Emily in Paris may be between seasons, but that hasn’t stopped veteran TV producer Darren Star from continuing to be a hot property in 2025.
Seven of the top 10 most watched seasons of comedy shows on subscription streaming in the first five months of this year just happen to be the seven seasons of Younger, a series Star created 10 years ago for TV Land. Younger amassed 12.5 billion minutes watched over that time, according to Luminate Streaming Viewership (M).
That’s both higher than every other original series besides Netflix entries Running Point and The Four Seasons and ahead of all other licensed series on streaming right now, including Young Sheldon and Abbott Elementary.
Younger is the latest resurrection success story on Netflix, which has managed to elevate select catalog shows that have languished on other streaming services, enabling them to be rediscovered by a new audience rivaling the size of the one they previously enjoyed.
The most recent example was Suits, which was the most watched series in all of streaming in 2023. Previous shows receiving what’s become known as “the Netflix bump” have been as varied as lockup drama Prison Break and Friends-esque comedy New Girl.
But not all series Netflix attempts to resurrect enjoy a second life, as we saw last year with comedy Girls5eva, which didn’t get much of a lift after moving from Peacock to Netflix. So what is it about Younger?
Maybe it’s the show’s (Darren) Star power. The longtime small-screen creator has already proved he knows how to succeed on Netflix with Emily, which has emerged as one of the streamer’s biggest hits over its four seasons. Season 5 is in production in Rome and is expected to premiere later this year.
On its face, Younger, starring Sutton Foster as Liza Miller, a recently divorced 40-year-old who is mistaken for being 26 and uses the lie to pursue her dream job, doesn’t seem all that similar to Emily, which chronicles the misadventures of a twentysomething American expat played by Lily Collins.
But the two series share key attributes that seem to be connecting with Netflix viewers. They’re both fish-out-of-water stories with protagonists passionate about their careers and willing to take risks to succeed. And they both showcase strong female leads, a hallmark of Star’s work since he broke through more than 30 years ago by originating teen classics Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place.
There’s also something to the notion that while Younger was a moderate hit by cable standards, averaging well over 3 million viewers at its peak in 2018-19, circumstances at the time of its release may have hindered it from reaching its full potential in the way it seems to be achieving now. Younger aired in the early days of streaming, when cable networks were starting to have some legit competition, and production for its final season was disrupted by COVID.
Signed to a big overall deal at Universal Television last year, Star will have more opportunities to test his streaming appeal. Netflix has greenlighted a script-to-series commitment for his team-up with New Amsterdam creator David Schulner on another female-led half-hour, Uncorked, set in California’s wine country. He also has a project set up at Peacock, Climbing in Heels, with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, about five secretaries trying to make it in 1980s-era Hollywood.
And don’t forget that while Star hasn’t been creatively involved after season 3 of Sex and the City, the franchise he launched at HBO in 1998, it’s a testament to its success that all these years later, the reboot of the beloved comedy, And Just Like That, recently dropped its third season on HBO Max.
To track the performance of Star’s shows or any other title on SVOD, check out Luminate’s Streaming Viewership (M).
