Table of Contents
If you know anyone born between the years 1997 and 2021, chances are you've heard about the latest Tiktok trends, been educated about what happened in the latest episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty (perhaps against your will), and may have even had some brain rot spouted back at you. Generation Z can be a tough crowd, and often a difficult audience to relate to. So how does the labor-intensive entertainment industry keep up with the generation that has access to any video at any second of the day?
The answer, it seems, lies in a young creator who understands the digital-first mindset of Gen Z—and who is reshaping television to reflect their lives, their humor, and their world. Bianca Roth is a burgeoning TV writer and director whose newest project Twenty Somethings is bridging the gap between episodic TV and Gen Z.
Life -> Logged
Twenty Somethings is a chaotic Gen Z comedy about four single roommates trying to survive life in LA while navigating friendships, situationships, and the madness of peak social media culture. When discussing how the award winning script came to be in the first place, Roth shared that her tactic was as simple as logging moments from her own life-in a very Gen Z fashion.
"I had a section in the notes app where I would just constantly write down funny things that happened to me and my friends and that's what I used to build the pilot off of."
Note to self: turn my family quote book into a TV script.
She shared that one of her biggest goals for this series is that her audience can see their own lives reflected accurately in the show. The characters in the show are all loosely based around her friend group, but she waited till after she finished the script to share that with them, of course. she waited until after finishing the script to share that with them, of course. For her, the ultimate aim is relatability — giving her audience an honest reflection of what it feels like to navigate life in your 20s.
Roth expressed her findings – a TV show-shaped void about being young and living in LA still exists on our screens today. And before the New Girl fans come after us, Roth admits:
" I know New Girl does take place in LA, but they're in their 30's. It's a completely different time of development."
The location and age group is crucial to the plot of Twenty Somethings. With the show being filmed right on Sunset Blvd, the most iconic location in California (second to the Hollywood sign), we could see a future where Twenty Somethings does to LA what Gossip Girl did to New York City.
"There is something to be said about being twenty-something and being in LA, it is so niche... You have literally no money, but you're trying to spend 20 bucks on a cocktail to like meet an agent. It's crazy."
Scroll to Screen
One of this shows greatest anecdotes is its work with social media. We've all been exposed to horribly unnatural dialogue, like "what type of selfies the popular girls on gonna post on chat snap!" The kind that reeks of a 40+ year old who's never been on social media a day in their life. But you can't even begin to accurately portray Gen Z without including the world of social media.
"There is something inherently cringey about filming yourself and putting yourself online. However, you do have to acknowledge people are making careers out of it and it's actually something very legit."
This integration of social media reminds me of a fresher, American take on the Emmy nominated hit, Emily in Paris. Honest depictions of how Gen Z uses social media has to be done by skilled authors, much like Roth, who's using Twenty Somethings to fully blend the world of social media with episodic TV. When talking with her team specifically about social media she shared:
We need to integrate it within, but we have to make it real.
The main calling card for this series’s marketing has also been social media. When asked about how much social media matters when promoting ones project she said,
"It's everything. If you are in film, you need to be on social media; that is your portfolio now."
Way far back in the olden days, shows and products used to be sold to us through TV commercials. Well, those are going to the same trash dump as your old VHS player. In today's world, marketing is almost entirely done through ads on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Speaking of, if you like to keep up with this series on social media, you can follow them on instagram @twentiestvshow and on TikTok @20somethingstv . Now, trigger warning to film teachers everywhere, Twenty Somethings will even have some scenes filmed vertically to master the aspect of combining these worlds. A tactic that has been taboo since horizontal video was standardized in 1895. Another unique aspect of the Twenty Somethings marketing is its partnership with certain influencers. They have already announced collaborations with influencers Sofia Elizabeth and Harry Raftus.
"They're gonna see influencers that they're used to seeing on their phones..and then they're gonna get to watch them have a cameo in their show – that's awesome."
Acts On and Off Screen
This series already has many brands/sponsors eager to start partnerships or be featured in the show! But the greatest of all (in my opinion) is their partnership with the non profit organization Give Kids the World: a resort in Kissimmee, Florida, that provides weeklong, cost-free wish vacations to children with critical illnesses and their families. When asked about why she loves this charity, Roth shared,
"It's just amazing what they do for these families and these kids!"
So how exactly is a Sex and the City type comedy taking place in Los Angeles going to help out this organization?
"It's really honestly a product placement deal. We have a character, Ella, who's going to be very involved in volunteering with this nonprofit throughout the series... And we'll put easter eggs throughout the set that really feature this nonprofit."
By spotlighting Give Kids the World within its storyline, Twenty Somethings shows that entertainment can do more than reflect culture—it can also give back to the community that supports it.
According to the BBC,
- In 2018, about 76% of 16-24-year-olds watched broadcast/live/catch-up TV in an average week.
- By 2023, that dropped to 48%
Episodic TV is fading quickly, it's hard for an entire series to keep up in the world of 30 second TikToks. But Twenty Somethings is a new take on the format, one that blends authentic storytelling with the digital habits of Gen Z. By weaving in social media, influencer culture, and the realities of life in your twenties, the series proves that long-form storytelling doesn’t have to die out; it just has to evolve.
