Twenties is an American single-camera comedy series created by Lena Waithe. The plot is semi-autobiographical and follows "a queer black girl, Hattie, and her two straight best friends, Marie and Nia, who spend most of their days talking 'ish' and chasing their dreams." The show stars Jonica T. Gibbs, Christina Elmore, Gabrielle Graham, Sophina Brown, and Big Sean. It premiered on BET on March 4, 2020, with the uncensored version airing on Showtime. In June 2020, the series was renewed for a second season.
Plot
The scripted comedy series follows a queer black woman in her twenties, Hattie, and her two straight best friends, Marie and Nia, as they try to find their footing in life, love, and the professional world in Los Angeles.
Cast
Jonica "Jojo" T. Gibbs as Hattie, a lesbian aspiring screenwriter
Lena Waithe wrote the series when she was in her twenties based on her experience of Los Angeles when she first moved there. She stated that she was intentional about creating a series starring a "masculine-presenting stud" with straight friends because that was her own personal experience. Waithe asked Susan Fales-Hill to help her produce the series, which was initially in talks to be produced by BET, then landed at Hulu before being picked up by BET again. It is the first series on the network to center a queer lead character. On April 15, 2019, BET announced that they had ordered the eight-episode comedy series, Twenties, written by Lena Waithe. Waithe is the co-showrunner with Fales-Hill. The two are also executive producers with Rishi Rajani and Andrew Coles. The director of the pilot, and co-executive producer is Justin Tipping. Of her experience filming Twenties, Waithe stated that BET gave no notes and was supportive of the producers' creative vision. On June 26, 2020, BET renewed the series for a second season.
Release
The series premiered on March 4, 2020.
Critical reception
Twenties has received "generally favorable reviews" according to aggregator Metacritic, where it received a score of 73/100. It received a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is described in the critics consensus, "sharply written and hilarious relatable, Twenties is another impressive series from creator Lena Waithe that also announces Jonica T. Gibbs as a talent to watch." In a review for Variety,Caroline Framke wrote, "In large part thanks to Gibbs’ appealingly loose performance, it’s entertaining to watch Hattie figure out how to break into the business, but without any clear motivations pushing her, it’s frustratingly ephemeral. If she and “Twenties” want to be memorable, they both have to figure out what’s actually driving them to do it." In a less positive review, Kellee Terrell of The A.V. Club stated: "Sadly, those compelling elements get drowned out by Waithe’s incessant need to remind you that this is a Black AF show with folks doing Black AF things...Pilots are always tricky because they have to introduce viewers to new characters and rules, but the hyperfocus on Blackness distracts from the real issue at hand: character development."
