In 2015, I worked at 1515 Broadway, a New York City building famous for hosting TRL and being the headquarters of cable channels such as MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and TV Land. On the property side, it was common to see big billboards and big posters promoting the biggest shows on those channels, and when I saw the poster for the new TV Land Unger show starring Sutton Foster, Hilary Duff and Debi Mazar, I dismissed it right away, a decision based entirely on the lack of good TV Land.
Last year, the show came to Netflix and, to my surprise, after watching the pilot episode, I was instantly hooked. It took me a few months, but I finally polished the whole series and now 2026 I’m here to make some sense in 2015 for me. I’d be a fool to ignore this incredibly smart, well-written, well-cast, happening sitcom that features the best love triangle on TV. (Sorry, Summer House.)
Young begins as a show about a 40-year-old New Jersey mother, Liza Miller (Foster), who gets divorced and moves to Brooklyn after her daughter goes to college. Homeless, she lives with her best friend Maggie (Mazar), an artist in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (In the same way that Monica’s large West Village apartment on Friends was inherited from her deceased grandmother, Maggie’s large artist’s loft with Liza’s separate bedroom was acquired before the hipsters and condos took over Bedford Avenue.) Liza is broke and forced to find a job, but no one will hire her because of the daughter’s 18-year-old job. Because she has good hair and Broadway-toned game, she convinces a book publisher that she is 26 and gets a job working as an advertising assistant.
The premise of the show is, let’s be real, an annoying face: 40-something Liza doesn’t look like she’s 26, but the show uses Superman/Clark Kent’s brain and Forever 21 wardrobe to convince everyone otherwise. (Though, in a funny way, there’s an incredible fascination in seeing a woman who some might think washed-up find a way to overcome all the stereotypes society has thrown her out — sexism, ageism, resume-gap skepticism — and live her best life.) But Liza’s biggest mistake is lying about her age outside of the office, too.
After meeting a 26-year-old tattoo artist named Josh (Nico Tortorella) who lives next door, she tells him she’s 26 again. The idea at first is, hey, why shouldn’t he sow oats that he never sowed? But things get complicated when Liza and Josh form a true relationship; what started as proof that Liza can still attract attention as the 40-year-old turns into real chemistry, and Josh is her main character. There’s no reason Liza had to lie to Josh about her age, which is probably why she was the first person she came out to, revealing her truth at the end of season 1.
Sparks fly between Liza and Josh.
Josh is chosen to be the wrong choice for Liza, though — he’s too young. She is a tattoo artist, and a mother from Jersey. On paper, she is the complete opposite of Liza. And while Liza loves him, she develops a self-fulfilling prophecy about their pairing, and her concern that their age will somehow separate them is what ultimately drives them apart. Married, doesn’t want more kids, yadda yadda. When Josh finds out Liza’s real age, he doesn’t feel bad that she is old; you feel bad that you lied about it. But Liza is still pushing Josh, questioning whether they can really make it work, while he has never fully grasped that.
Josh may be too young, a con for Liza, but everything else about him is one long list. They share steamy scenes (the show is TV-14 but a lot more fun than you’d expect from a TV Land joint), and Josh becomes friends with all of his friends. She loves him in a weak but strong way. He is the perfect partner, he has no notes.
What separates Josh from Liza is actually not his age; the fact that he sees her kissing her old boss (as in, age appropriate), Charles (Peter Hermann), and is devastated by the betrayal. The show’s acting, from the main cast to the supporting characters, is amazing (I’d happily watch a series dedicated 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. Since Josh seems right for Liza, he is almost too good for her, and he loves her, he has a very big choice. Charles, however, gives Liza that new feeling, and their relationship feels a little dangerous because he is also her boss.
Sparks also fly between Liza and Charles.
But the truth is that Liza’s attraction to Charles makes a lot of sense. On paper. Like him, she is in her 40s, and is a parent and book lover like him. Their flirtation begins at the beginning of the show when Liza pretends to be young, but when she learns her real age, she takes it much harder than Josh. He is angry. So far, maybe I would have been happy if Liza ended up with any man, but Charles, who once felt like a right and safe decision, is also stubborn and completely hateful.
He traps Liza in order to catch her in a lie, to prove to himself that he can never be trusted. He is dating Liza’s biggest enemy when they are not together. And yet with the last few episodes of the series, so close to the finish line, it seems that the two could find a way forward, forgive each other and look to the future. But the show keeps the audience listening about Liza’s fate until the last minute.
Small lasted seven seasons, and for most of the show, it seemed like Charles was going to be Liza’s Prince Charming because he just made more sense. He was flawed, but he seemed worthy. But the thing about someone being good on paper is that it doesn’t count for feelings, and the show made a strong case for why we (even Liza) can love both Josh and Charles. In the end, however, when the series ended, it became clear that the only right answer was Team Josh. But who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind on rewatching.