It Gets Worse: A Sharp Gen Z Comedy on Paramount+
Leo Reich’s new series offers a cynical, hilarious portrait of contemporary young adulthood.
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1A New Generational Portrait
Premiering November 6 on Paramount+, It Gets Worse serves as a biting comedy about the Gen Z experience. Created by and starring Leo Reich, the show follows three college friends navigating life in 2026 London. It distinguishes itself from other hangout comedies by rejecting traditional optimism regarding early adulthood and career success.
2Lena Dunham’s Symbolic Cameo
Lena Dunham appears as a casually inappropriate CEO of a data brokerage firm, symbolizing the passing of the torch from millennials to Gen Z. Her character offers an entry-level position to the protagonist, Abi, highlighting the bleak reality of modern entry-level roles that lack training, benefits, or any real long-term career growth.
3Meet the Three Leads
The series centers on Ethan, a self-deprecating gay man avoiding seriousness; Abi, who strives for mundane material comforts; and Sam, an aspiring writer tutoring wealthy children. Their lives are framed by Zadie Smith’s voiceover narration, which provides a ruminative, unsparing look at their shared struggles, evictions, and the search for personal direction.
4Rejecting Millennial Tropes
The title serves as a direct rebuttal to the It Gets Better Project, signaling a departure from the hopeful narratives often attributed to millennials. The show posits that friends become family not out of choice, but because biological families are often disconnected, dating is a nightmare, and financial independence remains largely unattainable today.
5The Comedy of Lowered Expectations
Reich’s writing focuses on gallows humor rather than overt political messaging about climate change or AI. By balancing absurdity with insight, the show mocks the pity offered by older generations. Ethan’s remark that it is the worst time ever to be seven captures the show’s pervasive, yet darkly funny, sense of doom.
6Comparison to Genre Peers
While shows like Overcompensating feel like throwbacks and Not Suitable for Work ignores modern economic realities, It Gets Worse achieves a higher level of realism. It competes with series like Adults, which offers more energy, but Reich’s show remains unique for its commitment to portraying the banality of contemporary existential crises.
7The Reality of Precarity
The characters face gray-area relationships, pyramid-scheme career paths, and the constant threat of eviction. Unlike previous sitcoms that promised a trajectory toward fulfillment, this series suggests that the liminal period of young adulthood does not end with goal achievement. Instead, it persists indefinitely, reflecting a generation’s belief that stability is unreachable.
8A Defining Cultural Voice
By avoiding the cringeworthy tropes of previous decades, Leo Reich has crafted a series that feels authentically current. It captures the specific anxiety of being overeducated and underemployed in 2026. This show establishes Reich as a significant voice, offering a necessary, cynical mirror to the struggles of his own generation.
Original article: Time — It Gets Worse: A Sharp Gen Z Comedy on Paramount+