If you want better dialogue quality
Choose Black Doves, Season 2. It scores 4.8 vs 3.6 for dialogue quality, with a 4.3 overall score.
It Gets Worse Review
Content guidance
Frequent frank sexual encounters and graphic sexual dialogue include oral-sex references, dominance, throat-gripping, and spitting into a partner’s mouth. Cocaine references and heavy drinking add to the mature subject matter.
Official rating
TV-MA
Bottom Line
Sharp jokes and convincing chemistry make this a rewarding portrait of messy young adulthood. Familiar storylines, abrasive characters, and relentless sexual awkwardness may limit its appeal.
Gen Z viewers and twentysomethings who want sharp comedy about rent, work, dating, and changing friendships. Young Londoners may find the setting and anxieties especially recognizable.
Older viewers who find generational references alienating, or Girls fans seeking equally sharp subversion of familiar young-adult clichés. The difficult personalities may also make emotional investment harder.
Verdict
It Gets Worse works best when its sharp jokes reveal the vulnerability beneath three friends’ selfish behavior. The central cast’s lived-in chemistry gives the fractured friendship weight, while awkward romances, disappointing jobs, and London flatshare problems make early adulthood feel painfully recognizable. The narration and several celebrity cameos add memorable comic highlights. Most responses are enthusiastic, but the reservations are meaningful: supporting characters can feel underused, romantic storylines sometimes repeat, and the constant punchlines leave limited room for quieter drama. More skeptical critics find the whole premise derivative and its protagonists difficult to like. For Gen Z viewers and younger Londoners drawn to messy, candid sitcoms, the strengths are substantial; the frank sexual material and abrasive personalities demand some tolerance.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
61 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.017 (28%)
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Positive 3.5-4.429 (48%)
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Neutral 2.5-3.411 (18%)
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Negative 1.5-2.44 (7%)
Pros highlights
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Fast one-liners, dry observations, and awkward situations make this a frequently very funny sitcom. A few critics find the punchlines relentless or forced, and not every joke lands.
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The best observations capture the uncertainty, privilege, loneliness, and contradictions of life after university. Less enthusiastic critics find the pursuit of relatability vague and familiar.
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Clever, incisive writing often balances sharp jokes with affection for deeply flawed people. Reservations center on overfamiliar ideas, underwritten supporting roles, and occasional over-writing.
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Selfish, irritating protagonists often become sympathetic through humor and glimpses of vulnerability. Their likability remains one of the show’s clearest dividing lines.
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The leads gradually reveal vulnerability beneath their selfish behavior, often becoming easier to care about. Supporting characters can remain thin, and some critics want more depth throughout.
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Affection and cruelty coexist in a friendship that usually feels close, complicated, and worth following. A dissenting view finds the group artificially assembled.
Cons highlights
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Some critics appreciate a distinct voice within a familiar sitcom tradition. Others find the young-adult premise and execution derivative or overdone.
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For admirers, the references and outlook feel closely connected to young adulthood today. Detractors see superficial topical decoration or exaggerated claims of relevance.
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Believable everyday situations appeal to some viewers. Others find the plotting aimless, meandering, or too close to disconnected observations.
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The comic references can feel refreshingly current and accurate. Opposing views find familiar young-adult clichés and at least one gag recycled from an older sitcom.
Use Cases
Best for
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The show’s worldview, anxieties, and humor are closely tuned to Gen Z. Its recognizable contemporary world is a major part of the attraction for that audience.
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Especially rewarding for viewers navigating rent, work, dating, and changing friendships in their twenties. Its messy protagonists offer recognizable company without tidy answers.
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Young Londoners are likely to recognize the cramped housing, uncertain careers, and alternative social venues. That local familiarity can make the comedy hit unusually close to home.
Not ideal for
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Older-audience viewingAn explicitly cautionary assessment finds the show’s aesthetics and worldview narrowly generational. Older viewers may struggle to connect with its preoccupations.
Cast & Creators
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EthanReich earns praise for sharp, perceptive comic writing and an appealingly unabashed lead performance. His strongest scenes combine self-mockery with believable rapport among the friends.
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SamGray’s work gains praise for believable ensemble chemistry and an empathetic, layered portrayal. One otherwise skeptical critic singles Gray out as the show’s real discovery.
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ActorDunham’s brief screen appearances are praised for their comic presence and pointed girlboss characterization. Reich also warmly values her feedback on the pilot script.
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AbiFairn helps make the central trio feel authentic and emotionally layered. Her interactions with Reich and Gray are a recurring performance strength.
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ActorPepperdine repeatedly stands out as Ethan’s irritable mother. Her delivery supplies some of the show’s strongest comic moments.
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ActorScott’s brief appearance makes a memorable comic impression. His familiar screen persona and the outrageous opening scene draw particularly warm responses.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other TV Shows, this product is above average in title distinctiveness, season length, writing quality, near average in friendship portrayal, dialogue quality, below average in story quality, ensemble balance, romance quality.
Comparison summary
57 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher19 (33%)
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Same as average within 0.3 pts22 (39%)
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Below average 0.4+ pts lower16 (28%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| title distinctiveness | 4.5 | 2.1 | +2.4 |
| story quality | 2.3 | 3.7 | -1.3 |
| ensemble balance | 2.0 | 3.1 | -1.1 |
| romance quality | 2.5 | 3.6 | -1.1 |
| season length | 4.0 | 2.9 | +1.1 |
| writing quality | 4.3 | 3.4 | +0.8 |
| realism | 4.3 | 3.3 | +1.0 |
| drama quality | 3.0 | 4.0 | -1.0 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better writing quality
Choose The Diplomat, Season 4. It scores 4.8 vs 4.3 for writing quality, with a 4.3 overall score.
If you want better story quality
Choose Sterling Point. It scores 4.8 vs 2.3 for story quality, with a 4.5 overall score.
If you want better tonal consistency
Choose The Lowdown, Season 2. It scores 4.6 vs 2.5 for tonal consistency, with a 4.5 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
Girls (2012)
- Similar: Generational comedy The series is described as a queerer Girls for young renters.
- Similar: Friend-group comedy The series shares Girls’s focus on friends navigating sex, work, and eccentric encounters.
- Similar: Comic premise The series is aptly pitched as a combination of Girls and Peep Show.
Adults (2025)
- Similar: Friend-group comedy The series shares Adults’s focus on friends navigating sex, work, and eccentric encounters.
- Compared: Contemporary sitcom wave It joins Adults in a promising new generation of sitcoms.
- Compared: Contemporary sitcom wave The article places the show alongside Adults in a renewed wave of sitcoms.
Fresh Meat (2011)
- Similar: Creative influences Reich identifies Fresh Meat as an influence on this show.
- Similar: Comic influences Fresh Meat is identified as one of the show’s inspirations.
- Similar: Generational sitcom The article relays a description of the show as a Gen Z answer to Fresh Meat.
FAQ
What is It Gets Worse about?
Three university friends face eviction from their London flat and navigate changing friendships, disappointing jobs, and messy relationships.
Is it consistently funny?
Most responses praise its sharp jokes, dry narration, and awkward situations. Some find the punchlines relentless, repetitive, or forced.
Do the main characters become more likable?
Several assessments find growing vulnerability beneath their selfish behavior. Others still find the characters shallow or difficult to enjoy.
What are its biggest weaknesses?
Supporting characters can feel underused, and some romantic storylines repeat. Critics also differ over how much fresh insight the familiar premise offers.
Is it similar to Girls?
The messy friendships, frank sexuality, and uncertain young-adult lives frequently invite that comparison. Opinions split between a worthy successor and a less incisive variation.
Is it suitable for younger viewers?
It is best reserved for adults because of frequent sexual material, graphic sexual dialogue, and substance-related content.
Are Andrew Scott and Lena Dunham major cast members?
Both make guest appearances rather than forming part of the central trio. Their brief scenes are often singled out as highlights.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
mashable.com
Forget the Andrew Scott thirst trap; "It Gets Worse" has so much more going for it, as Leo Reich creates an ode to your messy 20s.
- Review score
- 4.6
hollywoodreporter.com
Comedian Leo Reich created and stars in the A24-produced six-parter about three 20something best friends in London, with Lena Dunham and...
- Review score
- 4.3
vogue.com
Roommates, bad sex, and self-obsession: with “It Gets Worse,” sitcom star Leo Reich sends up Generation Z.
- Review score
- 5.0
wsj.com
Leo Reich stars in and created this six-part series on Paramount+ about three best friends in London, caught in a very modern mix of personal...
- Review score
- 4.0
vogueadria.com
The new A24 comedy It Gets Worse explores growing up, friendship and the chaos of your twenties, featuring Lena Dunham and Andrew Scott.
- Review score
- 4.3
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