Not Suitable for Work

Stretches for both satire and straightforward cuddliness. Abby’s adventures in the universe of styling tend to be the strongest bits of the series because Avantika is a gifted comedic actor. .... Elsewhere, the show loses its grasp on what exactly it wants to say about these dweebs, if much at all.

Unfortunately, “Not Suitable for Work,” like creator Mindy Kaling’s previous sitcom offerings, offers too many cliches to result in anything other than mediocrity.

It’s not exactly relatable or grounded, nor is it particularly hilarious, but Not Suitable For Work’s few bright spots and its impressive pedigree suggest that with a tighter focus, it could turn into the comfort hangout sitcom it desperately wants but doesn’t yet know how to be.

Kaling’s scripts try hard but rarely shine, let alone dazzle as the Friends’ dialogue almost unfailingly did.

A generous interpretation of all this would be that Kaling— who’d been on a hot streak with Never Have I Ever, The Sex Lives of College Girls, and Running Point—is saying every generation has to make its own mistakes, no matter the institutional guardrails. That may well be true. But it doesn’t mean TV scripts should sound as oblivious as the green characters that populate them.

Everyone is stretched too thin — both main characters and supporting work colleagues — to have any of the depth needed for an audience to be endeared to them. The best storylines of the season are without a doubt the ones that have the core five interacting more.