TV Land mixes things up with new show Younger
To keep up with today’s television boom, many channels are fully remaking themselves. Ten years ago, AMC was just American Classic Movies. The channel only showed older films until it struck gold with “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.” Just recently, the ABC Family of our youth became FreeForm. One of the subtlest of these changes has been from TV Land. Instead of “Golden Girls” reruns, TV Land has started finding its own original, fun voice.
When my friend first introduced me to the show “Younger,” my first reaction was “That’s on TV Land!?” This show has life: an original storyline, interesting characters and Hilary Duff. What else could wish for in new programing?
The main character is a recently divorced 40-year-old-woman named Liza, played by Sutton Foster, who is very confused about how the world works. She was left by a husband who gambled her money away. Her daughter is in India for college. She has not worked in 20 years, and she feels she has nowhere to turn.
She decides to fake being 26 in order to get a job she knows she is qualified for, but too old to get. Naturally, awkward hilarity ensues. She goes into publishing, has a hot 26-year-old boyfriend, and lives in Brooklyn. Everything seems perfect for awhile. But as the show progresses, you see her struggling the way people fresh out of college do with her own, middle-aged twist.
The show is breaking grounds at accurately portraying a 40-year-old as someone not at the end of their life, but someone who has an adventurous spirit. Liza has a few more years on her than her co-workers, but she can use them to her advantage.
A lot of the plot focuses on her trying to live her double life. Her only consoler is her friend Maggie, played by Debi Mazer, who gave her the idea to try and pull this heist. It is not like she would be arrested if the truth came out about her real identity, but she would lose everything.
This makes her sound like an evil mastermind, but really she is a genuinely good person. You can see it in all that she does. So is her lie solely bad or understandable? That is up to the viewer to decide.
The show has a charm I would describe as “Gilmore Girls” and “Golden Girls” combined. It is about strong women persevering and having an awesome time doing it. If you like shows about women, by women, then this is for you.