Netflix
The new Netflix original series Friends from College has an all-star cast of Keegan-Michael Key, Cobie Smulders, Nat Faxon, Billy Eichner, Jae Suh Park, Fred Savage, and plenty of others. Friends from College centers around a group of friends that attended Harvard University in the mid 90’s. Fast forward 20 years, novelist Ethan (Key) and lawyer Lisa (Smulders) are married and living in Chicago apart from the rest of their group. Lisa is unaware that Ethan has been having a 20-year affair with another college friend, Sam, played by Annie Parisse. Ethan and Lisa live in Chicago but whenever Sam comes to visit from New York, old sparks arise. To make things more complicated, Ethan and Lisa decide to move to New York and start fresh where they can focus on new opportunities in their careers and re-connect with their old friend group.
Going into Friends from College, I had high hopes for a funny, exciting new show to watch. It was created by Nicholas Stoller, who directed one of my all-time favorite comedies, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. This show boasts a pretty talented cast with lead Keegan-Michael Key, who is funny in just about anything he does. Also rounding out the cast is Cobie Smulders, who I found hilarious in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother and I even find Billy Eichner’s screaming comedy to work as well. It’s a premise that could work with the right material and ultimately feels relatable to most people. Everyone at some point has had friends that they have disconnected with and that’s what makes these ‘friend group’ sitcoms so immensely popular today. The group of six friends haven’t spoken in years but are truly excited to re-visit the chemistry they had in college. Unfortunately for this show, it doesn’t even feel like this random group of unlikable people were ever really friends in college.
The show struggles to balance comedy and drama which often leads to scenes that are supposed to be funny and endearing but are really just awkward and cringe worthy. The show focuses on the relationship between Ethan and Sam, who have been having an affair ever since their college days. Only one of their friends knows of their situation, so there is plenty of sneaking around and secrets to be kept. The affair storyline builds up in the show and provides more information of the backstory of these characters, but in the end, is not resolved in any satisfying way. There is also a subplot of Ethan and his wife, Lisa, attempting to have a child after struggling with infertility. If anyone in your friend group was to have a child, it would truly be an exciting moment, however in this case I didn’t feel anything for their decision. It’s hard to become invested in their storyline when the characters are so unlikable and knowing the relationship was doomed from the beginning.
One of the biggest pitfalls of the story is that the show paints each character in an unlikable way. Each person, from Key to Savage, offers very little to make these characters seem like good humans. From cheating on their partners to stealing to just an overall ‘rich New Yorker’ attitude, these characters have few redeeming qualities. The only time that the show seems to pick up any steam is when all six of them are together which happens very infrequently. The show desperately tries to flesh out each cast member into a whole character, but from the beginning episode nothing about these people stands out as memorable or friendly.
If I had to pinpoint my biggest complaint for the show it would be something that I mentioned earlier – the relationships between each individual character. In order for the show to work, I believe that it’s critical that each person has a believable relationship with all other characters. Take Friends for example, an incredibly popular ‘friend group’ style sitcom with a cult following. The show centered around six similar characters but each friend has a realistic relationship with each other outside the group (i.e. Phoebe and Joey seemed equally as likely to hang out as Joey and Ross). This show really lacks that sense of friendship. I honestly can’t imagine any of these people hanging out together outside of the scripted scenes that we witness.
Friends from College is an underwhelming show with poor character development and very unlikable characters that audience members may struggle to connect with. Although it seems to follow that recipe for many popular comedy sitcoms today, it lacks the key elements to draw viewers in. It is too early to tell if Friends from College will be renewed for a second season, but I doubt it will draw in the following that many of Netflix’s popular shows have.
What did you think Friends from College? Would you watch a second season? Tell us what you think!
Netflix
Share this post
