For those of us privileged to have finished college a few years back, we try to maintain the relationships and friendships we believe have been forged through the best and worst
times. And as we look at our framed pictures of the good times, we realise the truth lies in the difficulties that come in maintaining those friendships. Now, imagine you and your friends are followed around by cameras to document your friendship some years after college. What would the story be?
Friends from College documents the lives of six friends who met at Harvard as they get to their 40s yet face a daily struggle of navigating adulthood. Ethan Turner is a prized writer who is struggling to write his next book. His agent and college
friend Max tries to get Ethan into writing young adult fiction. Ethan and his wife Lisa move to New York, where Lisa takes up a job as a hedge fund lawyer. While Lisa and Ethan find an apartment, they move in with their other friend Marianne, who is a hippie yoga instructor. Ethan has also been having a 20-year affair with another college friend, Samantha. Samantha is an interior decorator who is married and lives in Manhattan. To round off, there is the 'old yet refuses to age' party boy Nick. Nick has no job and lives off his trust fund.
The show traverses the comically tragic lives of these six friends as they go about their somehow entangled lives. Is the show great? Not really. It’s simply passable. It’s nothing compared to Keegan Michael Key’s performance on the comedy show Key & Peele. Key is somewhat lost in his character as he tries to balance his naturally funny persona with the somewhat dramatic character. Some lines are definitely crack-up worthy, but the cringe lines and tediously long episodes overshadow the potential of the show. We expect more from a great comedy ensemble cast.
Star rating: 2 stars