Sabrina Carpenter Loves This Goofy Sitcom On Hulu (And You Will Too)

If you just binged all of "Adults" on Hulu and loved it, you're in good company. Singer-songwriter and current pop queen Sabrina Carpenter agrees with you.

The Hulu original series, which was created by Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw — and counts "Big Mouth's" Nick Kroll and director Stefani Robinson as executive producers — focuses on a group of five twenty-somethings living in Queens, New York: Samir Rahman (Malik Elessai), Billie Schaffer (Lucy Freyer), Paul Baker (Jack Innanen), Anton Evans (Owen Thiele), and Issa (Amita Rao). Billie, Anton, and Issa all live rent-free in Samir's childhood home in the massive New York City borough, and in the first episode, Issa's boyfriend Paul Baker, who is always referred to by his full name, moves in and completes the equation.

So what does Carpenter have to do with any of this? Well, Thiele posted a cheeky video on TikTok set to Carpenter's song "Taste," which opens her 2024 album "Short n' Sweet." The video starts out with Paul Baker and Issa in a romantic embrace before the camera switches to see Anton and Paul Baker in a similar embrace (we'll circle back to that, as it's related to the season 1 finale). The "Espresso" singer commented on the video and simply said, "[I] love you and [I] love adults."

Carpenter is a fan of this fledgling series, which premiered in its entirety on Hulu on May 28, 2025. But what do critics think of this ensemble comedy that feels like "Friends" for Gen-Z?

Over on Rotten Tomatoes, "Adults" earned an overall rating of 73% from critics, and the consensus reads, "Every generation deserves its own sitcom of likable screwups, and 'Adults' more or less delivers one for Gen-Z with its ensemble of funny and maddening strivers." As for individual critics, they were — as that score might indicate — somewhat mixed.

"It's a quick binge, and frequently hilarious, if you can get past the existential haze and the gnawing feeling that everyone should take a shower and clean their g*ddamn house," Dustin Rowles opined for Pajiba. Over at Paste Magazine, Rendy Jones compared it to "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," writing, "A refined 'Sunny' clone tailored for the Zillennial generation, perfectly capturing the emotions and experiences of twenty-somethings just starting out in the world." Dave Nemetz seemed to agree in his review for TVLine: "Even though it's rooted in Gen Z, 'Adults' still fits into fairly conventional sitcom rhythms and payoffs. And it's comforting in a way to see this show use those tried-and-true techniques to find big laughs within a whole new generation."

Writing for The New York Times, Esther Zuckerman said, "While it seems unlikely to become a generation-defining sensation, once 'Adults' finds its groove, it is perfectly diverting TV." The Hollywood Reporter's reviewer Angie Han expressed a similar sentiment, writing, "It can be a little exhausting, in a way that occasionally made me want to pull it aside and suggest it take a breath. But it's also bright enough (and, unexpectedly, sweet enough) to inspire faith it'll find its footing eventually." Over at Rolling Stone, Alan Sepinwall took a straightforward view of the series: "There are occasional references to the characters' age bracket and how older generations feel about them, but not so much that it feels like the intended point of 'Adults.' All it wants to be about is five funny people being funny together."

Still, some critics simply weren't charmed by "Adults." Ben Travers found the characters too irksome to ignore; in his IndieWire review, he wrote, "As is, every one of the main characters is too brainless and basic to invest in, even when the series treats their shared ineptitude like a bonding agent." Variety's Alison Herman was a little gentler, saying, "As 'Adults' actually exists, though, it feels as uncertain as its subjects — and many of its TV contemporaries. In this sense, at least, it's a show of its time." Still, there's plenty of positive buzz out there surrounding "Adults," which makes sense — it's a fresh new show full of relative unknowns with a major comedian as a producer, and its first season builds to an impressively intriguing point.

The first season of "Adults" takes on a ton of hot topics across just eight short episodes; in the very first installment, Billie all but threatens her boss while trying to get a promotion, and in the following episode, she's stuck with a $15,000 medical bill after experiencing an emergency without a job or health insurance. This sounds pretty dire for a comedy, but the show manages to find incredibly funny ways to tackle the entire subject, with Samir demanding that doctors perform multiple tests on Billie all at the same time assuming that she can use her job's health insurance before she's officially fired (only to learn that, as a contractor, she never had health insurance through work in the first place).

Elsewhere, Anton tries — and fails — to find love with the man of his dreams, including a hysterical diversion where he, Paul Baker, and Issa develop a fixation on an AirTag they think they've slipped into the tote bag of a very handsome guy. (It fell out of the bag, and a rat stole it before visiting Anton's favorite restaurant). Anton and Issa share a therapist who dies suddenly, and the two think that their problems drove the man to a desperate act. While backsliding after getting fired, Billie ends up in an ill-advised relationship with her high school teacher Andrew ("Daredevil" star Charlie Cox, who her friends refer to as "Mr. Teacher" — and if you've ever wanted to see Cox pretend he's on a wild drug trip while interacting with Julia Fox (playing herself), "Adults" is definitely the show for you.

At the close of season 1 of "Adults," something really interesting happens. Paul Baker, who hails from Canada, needs to marry someone to stay in the United States — and because Issa isn't ready, he marries Anton. When the two kiss as a joke, the chemistry is apparent (Paul Baker is, as is frequently mentioned, sexually fluid), leaving the two of them with a lot of questions about whether or not they might want to genuinely pursue this. "Adults," as of this writing, has not been renewed for season 2 ... but along with Sabrina Carpenter, we're hoping to see more from this weird, funny little group of friends. You can stream the series on Hulu now.