The Pop Culture Pundit

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After one short season, Not Suitable for Work got the pink slip. Created by Mindy Kaling, Not Suitable followed the lives of five friends as they navigated various work-life-balance-and-romance situations. There was AJ (Ella Hunt), who worked at investment firm Fisher Stassen with neighbor Davis (Will Angus), who was roommates with AJ’s college one-night stand, the nepo-baby news network intern Josh Teitelbaum (Jack Martin), whose other roommate was the aspiring actor Kel (Nicholas Duvernay), who had a crush on AJ’s roommate and up-and-coming stylist Abby (Avantika Vandanapu). The show was a lot like Friends, which made it pure comfort food. Had it been given a few more seasons, I think it would have grown into its own. So why did it get cancelled so suddenly? Let’s break it down. 

Depending on what statistics you look at, Not Suitable for Work was either a breakout hit or an underwhelming debut for Kaling. While it made Hulu’s Top Ten every week it aired, it failed to make the Nielsen Top 10, which tracks the top TV shows on streaming platforms based on how many minutes of watching they rack up. But many TV shows, especially Gen Z-centered ones, never make the Nielsen Top 10 in the first place–take two other similar shows, Overcompensating and Adults. So, for Not Suitable, what gives? 

The answer may lie in critic reviews. Not Suitable has a mere 54% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it a “splat,” with review titles such as “Mindy Kaling’s ‘Not Suitable for Work’ Is a Bland ‘Friends’ Copycat With Hints of a Sharper Show” and “Not Suitable for Work plays it too safe.” The common pattern in these reviews, though, seems to be that perhaps if it had more seasons, it could have grown into its own rather than just a Friends knockoff. That’s what Happy Endings (the millennial Friends) did, after all! In this economy though, being a knockout right out of the gate matters: Overcompensating has 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, while season one of Adults has 76% (and 100% on its just-dropped season two). 

Yet looking at Not Suitable’s audience score, there’s a different story with an 82% score. For me personally, from both a critical and casual viewer perspective, I would probably give it around a B grade (certainly higher than 54% on Rotten Tomatoes but maybe not quite an 82%). Yes, Not Suitable has its problems. AJ (spoiler alert) kinda-sorta dating her clearly toxic boss Bill (Jay Ellis) is one of my biggest gripes, mostly because it just gives me the ick and does scream “outdated sitcom trope” (remember when Ross, a Professor, dated his student in Friends?) And sometimes the plots of each episode move too fast, like when AJ and Abby are going to get kicked out of their apartment and it’s magically resolved within thirty minutes. 

But mostly, Not Suitable for work is very funny and very relatable. Every twenty-something can relate to stressing over work-life balance! But also, the show does emphasize the importance of having friends and having a personal life, which is especially significant in today’s world with warnings of the loneliness epidemic and spending too much time on social media. Not only that, there are a lot of hilarious moments that stand out: in one episode, Kel moves in with Abby and AJ, promoting Davis and Josh to realize they have no idea how to take care of themselves, writing up a written apology to read to Kel while begging him to move back in (which Kel immediately accepts because he has no idea how to live with multiple women); in another, Davis pretends to be Kel’s agent, channeling a fake alter ego named Chaz Riviera, a la 90s sitcom icons George Costanza (alter ego: Art Vandelay) and Phoebe Buffay (alter ego: Regina Phalange). 

With a Mindy Kaling show, you’re also going to get great guest stars, and this includes Constance Wu as Abby’s intimidating boss Vanessa, Ego Nwodim as Kel’s coworker Kate, and Gigi Hadid as Bill’s girlfriend Catherine. Had this been renewed for another season, I’m sure we would have gotten more great cameos and guests–Josh worked for a news company, after all, so who knows what could have happened!

Not Suitable for Work was truly a gem of a show that debuted this past year. It was funny, it had a great cast, and episodes almost never lasted more than 40 minutes (I truly love a 30-minute sitcom, it’s the perfect amount of time). This was the last chapter in Mindy Kaling’s so-called trilogy based on her life, and it’s sad it’s ending before it got a proper ending (yes, there was a cliffhanger, and no, I’m not over it). Not Suitable for Work shouldn’t have gotten canned. If anything, it should have gotten a bonus, because nine episodes wasn’t enough time to spend with AJ, Abby, Davis, Josh and Kel.