A sharp new comedy from Sharon Horgan
Dear Watchers,Ailing parents, adult children, menopause: Gen X is having its middle-age malaise moment. For Alex, the protagonist of the new HBO dramedy “Youth,” the beginning of her 50s also comes with anxiety. A lot of it. (The first two episodes debut on Sunday night, on HBO and HBO Max.) Divorced, with a son entering college, Alex — played by Sharon Horgan, who also created and writes for the show — is eager to get back out there, romantically speaking. But between the needs of her father (David Hargreaves), who has “mild-ish Alzheimer’s,” and those of her son, Ruari (Aran Murphy), who abruptly leaves school, time is in short supply. Alex is walking a tightrope at work too, where she is a literary agent massaging her clients’ egos while mollifying her friend-turned-boss, Sam (Sharlene Whyte). Horgan’s creations are often difficult women. See Sharon Morris in “Catastrophe,” who sneaks the occasional cigarette while pregnant, or Eva Garvey in “Bad Sisters,” whose attempts to kill her sister’s abusive husband end in comical failure. Alex is very much in this vein; she can be self-absorbed, inattentive and sometimes downright insensitive. When her sister, Delly (Roisin Gallagher), accuses her of falling short with their parents, Alex deflects by blaming single motherhood. Delly, a single mom too, scoffs, gesturing to her own baby girl, “What the [expletive] do you think that is?” Like other recent shows including “And Just Like That” and “Small Achievable Goals,” “Youth” mines comedy from the indignities of aging, particularly for women. A laughing fit triggers a bout of arthritis in Alex’s jaw, prompting her to ask her doctor, plaintively, “Is this just the start of a general decline?” She also frets about her sexual shelf life and surreptitiously checks out her softening jawline in bus mirrors. The men aren’t exempt either. The show pokes fun at Alex’s ex Lorcan (Owen McDonnell), an aspiring actor who midlife-crisises his way through a marriage to a younger woman (Karla Crome) and phones in his role as Ruari’s dad. And Alex’s potential paramour Patrick (Rupert Friend) is a perpetual man-child. The dialogue is sparkling, and the setups are delightfully cringey. In one scene, Alex, surprised by a blind date’s age, mentions it awkwardly multiple times within the first five minutes. But who hasn’t put their foot in it on a first date? Alex is floundering, yes, but she is also searching for her place in a shifting landscape and longing for connection — whether that’s from Patrick or her struggling and sometimes distant son. It’s all very funny, and yet “Youth” also goes beyond the punchlines to offer a relatable look at this complex and challenging stage of life. Keep watching your inbox …TV fans, we have a treat for you! Starting next Monday, Sept. 21, we’ll begin unveiling our list of the 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century. As with last year’s 100 Best Movies list, more than 500 television professionals voted from Hollywood and around the world, and the results are finally in. We’ll be revealing 20 new titles daily, counting down from 100. Genuine surprises abound — both for what made the list and what didn’t. Read a little more about it here, and look for a special edition of the Watching newsletter every day next week, where we’ll have more details about each new batch of shows, outtakes from celebrity interviews and more. Also this week
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