FX Adults has all the ingredients to feel like FRIENDS for Gen Z; here's why!

The younger generation has always had mixed feelings about the beloved show FRIENDS. In that case, FX’s whip-smart hangout comedy Adults nails the chaotic sincerity of young adulthood and might just be the defining sitcom of its generation. 

A group of six friends, each with wildly different personalities and backgrounds, once came together in a coffee shop and a purple apartment to give us a lifetime of friendship. For nearly three decades, FRIENDS has dominated as the gold standard of ensemble sitcoms! A cozy TV escape into the lives of six impossibly close pals, as relatable as they were laugh-out-loud funny. But for Gen Z, while the show might still serve as a nostalgic entryway into the idea of friendship, it doesn’t quite strike the same chord. That's understandable because adulthood today looks and feels radically different.

Gig jobs have replaced dream careers. Group chats have replaced coffee house couches. Existential dread is now served with a side of memes. In that landscape of everyday reality, these six impossibly stylish New Yorkers can feel a little distant. It was inevitable, then, that a new sitcom would emerge, one that didn’t just capture the shape of modern friendships but represented them with sincerity, inclusivity, and cultural resonance. After all, every generation deserves its FRIENDS. Enter FX’s Adults! A show about four friends and a boyfriend, all of whom end up living together. It blends the old-school quirky warmth of FRIENDS with the messy realities of now. Even as it filters the essence of the hangout comedy through the chaos of modern life, it manages to create something both instantly familiar and refreshingly new.

Also Read: FRIENDS episodes that you need to binge-watch for a fun escape

Here’s how! 

A found family that feels real

Remember how in FRIENDS, some old and some new connections came together to create a home away from home? That’s the essence of true friendship: a family you build by choice, not by birth. Adults tap into that same feeling. We’re dropped into the messy lives of five people - four long-time friends and one newcomer, who happens to be dating a member of the group and somewhat accidentally ends up living with them in Queens. No dream Manhattan apartments here, just the lived-in sprawl of Samir’s childhood home. The chemistry feels effortless, as if the actors were real-life friends long before filming, something FRIENDS also nailed.

Reflecting on the generation with flaws and all

One of the beauties of FRIENDS was that while its six characters were hilarious, they were also imperfect, irritating each other as often as they accepted each other. Adults carried that forward but widened the lens, capturing societal realities as well. It’s almost painfully relatable, leaning into the economic instability, career FOMO, and emotional turbulence that define Gen Z’s early adulthood. There’s no attempt to smooth over awkwardness, if anything, the characters turn it into comedy, like blurting out, “How can I make this about me?” in the middle of a genuine crisis.

Each character has a distinct flavor

FRIENDS largely worked because Chandler, Joey, Monica, Rachel, Ross, and Phoebe were unforgettable in their own quirks. In Adults, the archetypes are familiar but reimagined, often blending traits from multiple FRIENDS characters as Samir (Chandler) acts like the clueless anxious fixer, Billie (Monica) behaves like the forever-stalled dreamer who craves perfection, Issa (Phoebe + Rachel) is the unpredictable wild card who says and does the most absurd thing in most situations, Anton (Joey) is the charming “friend-slut” who can woo even a serial killer and Paul Baker (Ross) is the emotionally fluid social chameleon with the most sensible advice. Here, even diversity is organic, not performative as queer, immigrant, gender-fluid, and Muslim identities are all part of their lived reality, not their only defining characteristic.

Technology as a supporting character

One big difference between the two? Tech. In FRIENDS, it wasn’t something that people were hooked or glued to hence it wasn’t utilized in story building, but in Adults, smartphones aren’t props; they’re portals. Group texts, lost AirTags, chaotic FaceTime calls, and dating-app disasters weave seamlessly into the plot. Technology shapes the storytelling but never overwhelms it. Almost saying that this isn’t a cringey “hello, fellow kids” attempt of a show, but a truthful depiction of how Gen Z navigates life.

Absurdity with heart and humor without cynicism

The magic of FRIENDS lies in its ability to make you laugh while quietly saying something meaningful about friendship. Adults get this too. Sure, it serves up absurd set pieces, from a ketamine-laced dinner party where raw chicken is actually served, to celebrity cameos like Julia Fox, but the heart is always there. Beneath the chaos are fractured friendships, unspoken crushes, and the messy evolution of growing up together. Like FRIENDS, the show thrives on chemistry and timing, but its humor cuts a little closer to the bone, as it is self-aware without being self-serious, satirical without being cruel, almost like a “loving roast” of its generation! 

With only eight episodes so far, Adults hasn’t had the seasons-long runway to build cultural landmarks the way FRIENDS did. But its tone, ensemble, and emotional core give it the potential to become a generational touchstone, if given the time. Because if FRIENDS was about idealized twenty-somethings navigating love and work in the ’90s, Adults is about what happens when the Wi-Fi’s patchy, the rent’s overdue, and your emotional baggage is right there in the group chat. It’s chaotic, self-aware, and deeply sincere, a sitcom that makes you feel less alone in the mess. The coffee house may be gone, replaced by group chats but the feeling is still timeless!

Have you watched FX Adults streaming on JioHotstar? Tell us your favoutite moments in the comments below!

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