Adults

Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw created Adults, a comedy that landed on FX in May 2025 to capture the messy reality of living in New York City. The series follows a group of twenty-somethings who share an apartment while trying to navigate adulthood, friendship, and their own moral compasses. Malik Elassal stars as Samir Rahman, joined by Lucy Freyer as Billie Schaeffer, Jack Innanen as Paul Baker, Amita Rao as Issa, and Owen Thiele as Anton Evans.

The show ran for two seasons with seventeen episodes total before concluding its first run in July 2026. It avoided traditional sitcom tropes by focusing on the chaotic, often absurd, and deeply relatable transition from adolescence to full-blown adulthood. Critics praised the ensemble chemistry and the sharp writing that balanced cringe-comedy with genuine emotional resonance. [edit]

The premise operates on the tagline: "The plan is there is no plan." The characters are works-in-progress, brimming with bad ideas, untested theories of adulthood, and a desperate desire to be "good people," even if they currently lack the moral compass or life experience to back it up. The narrative structure avoids traditional episodic problem-solving in favor of character-driven vignettes where the friends attempt to tackle specific adult responsibilities, such as paying rent, managing careers, handling romantic entanglements, and dealing with family dynamics, with mixed results.

In Season 1, the central conflict revolves around the concept of capital-R Responsibility. Each episode sees the housemates grappling with the consequences of their choices, whether it involves a disastrous job interview, a complicated dating situation, or a misunderstanding with their parents. They frequently find themselves in over their heads, inventing elaborate workarounds for problems they are too afraid to face head-on. For instance, they might try to explain away a financial mistake with a convoluted lie or attempt to fix a relationship issue through a poorly thought-out intervention. Despite these missteps, the season establishes a consistent emotional core: when everything falls apart, the friends consistently show up for one another. The season captures the messy reality of living in New York, where the pressure to succeed clashes with the comfort of staying together in their shared space.

Season 2 shifts the focus to new, more nuanced real-world questions that arise as the characters age slightly but remain emotionally stunted. The season explores themes of identity and regression. A recurring motif involves the friends confronting the fact that they are becoming older versions of themselves while simultaneously trying to maintain the youthful energy of their twenties. Questions such as "What if the 20-year-old who inherited your fake ID is cooler than you ever were?" highlight their fear of irrelevance and aging. The season also delves into the awkwardness of loving a boring office job, the instinct to regress into one's worst self when surrounded by family, and the difficulty of asking for change when stability is required.

Throughout both seasons, the friends weave intricate webs of multi-player strategy just to avoid hurting each other's feelings. They engage in elaborate lies and cover-ups, not out of malice, but out of a desperate need to preserve the group dynamic. The humor stems from the gap between their intentions (to be responsible adults) and their actions (chaotic, impulsive behavior). The show does not offer easy resolutions; instead, it presents a continuous cycle of learning the same lessons only to find new ways to make mistakes. However, the overarching theme remains steadfast: amidst the failure and confusion, the group's ability to lean on one another is their greatest strength. The series concludes its first run in July 2026, leaving the audience with a sense of ongoing growth rather than a definitive "happily ever after." [edit]