if you’ve already watched Euphoria, you’re cooked
gen z tv sucks
Good morning and welcome back to as seen on.
I finished watching Girls for the second time yesterday and cried during the final scene. I asked ChatGPT to find me a similar show but with Gen Z characters, and it suggested Heartbreak High and The Sex Lives of College Girls — neither of which are particularly good. So then I asked my friends, which I probably should have done first anyway, but they came up empty too. If you’ve already watched Euphoria, you’re cooked.
I’ve been having a lot of conversations about why Gen Z TV — to the extent it exists — really sucks. Millennials, for all the shit they get, gave us amazing TV. Hard to imagine anything rivaling the cultural pull of Gossip Girl, The O.C., or Gilmore Girls, though maybe it’s still early, although part of me knows it’s still too early to tell. And to be fair, the media landscape is entirely different. Monoculture is no longer a thing. Still.
Disney and FX are launching a new series they’re positioning as the next-gen Friends. Today I wrote about what I think IP like this gets wrong, and a few Hollywood projects I’m actually excited about. I’d love to hear your theories on why Gen Z shows aren’t landing so far. Leave a comment or reply via email.
In tomorrow’s edition of INDUSTRY NOTES, I’ll be interviewing the Gen Z founder bringing social media and Hollywood together to build the MTV for our generation.
Also in today’s newsletter: Selena Gomez’s other startup failed to pay employees last month; brands with great color storytelling; the death of America’s college towns; a new gaming-inspired cosmetics brand; a big retail CEO’s love life got him fired; a celebrity founder launched a functional mushroom company; Rhode’s retail expansion; proof tech companies aren’t hiring Gen Z — and a bunch of other good stuff.
It’s a great one today. Enjoy!
wrote a love story for Hinge’s No Ordinary Love Substack campaign, and I blurbed it. Jackie Jantos, president and CMO of Hinge, told Inc. that the campaign, which debuted last August as a zine and social campaign, was inspired by Gen Z creators and audiences flocking to BookTok, book clubs, and long-form platforms like Substack. I think it’s hot that Hinge has no social presence of its own, choosing instead to collaborate with creators across platforms to tell their stories. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Hinge is the only dating app my friends still use (when they use dating apps at all). One story from the campaign will be dropping on No Ordinary Love each week, so keep an eye out. Curious what they’ll do with the page after the campaign ends.
But Hinge’s biggest competitor might just be TikTok’s booming $10,000 dating coach industry.
I recorded a podcast episode with and for the Review of Mess yesterday. (Out soon). We all agreed that brand Substacks aren’t hitting the way they could. They need to be more voicey, less shy. I am enjoying The DailyMail’s Substack, though. No one plays the headline game better.
No one has more fun than the Skims creative team. I keep seeing people say no one needs this, but that’s missing the point because the point is buzz. That, and brand recognition as a leader in innovation in the underwear space, which is what Skims is. Products like the Nipple Bra and now the faux nipple piercing bra are probably made in limited quantities. The idea is for them to go viral and drive brand recognition. That’s the job to be done.
