In retrospect, the name should have clued me in to the problem. Has anyone ever typed “NSFW” and thought the “S” stood for “suitable”? How many times was the title of Mindy Kaling’s new comedy workshopped before they landed on “suitable” over “safe”? This is far from the biggest issue plaguing Not Suitable for Work, but it serves as a perfect guide to its myriad of problems. At first glance, this seems like a fine, if generic, title that promises a bit of risqué comedy. Only after watching do you realize how far off that assessment is.
The Hulu comedy follows the Mindy Kaling style of being both full of pithy one-liners and devoid of actual jokes. Set in Manhattan, the series follows a group of five twenty-somethings as they search for professional success and personal happiness. Vague premise aside, there is one potentially interesting conceit here: our cast of Gen Z workaholics aren’t exactly a friend group. Instead, we meet two separate groups residing in neighboring apartments. This theoretically allows the cast to interact in ways that should be fun but rarely are.
In one apartment, we have AJ (Ella Hunt) a Boston transplant ready to start her new career, and Abby (Avantika Vandanapu) a fashion designer. Next door, we have a trio of bros, including the insufferable nepo-baby Josh (Jack Martin), med student with dreams of acting Kel (Nicolas Duvernay), and Davis (Will Angus), who is desperate for love. It’s a cast full of young, pretty faces who have zero chemistry with each other. Hunt and Angus fare the best, which might be why they’re quickly turned into the show’s Ross and Rachel. Martin’s Josh, meanwhile, falls on the wrong side of the love-to-hate tightrope thanks to some poor attempts at character development.
The characters aren’t the only element suffering from a lack of identity. It’s not enough to call the show’s writing cliched because it reaches a level that is almost admirable. Not Suitable pulls from an array of hackneyed trends to really complete the generic tableau. You have your rom-com cliches like a meet-cute between co-workers that quickly turns complicated. There are workplace bromides like demanding bosses with the added bonus of harkening to The Devil Wears Prada. We even get classic sitcom tropes like misunderstandings that spiral out of control. This all adds to the prevalent feeling of déjà vu you get when watching the series. You’ve seen this all before, done better.
It’s hard to tell who specifically this program is for. A good hangout sitcom requires characters worth investing in. A romantic comedy needs a romance you root for. Other programming exists for the Gen Z demographic. What you’re left with is a show with no apparent purpose beyond delivering lukewarm jokes while tired scenarios play out. The awkward title might actually be the most interesting thing about Not Suitable for Work.
Not Suitable for Work is currently streaming on Hulu.