‘Young Love’ review: Oscar-winning short becomes an animated series on Max
The 12-episode comedy ‘zeros in’ on the ‘details that make up a life.’
The Oscar-winning, six-minute animated short “Hair Love” from Matthew A. Cherry was inspired by social media videos of Black fathers caring for their children’s hair. Cherry has expanded that premise with the new series “Young Love,” a 12-episode animated comedy for Max, to focus on the close-knit family at the heart of the story.
Angela (Issa Rae) is a hair stylist who is trying to rebuild her life after an illness. In the meantime, Dad is Stephen, a struggling music producer (Scott Mescudi, aka the rapper Kid Cudi) who has been holding down the fort. They live on Chicago’s West Side, specifically in West Garfield Park, and share a multifamily home with their six-year-old daughter Zuri (Brooke Conaway), a spirited child who isn’t afraid to assert herself or her preferences. They’re up there. The grandparents (Loretta Devine and Harry Lennix) live downstairs.
The show focuses on the small details that make up a person’s life. I’m hoping that a working parent will be able to make it to a school event. Or how a child sleeping in your bed can roll over and accidentally slap you across the face. Or a brief but touching scene in which Angela drives Zuri to school and looks back at her in the rearview mirror. The little girl is staring out the window and nodding her head happily to the music when she notices her mother looking at her and turns to make eye contact. It’s just a wonderful moment of connection that elevates these two characters from cartoon constructs to human beings.
The series starts off strong, charming but not treacherous, and I appreciate the straight-faced comedy that’s occasionally laced throughout it. Angela assures everyone that she is fine after tumbling into a pile of garbage: “This bag of glass bottles broke my fall.” When Stephen is working on his latest beats and notices the family cat has covered its ears, he is unfazed: “Who asked you?”
In contrast to Disney’s “The Proud Family,” which is more gag-based and has a zanier pacing and energy, “Young Love” is more in line with “Bob’s Burgers,” but it’s also gentler in many ways. And it’s not trying to be that funny. But I like how this one-liner got in: Angela squints at the word “artisanal” as she walks through a gentrified neighborhood, wondering, “Why does every sign say ‘artist anal’?” That’s a joke worthy of “Arrested Development”! However, the episode glosses over the issues that cause gentrification to be a concern. Everything is fine because the guy who used to own a restaurant in the area now owns a food truck.
Zuri is intelligent and self-assured, which can be the bane of her teacher’s existence. “Who cares if Tisha Turtle can run fast?” she says, holding up a children’s storybook about an athlete named Tisha Turtle. Tisha should be teaching us kids how to develop into healthy, competent adults capable of financially supporting themselves and contributing to society.”
Do 6-year-olds speak in this manner? There aren’t many! But it doesn’t matter. Zuri is a hoot, and she feels like a real person, even if some of her antics, such as early attempts at teenage rebellion, appear a little mature for a first grader.
Mom and Dad are the type of likeable people who are not immune to making poor decisions, such as when Angela opens their home to a needy family only to exploit them on social media. It’s really bad! And she is well aware of it! Both parents are dealing with professional setbacks, such as Stephen’s misadventures with a ridiculous rapper named Lil Ankh, which becomes a running gag throughout the season. Money is tight, and it feels like a fictional depiction of the financial realities that so many of us are facing right now, but they’re mostly a happy family. And here’s a rare animated show that centers on Black millennial parents.
Cherry is a Chicago native, and you can see how much care she took to capture the city, even if it is a perpetually warm-weathered version. From images of the river downtown to the “L” zooming by, to the recognizable wooden back porches on brick three flats (the show’s art director is Ed Li), the visuals are unmistakably Chicago. And I’m a sucker for composer Taylor Graves’ hummable opening credits.
Isn’t that a cute family? Check. A stunning depiction of Chicago accompanied by outstanding performances? Check and double-check. “Young Love” belongs in the pantheon of animated family comedies.
“Young Love” received three stars (out of four).
Where to look: Max
