Parents' Guide to Grown-ish

Fresh, relatable, and equally as charming as its parent show, this college-set sitcom gets just about everything right. In the first episode, Zoey meets a new cadre of pals in a midnight-to-2 a.m. digital marketing class they all wound up in because their personal foibles prevented each of them from registering for classes on time. It's a genius strategy for introducing a large, sprawling cast of diverse characters, each of whom is swiftly and sensitively drawn: the twin sisters whose athletic scholarship has given their tumbledown neighborhood hope (but who hate each other and secretly long to break free of their perfect image), the gender nonconforming classmate with an ever-present joint; the son of Indian parents who wants to succeed in a STEM career and be a smooth-with-the-ladies baller.

Each starts as a stereotype but quickly emerges as an individual with lovable and/or questionable quirks in a show that clearly has sympathy for people and the stupid and/or beautiful things they sometimes do. Vivek sells drugs and lies to his parents, Zoey lets her desire for romance overpower her good sense, Ana puts so much energy into trying to escape her strict background that she doesn't consider consequences. The main thing this show gets right: No matter where they come from or how they were raised, everybody in the "grown-ish" teen years is figuring things out, and terrified of making mistakes. The genius of Grown-ish is that it lets its characters make those mistakes, and learn from them, without treading into Very Special Episode territory. This show isn't taking on issues, it's telling stories about characters. The teens who will relate -- and the parents who will remember -- can both find something to enjoy.