Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Nudity, language, drug use in Gen-Z Girls successor.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
I Love LA
What's the Story?
I LOVE LA's New York City transplant Maia (Rachel Sennott, who writes, stars, and executive produces) hoped moving to the West Coast would jump-start her talent management career, but she's stuck in a rut: working for a quixotic agent/girlboss Alyssa (Leighton Meester), living in a modest apartment with her sweet-but-staid schoolteacher boyfriend Dylan (Josh Hutcherson), and doomed to watch her ex-client and ex-BFF Tallulah (Odessa A'zion) succeeding as a social media influencer. But when Tallulah unexpectedly arrives in town and rehires Maia, both their worlds get a shakeup that land them—and Maia's best friends Alani (True Whitaker) and Charlie (Jordan Firstman)—in some unexpected places.
Is It Any Good?
Aimed squarely at the current young-and-hip generation, this series starring cute and chaotic 20-somethings has been accurately labeled as the successor to both Girls and Entourage. Under the sure comedic guidance of Rachel Sennott, I Love LA often reaches the zeitgeisty heights of both its predecessors, and, also like its forerunners, is hilarious to viewers who get jokes about Erewhon (tony Los Angeles grocery chain) and Courage Bagels (bakery turning out lauded New York-style bagels), and annoying to those who need Google to understand the references.
Said joke-Googling viewers are also likely to launch complaints like "all the characters are unlikeable" and the focus on characters clawing for a measure of fame is too inside baseball for broad appeal. But in these ways too, I Love LA is comparable to Girls and Entourage, which drew similar objections. The audience this series is intended for may even agree, but that's part of I Love LA's very specific appeal: It's a show about messy young people trying to make it in an industry that didn't exist a generation ago, in a town that makes dreams come true for only a lucky few and crushes the rest. Many shows have revolved around similar premises; what I Love LA has that other shows lack is the confident comedic hand of Sennott, whose wide eyes and ironic vocal-fry delivery manage to reveal her own hidden depths, while her excellent writing teases out the sincerity in characters who at first seem glossy and glib. Just like LA itself, I Love LA comes off as flash and shallow glamour, but is unexpectedly lovable for those who take time to see beneath the surface.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the characters in I Love LA. Are they shallow? Are they supposed to be? Can you relate to them, and are you supposed to do that? How do TV shows make viewers root for characters who seem unlikeable on the surface?
I Love LA has been widely compared with Girls, another series about big-city characters in their 20s created by a writer who also stars. What similarities do these two shows share? In what ways are they different?
Have you seen Rachel Sennott's other movies or TV shows, like Bottoms, Shiva Baby, or The Idol? How does her comic persona change from job to job? Is her comedic voice recognizable across different narratives?
TV Details
- Premiere date : November 2, 2025
- Cast : Rachel Sennott , Josh Hutcherson , Odessa A’zion
- Network : HBO
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Friendship
- TV rating :
- Last updated : November 3, 2025
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