of Adults are available on Disney+ now with new episodes streaming every Tuesday.