The premise of Younger seems a bit iffy at first, but it is perfectly executed. Liza Miller, played beautifully by Sutton Foster, is a 40-year old single mother suddenly back in the workforce after her divorce. Her daughter is studying in India for a semester, so Liza finds herself at loose ends. She searches for a job in the publishing industry, where she used to work, but the 15-year hole in her resume causes a lot of questions and no job offers. Liza notices that most of the people in the kinds of jobs she used to do are young, in their 20's. When a 20-something guy in a bar thinks she is in her 20's, she gets the idea to pretend to be younger, so she can get an entry-level job in publishing and start her career over. Her best friend, Maggie, played by Debi Mazar (a favorite), convinces her to give it a try and helps her with a makeover. Armed with a made-up resume and her new 20-something hair, make-up, and wardrobe, Liza successfully lands an assistant job at a publishing house.
Her new boss is the demanding Diana Trout, played by Miriam Shor, and Liza soon has a new BFF, 20-something Kelsey Peters, played by Hilary Duff, who helps her find her way at work (with Maggie still by her side at home), as she transforms from suburban Jersey mom to fashionable young Brooklyn-ite. Soon, she is dating the gorgeous 26-year old Josh, played by Nico Tortorella, who works as a tattoo artist. No one knows her secret except Maggie. Hilarious situations ensue, and much of the humor comes from the clash between generations, as you might expect.
As I said at the beginning, this sounds like a shaky set-up, and it is a bit unrealistic that a 40-year old mom could so easily masquerade as a 26-year old (I wish I looked like that! There is no way the actress has had kids, let alone c-sections). That said, this show does everything right - great acting, excellent writing, wonderful cast - and the result is smart, fresh, sexy, and very, very funny. Besides its comedic allure, the characters are also warm and appealing and quickly won my heart. It pulls you in like a well-done drama but with plenty of laughs and a clever script about women succeeding in business. I absolutely loved the first season of Younger and binge-watched the first three episodes of season 2 as soon as they appeared!
You can watch all of season 1 of Younger and the beginning of season 2 On Demand through your cable company or through Amazon for $1.99 an episode (or $14.99 for the entire first season) or iTunes. The season 2 episodes are also available through the TV Land website. Younger is not available on Netflix or Hulu.
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