Some friendships should stay in the past.
Note: this is a spoiler-free review of the first season of Friends From College, which premieres on Netflix on July 14. I'll discuss basic plot and character details but avoid getting too deep into specifics.
By all rights, Friends From College should have been right up my alley. The latest addition to Netflix's sizable lineup of original comedies was co-created, co-written and directed by Nicholas Stoller (of Neighbors and Forgetting Sarah Marshall fame). It features a very talented cast that includes Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Fred Savage (The Wonder Years) and Billy Eichner (Difficult People). And as someone who's farther into his 30s than I'd care to acknowledge most of the time, I can certainly see the appeal in a show about a group of friends pining for the excitement and simplicity of their college years. But that formula only works when viewers can connect with this cast of disaffected 40-somethings. And for whatever reason, Friends From College seems intent on painting its characters in the worst light possible.
That process begins in the opening moments of the very first episode, as we meet struggling writer Ethan Turner (Key), a man who's married to one college sweetheart, Lisa (Smulders), even as he maintains a two decade-long, long distance affair with another, Sam (Law & Order's Annie Parisse). That delicate arrangement is complicated when Ethan and Lisa move to New York City and their old friend group is reunited for the first time in years.
Said group also includes lazy trust fund baby Nick (Married's Nat Faxon), publishing agent Max (Savage) and quirky actress/playwright Marianne (Adam Ruins Everything's Jae Suh Park). And naturally, what begins as a joyful reunion for all involved quickly turns sour as old grievances and repressed feelings return and Ethan and Sam fight a progressively uphill battle to keep their affair a secret.
It's really pretty surprising how thoroughly unlikable this cast of characters becomes over the course of this eight-episode season. Ethan and Sam are pretty much doomed from the start given how much emphasis is placed on their extramarital deceptions. Multiple episodes hinge on their herculean struggles to avoid being exposed. In the process, the show winds up resorting to some of the most cliched pages in the sitcom playbook, even dusting off that old "losing a pet and trying to find an identical replacement" chestnut. Neither character is given enough redeeming qualities to offset their often wretched behavior. Key's performance is technically strong, as he brings a solid blend of energy and neurosis to his role, but never is there any reason to actually root for his character. Too many of Ethan's big comedic moments hinge on the fact that he becomes obnoxious and juvenile when stressed - breaking out the silly voices, the forced bravado, etc.
Not that the rest of the friend group fares much better. These are profoundly selfish, uncaring people. Rarely does an episode go by without multiple main characters causing significant property damage or screwing over someone with the misfortune of wandering into their orbit. After a while it's hard not to start rooting against these characters rather than for them. They're immature and thoughtless, yet rarely are any of them forced to account or atone for their behavior.
Granted, there's nothing inherently wrong with that approach. Two of my favorite TV comedies - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Community - are basically built around the idea of a self-centered group of friends getting into misadventures and being blissfully oblivious to the damage they cause. But the one thing both of those shows have in common is that they lean into the absurdity of their respective universes. They're both very silly shows, whereas Friends From College tries to have its cake and eat it too by still positioning itself as a grounded, subdued comedy full of realistic characters dealing with ordinary struggles.
Not to mention that both It's Always Sunny and Community are cognizant of their characters' selfish behavior and usually find ways of taking them to task in hilarious, appropriate fashion. And Community was always quick to establish that, for all the study group's glaring character flaws, being together made them better, stronger people in the end. Clearly, the opposite is true with the cast of Friends From College. They make each other worse, not better. To put it simply, this show isn't funny or over-the-top enough to get away with having characters like these.
Maybe that's why the one good character in this messy equation is the one stuck on the outside looking in. Eichner's Dr. Felix Forzenheim is a welcome change of pace for the series. As Max's boyfriend, the socially withdrawn, humorless Felix finds himself trying to understand the appeal in this boorish group of friends. His frequent, awkward attempts at fitting in and forming a good bedside manner tend to be among the show's most funny moments. Eichner plays a much more subdued character than the ones seen on Parks & Recreation or Difficult People, and it's fun seeing a more low key quality to his performance for a change. It's unfortunate that the series doesn't use Felix more, because he tends to be a bright spot in those episodes in which he does appear.
But that's another problem frequently plaguing Friends From College. Too little attention is paid to the main characters outside the core trio of Ethan, Lisa and Sam. Maybe this group wouldn't be so unsympathetic if they were fleshed out a little more. Faxon's Nick in particular is a weird case, as he's all but ignored until suddenly morphing into a crucial character in the final couple episodes. There's also a nagging sense that Savage's Max is being wasted here. Savage has a few great moments of physical comedy (including a fit of drug-fueled tap-dancing), but otherwise Max is little more than a plot catalyst.
The season features a few noteworthy guest stars, including Stoller veterans Seth Rogen and Ike Barinholtz, but the only one who really stands out is Kate McKinnon as an eccentric publishing magnate who convinces Ethan to abandon his dreams of literary acclaim for the lucrative world of YA novels.
That particular subplot is a welcome one, as it helps to shift some of the attention away from Ethan's affair and towards his professional woes. The "highbrow writer struggling with lowbrow material" angle brings with it its own set of cliches, but it's still amusing to watch Ethan and Max struggle to wrap their brains around the high stakes world of paranormal fantasy and romance. Sadly, that subplot, along with a number of others, is pretty much left hanging at the end of the season. Stoller and co-writer Francesca Delblanco aren't able to tie up many loose ends in the eight episodes they have to work with. But on the other hand, with all the mistakes Friends From College makes in those eight episodes, it's probably just as well the show doesn't attempt to overstay its welcome.
The Verdict
Given the resume of co-creator/director Nicholas Stoller and the impressive cast of comedians here, Friends From College should have been a home run. Instead, the show goes out of its way to paint its cast of characters as unlikable jerks, without dialing up the humor enough to offset that problem. Rather than celebrating the shared lives of these middle-aged misfits, Friends From College simply eaves you wondering why they ever became friends in the first place.
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