The Four Seasons Review: Tina Fey's Midlife Comedy Remake Works Thanks to the Warmth of Its Cast

"This is just what marriage is," Tina Fey's prickly Kate says to her husband, Jack (Will Forte), while talking about pushing through a rough patch in their relationship. While Netflix's comedy The Four Seasons ultimately offers up a more robust and oftentimes conflicting definition of marriage over the course of eight episodes — hard work and dedication and choosing a person, yes, but sparks and soulmates factor in, too — Kate's line feels like a real encapsulation of the series as a whole. It is simple and true. The Four Seasons, based on the 1981 Alan Alda-Carol Burnett movie of the same name, isn't flashy, and, to be frank, all of its storylines cover pretty well-trodden territory as far as relationships on TV go. And yet, or perhaps because of this, it feels remarkably relatable and real. If you go into this series expecting something similar to the shows the three creators are known for — Fey's 30 Rock, Tracey Wigfield's Good News, Lang Fisher's Never Have I Ever, for example — you will be deeply disappointed. The Four Seasons isn't interested in high joke counts or clever pop culture references. It instead provides a much more grounded type of comedy. 

The miniseries follows three married couples who have been friends for several decades; some met in college, others through early jobs or marrying into the group, and the six have stuck together ever since. We meet up with the group on a different trip in each of the, uh, four seasons — a spring break that gets incredibly complicated, a beach vacation in the summer, parents' weekend at their alma mater in the fall, and a ski trip to ring in the new year — and track their lives, or, more accurately, their relationships, over the course of a year. The conflicts that crop up are all things we've watched play out on our screens before: divorce, death, "getting back out there," the toll a serious illness can take on a couple, boredom, communication issues. The Four Seasons doesn't seem especially ambitious in taking on these big life issues, either. There's nothing really profound being said here about middle age and long-term marriage, no new perspective or deep mining of the topics. In short: The show's take on its themes is nothing new or exciting. And yet I still found myself happily binging through all eight episodes, and the reason for this is also simple but true: The Four Seasons has a knockout cast. 

7.0

The Four Seasons

at Netflix

Like

• A perfectly assembled comedy ensemble
• Standout chemistry between Tina Fey and Colman Domingo

Dislike

• Well-worn storylines everywhere you turn
• The dramatic aspects are very hit or miss

Even the characters themselves, on paper, fit into roles we've seen before: Kate is cynical, judgmental, and bossy; her husband, Jack, is a pushover. Danny (Colman Domingo) runs from problems, while his husband, Claude (Marco Calvani), is clingy and dramatic. Steve Carrell and Kerri Kenney-Silver make up the last couple, Nick and Anne, who split up early on, leaving Nick to take on the role of "middle-aged man looking to reinvent himself" (and immediately dive into a relationship with a younger woman) and Anne to fill the role of the scorned, depressed ex-wife. None of these characters are particularly fresh, and yet every actor in this ensemble elevates each part above material that could have come across as one-note in lesser hands. Calvani, especially, takes a character who could easily be reduced to Italian stereotypes and instead imbues Claude with real heart and an endearing kindness. Calvani refuses to let Claude be a joke, and the show is better for it. Really, every actor in this ensemble finds some nuance or other layer to play to avoid stereotypes, and the result is a group of characters who feel lived in, who feel like real people. It doesn't hurt that the chemistry within the central group is there from the beginning — it feels easy and honest, and you believe that these six people are friends, which is really the only way for a show like this to work. 

The group scenes are the highlight throughout, and while this is a show about marriage, I was surprised to find that the most exciting and interesting pairing came not from two spouses but from Fey and Domingo's characters. The two actors have a chemistry, comedic and otherwise, that crackles, and they should immediately be cast in more things together. The arc their characters take — two old friends who maybe sort of made out for a while in college and run into conflict when one has some unkind words for the other's partner — is one of the most compelling of the series. While long-term marriage feels like a topic that's been picked apart on screen plenty of times, taking time to also explore a 30-year friendship livens up the series a bit. You'll want to hang out with every character, but you'll be happy, too, to sidebar with Danny and Kate whenever you get the chance. 

ALSO READ: The complete guide to spring TV

While most of the comedy here is more of the gentle amusement variety, this ensemble knows how to wring out humor from any situation (as if there were any doubt; let's be honest). The series is, perhaps, less quippy than one might expect with a crew like this, but the comedy feels true to the characters, rather than playing like it's been heightened just for show. Still, there are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments — like a perfectly-timed explosion, an angsty college play, and an incredible urn reveal, to name a few — that all made me giggle long after I finished the series. 

The Four Seasons wades into heavier material, but the drama is much more hit or miss than the comedy. A death toward the end of the season and some emotional reconciliations aren't as affecting as the show perhaps wants them to be, but other dramatic moments work, especially a heart-to-heart between Carrell's Nick and daughter Lila (Julia Lester) as they air out some hurt feelings over the divorce, and a scene where Jack finally calls out Kate on some of her bullshit as they confront the building tension in their marriage is a standout moment for Forte. 

The series, as a whole, isn't going to be the most exciting comedy of the year, but as a warm and true-to-life look at marriage and friendship as you age, it really works. It's a hangout show, and as far as hangout shows go, the most important piece of the puzzle is an ensemble that clicks and characters who make you want to spend more time with them, even when they aggravate you. That is where The Four Seasons excels. 

Premieres: Thursday, May 1 on Netflix
Who's in it: Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo, Will Forte, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Marco Calvani, Erika Henningsen
Who's behind it: Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracey Wigfield (co-creators)
For fans of: Grounded comedy, group hangs, literally any actor in the ensemble
How many episodes we watched: 8 of 8