Those who enjoyed the cozy comforts and friendly downtime shared inThe Four Seasonsshould stay onNetflixand slide over toFriends From College, an equally compelling reunion dramedy full of valuable everyday insights. Cut from the cloth of classic hangout movies like Alan Alda’sThe Four Seasons, John Sayles’Return of the Secaucus 7, Lawrence Kasdan’sThe Big Chill, and others,Friends From Collegeis the perfect companion piece for younger audiences who bingedThe Four Seasons.
Boasting a stellar ensemble cast on par with theSNLheadlining alums inThe Four Seasons, Friends From Collegecomes from the creative minds behindForgetting Sarah Marshall, Neighbors, Platonic,and more. Yet, despite the creators' comedic background,Friends From Collegetackles serious and sobering themes about early adulthood and the ramifications that rear their head 20 years later.
Friends From College
‘The Four Seasons’ Subdues Its Comedic Cast for Dramatic Effect
Inspired by the 1981 Alan Alda film of the same name,The Four Seasonstakes the basic premise of the original and expands intoeight TV sitcom episodesreleased on Netflix on June 16, 2025. Co-created by and starring Tina Fey,the series tracks three middle-aged couples who vacation together during each seasonal change and explore their long-term relationships, romantic and platonic.
Fey plays Kate, who is married to Jack (Will Forte), while the inciting event concerns Nick (Steve Carell) divorcing his wife Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) to be with a younger woman. Architect Danny (Colman Domingo) and his spouse Claude (Marco Calvani) are the third married couple. Once Nick tells Jack and Danny he plans to leave Anne for the 32-year-old dental hygienist Ginny (Erika Henningsen), they, too, begin wondering if life is greener on the other side of the marital fence.
Despite boasting a superb comedic cast,The Four Seasonsis fairly mild in its humorousexploration of frayed marriages. Many have wondered who exactly the series is aimed at or made for, often squandering its hilarious cast in favor of a subdued dramedy. Yet, those willing to look past the underwhelming humor of such comedic titans will be rewardedby trenchant insights into the challenges of getting older, maturing, incurring more responsibility, having children, and following one’s heart, regardless of the seismic family shake-ups it may cause.
‘Friends From College’ Is ‘The Four Seasons’ for a Younger Crowd
Created by Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller,Friends From Collegeis a Netflix original sitcom that aired for two seasons and 16 episodes between 2017 and 2019. In a premise similar toThe Four Seasons, the show revolves around college pals who come together 20 years after graduating from Harvard to navigate adulthood in New York City.
Friends From Collegefeatures asuperb comedic cast, including Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Savage, Cobie Smulders, Nat Faxon, Annie Parisse, Billy Eichner, Sarah Chalke, and several hilarious guest stars like Seth Rogen, Kate McKinnon, Chris Elliott, and more.
The show starts with struggling writer Ethan Turner (Key) and his hedge-fund lawyer wife, Lisa (Smulders), moving to The Big Apple, reuniting with college pals, and uncovering long-buried secrets that complicate their relationships. In navigating their arrested development, the collegiate colleagues learn that old habits die hard.
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Much like Nick inThe Four Seasons, Ethan tries to resolve his long-term affair with Samantha (Parisse), which has been on-and-off since college. Ethan leans on his friends for advice, including spoiled trust fund baby Nick (Faxon), book agent Max (Savage), Max’s fiancée Felix (Eichner), Bohemian yogi Marianne (Jae Suh Park), and more. AlthoughFriends From College’s first season was criticized for foisting unlikable characters on viewers, Season 2 improved dramatically, making it one of the few sitcoms that increased in quality after Season 1.
Season 2 found Lisa exploring a newfound relationship with Charlie (Zach Robidas), and Nick dating his old Harvard classmate Merrill (Chalke), forcing them to reevaluate their past, present, and future in ways that will resonate withThe Four Seasonsfans.
‘Friends From College’ Has Plenty of Vacation Travel
Friends From Collegeis essentiallyThe Four Seasonsfor a younger crowd, minusthe luxury vacationsoccurring every three months. However, those drawn to the gorgeous vistas and swanky getaway settings inThe Four Seasonsneed not fret about experiencing similar adventures inFriends From College.
While Manhattan plays a key role in the show, the big-city monotony is broken by several trips away from the hustle and bustle of New York. Whether relaxing at a secluded house in Connecticut, enjoying a wine-tasting venture on a party bus, heading to the Cayman Islands for work, or the gang going to a big blow-out bachelor party and wedding ceremony,Friends From Collegehas the travelogue appeal ofThe Four Seasonsand the heavy emotional themes to back it up.
From weddings to funerals, romantic affairs to reconciliations, new friendships made, and old ones dashed, those who enjoyed the messy adult entanglements inThe Four Seasonswill recognize the universal struggles explored inFriends From College. It’s worth reiterating how the show improved from Season 1 to 2, with the first season averaging a 6.9 IMDb rating per episode compared to 7.53 for Season 2. The characters became far more likable and relatable in Season 2, something fans ofThe Four Seasonscan only hope for.
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Of course, far from being exclusive to TV, these kinds of friendly reunion stories were popularized on the big screen decades ago. Mention must be made of Alan Alda’s 1981 cinematic inspiration,The Four Seasons, a people picture that adopts the blueprint of adult friends coming together to explore their marriages and livelihoods. John Sayles' 1980 filmReturn of the Secaucus 7focuses on a septet of college political activists who reunite for a weekend getaway in New Hampshire, discussing their lives at great length and philosophizing about the future.
In 1983, Lawrence Kasdan elevated the formula to new heights withThe Big Chill,an entertaining hang-out moviewhere several college pals reunite for a friend’s funeral. Music, food, partying, games, and a nostalgic trip down memory lane lead to sobering confrontations and hard truths that force all involved to reexamine their lives as they enter a new phase of adulthood.
Other notable examples of such cozy, star-studded reunion films include Mike Binder’sIndian Summerand Kenneth Branagh’sPeter’s Friends, both recommended for fans ofThe Four SeasonsandFriends From College.Friends From Collegeis available to stream onNetflix.
