Stream It Or Skip It?

We have readily admitted in the past that shows featuring self-absorbed twentysomethings have started to rub us the wrong way of late. We just chalk that up to the fact that we’re not twentysomethings in 2025, and it’s been a long time since we were that age. So, when we review shows like Rachel Sennott’s comedy I Love LA, we try to look through the eye rolls, vocal fry, and the “who cares” feelings we get when these characters have “problems” and try to see if this group is one we’ll eventually want to spend time with.

I LOVE LA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Maia (Rachel Sennott) is in bed looking at her phone when her boyfriend Dylan (Josh Hutcherson) wakes up. The two of them have morning sex, but Maia, an East Coast transplant, confuses an earthquake with Dylan’s abilities in bed.

The Gist: It’s Maia’s birthday, and she’s self-conscious about getting another year closer to 30 and about how LA’s dry air affects her skin. She meets her friends Alani (True Whitaker) and Charlie (Jordan Firstman) for a morning walk, and raises two issues she has to deal with. For one, she wants to ask Alyssa (Leighton Meester), the owner of the boutique talent management firm where she works, for a promotion, given all the works she does as an assistant.

Secondly, her former bestie Tallulah (Odessa A’zion) seems to be killing it as an influencer back in New York, after the two of them planned to move to LA together. Alani and Charlie tell Maia to block her on her socials.

When she gets the runaround from Alyssa about the promotion, she mentions the work she and Tallulah did back in New York as proof that she can manage a campaign. Alyssa wonders why Tallulah doesn’t follow Maia on social media, and Alyssa can’t explain.

She gets home and is surprised when she sees that Tallulah has come to LA to visit for her birthday; Alani decided to fly Tallulah out because she thought Maia missed her. Maia is reluctant to go along with Tallulah’s usual craziness, but they do go to a club that night and re-bond a little bit, but then things take a turn when Tallulah uses her influence to transform Maia’s quiet dinner with Dylan and her friends at a fancy restaurant into something very Tallulah-centric.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? I Love LA, which was created by Sennott, feels like a West Coast version of the FX series Adults.

Our Take: The only parts of the first episode of I Love LA that felt somewhat authentic was when the relationship between Maia and Tallulah was the focus. These two are best friends whose plan was to take on LA together, but then Tallulah’s success as an influencer spoiled those plans. There’s a lot of undercurrent in the interactions between Sennott and A’zion, and when they’re sorting out their feelings for each other, both characters go from Gen Z caricatures to real people with a real personal history.

The rest of the characters just aren’t there yet. The only one that looks like she has anything resembling empathy is Alani. Alyssa is too self-satisfied with her personal success, Charlie is too superficial, and Dylan is just bland. In fact, given how bland Dylan really is, we wonder just how he and the ambitious Maia got together in the first place. Perhaps we’ll see that he’s stabilizing for her, but for now, he’s about as milquetoast as a TV boyfriend can get.

So there’s more than enough not to like here. But HBO has assured critics who stick with the entire season that their patience will pay off, and we’ll take their word for it. There seems to be just enough that holds our interest, especially in the performances of Sennott and A’zion, to keep watching while Sennott and her writers figure it out.

Sex and Skin: We mentioned the earthquake sex scene, and Sennott doesn’t seem to have a problem with casual toplessness.

Parting Shot: After Tallulah asks Maia if she can stay with her for awhile, the two seem to settle back in their friendship groove, especially when a stripper arrives at the party.

Sleeper Star: As we said above, True Whitaker’s character Alani projects the most actual empathy and humanity in the first episode.

Most Pilot-y Line: Yes, we know the show is called I Love LA, but using Randy Newman’s 42-year-old song during an extended montage of Alani and Tallulah’s day out feels a) on the nose, and b) pretty dated.

Our Call: STREAM IT, but you’re going to need some patience with I Love LA in order to enjoy it. Like most comedies about found family, there’s too much jokey chatter and not enough actual character depth to help viewers latch onto the situations of Maia or anyone else. But the friendship between Maia and Tallulah tells us that there may be more underneath the vocal fry.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times