In 2015, I worked at 1515 Broadway, the New York City building famous for hosting TRL and for being the headquarters of cable channels like MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and TV Land. Around the building, it was common to see billboards and giant posters promoting the biggest shows on those channels, and when I saw the poster for TV Land’s new show Younger starring Sutton Foster, Hilary Duff and Debi Mazar, I immediately dismissed it, a decision based entirely on TV Land’s lack of cool cred.
Last year, the show arrived on Netflix and, to my surprise, after watching the pilot episode, I was instantly smitten. It took me a few months, but eventually I polished off the entire series and now 2026 me is here to slap some sense into 2015 me. I was a fool to be so dismissive of this incredibly smart, well-written, impeccably cast sitcom, which also happens to feature the best love triangle on TV. (Sorry, Summer House.)
Younger begins as a show about a 40-year-old New Jersey mom, Liza Miller (Foster), who gets divorced and moves to Brooklyn after her daughter goes to college. Desperate for an apartment, she moves in with her best friend Maggie (Mazar), an artist in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (In the same way that Monica’s massive West Village apartment on Friends was inherited from a dead grandmother, Maggie’s massive artist’s loft with a whole separate bedroom for Liza was acquired before hipsters and condos took over Bedford Avenue.) Liza is broke and forced to get a job, but no one will hire her because of the 18-year professional hiatus she took to raise her daughter. Because she has a gorgeous head of hair and Broadway-toned gams, she convinces a book publisher she’s 26 and gets a job working as a marketing assistant.
The show’s premise is, let’s be real, an annoying farce: 40-something Liza doesn’t really look like she’s 26, but the show uses Superman/Clark Kent logic and a Forever 21 wardrobe to convince everyone otherwise. (Though, as ridiculous as it is, there is a vicarious thrill in seeing a woman who some might consider washed up finding a way to overcome all the isms that society has thrown her way — sexism, ageism, resume-gap skepticism — and living her best life.) But Liza’s biggest misstep is lying about her age outside the office, too.
After she meets a 26-year-old tattoo artist named Josh (Nico Tortorella) who lives nearby, she tells him she’s 26, too. The logic at first is, hey, why shouldn’t she be sowing the oats she never got to sow? But things get complicated when Liza and Josh form a true bond; what started as proof that Liza can still attract attention as a 40-year-old turns into actual chemistry, and Josh is head over heels for her. There’s no reason that Liza needed to lie to Josh about her age, which is probably why he’s the first person she comes clean to, revealing her truth at the end of season 1.
Sparks fly between Liza and Josh.
Josh is teed up to be the inappropriate choice for Liza, though — he’s too young. He’s a tattoo artist, and she’s a mom from Jersey. On paper, he’s Liza’s complete opposite. And while Liza loves him, she develops a self-fulfilling prophecy about their pairing, and her worry that their ages will somehow drive them apart is what eventually drives them apart. She’s been married, doesn’t want more kids, yadda yadda. When Josh finds out Liza’s real age, he’s not upset that she’s older; he’s just upset that she lied about it. But Liza still pushes Josh away, hesitating about whether they can really make it work, while never fully grasping that they do.
Josh might be too young, a con for Liza, but everything else about him is one long pro list. They share some steamy scenes (the show is TV-14 but is far raunchier than what you’d expect from a TV Land joint), and Josh becomes friends with all her friends. He loves her in a vulnerable yet strong way. He’s a perfect partner, no notes.
What breaks up Josh and Liza is not actually her age; it’s the fact that he witnesses her kissing her older (as in, age-appropriate) boss, Charles (Peter Hermann), and is devastated by the betrayal. The show’s casting, from main roles to supporting characters, is incredible (I would happily watch a series dedicated just to Molly Bernard’s character Lauren and her parents, played by Kathy Najimy and Josh Pais), but the chemistry Foster has with both Tortorella and Hermann is what makes their love triangle so addictive. As much as Josh seems perfect for Liza, he is almost too good for her, too in love with her, too comfortable an option. Charles, though, gives Liza that new-crush feeling, and their relationship feels a little risky because he’s also her boss.
Sparks also fly between Liza and Charles.
But the reality is that Liza’s attraction to Charles makes much more sense. On paper. Like her, he’s also in his 40s, also a parent and also a book lover like she is. Their flirtation begins early in the show when Liza pretends to be younger, but when he learns her real age, he takes it much harder than Josh did. He’s furious. Up to this point, I probably would have been happy if Liza ended up with either man, but Charles, who once felt like the right and safe choice, is also petulant and totally holds a grudge.
He sets traps for Liza to catch her in a lie, to prove to himself that she can never be trusted. He dates Liza’s arch-nemesis during a period when they’re not together. And yet by the last few episodes of the series, so close to the finish line, it seems like these two might actually have found a path forward, forgiving each other and looking to the future. But the show keeps the audience on their toes about Liza’s fate all the way up to its final moment.
Younger lasted for seven seasons, and for the majority of the show, it seemed like Charles would be Liza’s Prince Charming because he just made more sense. He was flawed, but still seemed more appropriate. But the thing about someone being good on paper is that it doesn’t account for feelings, and the show made a strong case for why we (I mean, Liza) could love both Josh and Charles. Ultimately, though, once the series ended, it was clear that the only right answer is Team Josh. But who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind on the rewatch.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
