Young and Promising: the fumbling TV comedy stepping into Fleabag's shoes | Television & radio
In the second episode of Norwegian comedy drama Young and Promising, wannabe author Nene meets two smug young publishers who are interested in her work. âIt says something about what itâs like to be a young woman today,â one of them says about her writing, intoned with the satisfied air of a man with a solid marketing angle. Actually, Nene informs them, thatâs not what her writing is about. She furrows her brow. âThatâs like saying Moby Dick is about a whaleâ.
Itâs an acidic rejoinder â" and one that certainly makes you think twice about reductively describing Young and Promising as âthe Norwegian Girlsâ (although thatâs definitely the tack its broadcaster in the UK, Channel 4, is taking). The show, which follows the fumbling progress of three young female friends, is a far gentler and more matter-of-fact proposition than those that preceded it, from Girls and Fleabag to Broad City. There is no farcical body-comedy, no outlandish characters proclaiming themselves the voice of a generation. That said, thereâs simply no getting away from the fact that it capitalises on exactly same thing as those shows did: the comedy, tragedy and utter confusion inherent in being a 20-something woman today.
Initially, the showâs portrayal of 20-somethings seems to sidestep the issue of gender altogether. It focuses on more universal humiliations â" specifically the sense of gnawing limbo that characterises great swathes of many peopleâs third decade. Nene is struggling to establish herself as an author. Elise â" played by Siri Seljeseth, who also wrote the show â" has recently returned from LA, where her attempts to break into standup have led her to take a job as a shopping mall-based Bob the Builder mascot. Alex, meanwhile, dreams of being an actor. The desperate tenacity this sort of aspiration inspires in her makes for increasingly painful viewing, and makes the wryness of the title more and more apparent. Are the trio young and promising? Or are they are in fact deluded and getting on a bit?
Norway is famous for its gender equality, ranking at number three on the World Economic Forumâs Global Gender Gap Index (for comparison, the UK comes in at 20 and the US at 45). But just when you start wondering whether Young and Promising is set in some kind of post-patriarchal utopia, there are two concurrent storylines that kibosh the concept.
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