The Cool Kids (TV series)


The Cool Kids is an American sitcom television series created by Charlie Day and Paul Fruchbom for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows three male residents of a retirement community who are forced to adapt to the arrival of a new, rebellious female occupant and it stars David Alan Grier, Martin Mull, Leslie Jordan, and Vicki Lawrence. On October 19, 2018, it was announced that Fox had ordered an additional nine episodes of the series, bringing the first season total up to twenty-two episodes. On May 10, 2019, The Cool Kids was canceled by Fox after one season.
The Cool Kids is a joint production by 3 Arts Entertainment, FX Productions, and 20th Century Fox Television.

Premise

The Cool Kids follows three male senior citizen friends at Shady Meadows Retirement Community who "are the top dogs until they're blown out of the water by the newest member of the community, a female rebel who's ready to challenge their place – it’s high school with 70 somethings."

Cast and characters

Main

Production

Development

On September 5, 2017, it was announced that Fox had given the production a pilot order. The pilot was written by Charlie Day and Paul Fruchbom with Kevin Abbott set to serve as showrunner if the pilot was ordered to series. Executive producers are set to include Day, Abbott, Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, and Nick Frenkel with Fruchbom co-executive producing. Production companies involved with the pilot include 20th Century Fox Television and FX Productions. On November 16, 2017, it was announced that Don Scardino would direct the pilot.
On May 9, 2018, it was announced that Fox had given the production a series order. A few days later, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2018 and air on Fridays at 8:30 P.M. On June 12, 2018, it was reported that Patrick Walsh was replacing Abbott in the role of showrunner and was also joining the series as an executive producer. On June 28, 2018, it was announced that the series would premiere on September 28, 2018. On October 19, 2018, it was announced that Fox had ordered an additional nine episodes of the series, bringing the first season total up to twenty-two episodes. The series finale aired on May 10, 2019.

Casting

Alongside the announcement of the pilot's director, it was confirmed that Vicki Lawrence, David Alan Grier, Leslie Jordan, and Martin Mull had been cast in the pilot's lead roles. On November 9, 2018, it was announced that Lesley Ann Warren would make a guest appearance in an episode entitled "Charlie’s Angel". The episode was notably set to serve as a reunion for Mull and Warren who had previously starred together in the 1985 film Clue.

Opening

For the opening of the show, a video of Michael and Carol Garland of Bedford, Texas is used.

Release

Marketing

On May 14, 2018, Fox released the first trailer for the series.

Premiere

On September 13, 2018, the series took part in the 12th Annual PaleyFest Fall Television Previews which featured a preview screening of the series and a conversation with cast members including David Alan Grier, Martin Mull, Vicki Lawrence, and Leslie Jordan.

Reception

Critical response

The series has been met with a mixed to positive response from critics upon its premiere. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 65% with an average rating of 6.1 out of 10, based on 17 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though the cheesy jokes and cliches are old hat, an all-too-uncommon focus on older characters makes it easier to forgive The Cool Kids' lack of fresh wrinkles." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 42 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."

Ratings