“I loooove LA” – a song I belted driving down the PCH in a convertible a few years ago, and the catchy name of Zillennial Rachel Sennott’s new HBO comedy series. With two episodes out for public consumption, I Love LA mostly succeeds to be both a criticism of and a lighthearted laugh at how we navigate adulthood while refusing to grow up. So far, Sennott – the writer, showrunner, and star – captures late 20/30 somethings culture and big city living through the eyes of vapid, social-climbing friends working in fame-adjacent careers.
And this is truly one for the late 20/30 somethings: what’s more “I am a girl born in 1995” than casting The Hunger Games’ Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) as your boyfriend, and Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) as your boss? Both with excellent supporting performances, I might add.
The characters are messy and unlikeable, but the writing is self-aware enough that the viewer understands the depiction is intentionally negative. It’s also realistic enough that I find myself remembering when I encouraged my friends’ toxic behavior for the sake of a good time, or proclaimed loudly at my professional office job, “I’m literally so bored I’m gonna die.”
It’s important to understand Rachel Sennott’s path to show biz to fully contextualize what we’ve seen so far on I Love LA. Sennott, who went to the prestigious NYU Stella Adler’s School of Acting, was active in the open mic scene in New York throughout college until she got fed up with male reaction to her comedy. Ultimately, her cleverness and hot takes went viral thanks to her online videos and scathing Tweets back in 2020. Her connection to the New York City comedy scene and internet virality led her to roles / writing in several projects (Shiva Baby, The Idol). In 2022, she co-wrote and starred in Bottoms, an “instant high school comedy classic that feels both current and nostalgic,” which has also proved a star vehicle for Ayo Edebiri and Nicholas Galitzine.
For months, Sennott promoted the Untitled Rachel Sennott Project (the named, yet unnamed deal she had with HBO) – a marketing strategy that left fans guessing what the title would be. The day she finally released the title, Taylor Swift also announced The Life of a Showgirl. Not great timing for Sennott to aim for virality in the news cycle, but we’re all at the mercy of the Swift Corporation at this point.
With the context that Sennott is from the East Coast, I Love LA reflects a New York City transplant who dreamed of living in LA: romanticizing the Malibu pier, Silver Lake thrift stores, and even earthquakes. From the sunshine-y yellow / gold lighting, to the hilarious Charlie (played by Jordan Firstman, an LA writer turned influencer himself who went viral in 2020), to name-dropping LA hot spots like Erewhon and Din Tai Fung, the show reads like a female and queer-led Entourage.
In the first two episodes, the tone can be uneven and clunky, jumping between jokes and hyperboles, to dark clouds of insecurity and disappointment. The characters, albeit intentionally, do get annoying. But Sennott’s portrayal is a well-balanced combo of messy and earnest, a feat that will keep me (a 32 year-old New York City resident – I suspect I’m a member of her target audience) coming back and hopeful for more sincere character development against a background of wild antics.
