PEN15

:

Season 1
  • Network: HULU
  • Series Premiere Date: Feb 8, 2019
Season #: 2.5, 2, 1
User Score
6.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 60 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 60
  3. Negative: 15 out of 60
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User Reviews

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  1. zootsuit
    Feb 28, 2019
    10
    As a 32 year old man I absolutely love it. Took my wife a couple episodes to come around but now she cry-laughs every episode. Can't wait for season 2.
  2. FoxBite
    Feb 23, 2019
    10
    Just the right amount of intentional cringe, every scene comes with floods of nostalgia.
    The show is a perfect hilarious slice of life comedy.
  3. jzathajenius
    Mar 2, 2019
    8
    Thought the premise sounded weak but I was surprised how good this show was. Maya Erskine is the undisputed MVP of Pen15, she is phenomenal! Huge things in her future I'm sure. Not every episode hits the mark, but certain situations just feel real and authentic to both the growing pains of adolescence and to that 2000 era. Highly recommended.
  4. j1train
    Feb 13, 2019
    10
    Hilarious and confident cringe comedy. Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle are incredibly convincing as 13-year-olds. Best new comedy of 2019.
  5. LegendaryLass
    Feb 10, 2019
    10
    An astonishing feat of nostalgia and modern comedy, PEN15 nails the realism and style of Eighth Grade while providing belly-bursting laughs. You forget you're looking at 30 year-olds playing 13 year-olds almost immediately, and Erskine brings the effortless charm and skill she showed in Hulu's Casual to every scene.
  6. michaelinperson
    Feb 10, 2019
    8
    PEN15 manages to wrap up everything that is about 7th grade, into 7th grade. It's incredible how our first impressions of these two cringe-y and sometimes unbearable bffs (played by grown woman) turn into our love and sympathy for them. The first few episodes of the show are, indeed, hard to get through, but over time, it gets easier to adapt, and is definitely worth watching through to the end.
  7. scottkiddx
    Mar 8, 2019
    10
    Here to add a new demographic. I'm an older age metalhead, I watched the whole season 3 times in one week. I think this is one of the best shows i've seen in many years. I rewound the Lunch/Dolls scene at least 25 times. A lot of laughs, sad scenes, everything was great. For all who made this, Thank you :)
  8. UncleWillard
    Mar 27, 2019
    9
    I avoided this because my kids got me to watch the Netflix show Big Mouth, which seems to cover the same ground. I was wrong. I much prefer this and the two comedians/actors who pull it off are brilliant. I completely forget they're 30 year old women. Not only do they do justice to 7th grade girls everywhere, they do justice to 2000. Raunchy comedy, check! Accurate portrayal of the timeI avoided this because my kids got me to watch the Netflix show Big Mouth, which seems to cover the same ground. I was wrong. I much prefer this and the two comedians/actors who pull it off are brilliant. I completely forget they're 30 year old women. Not only do they do justice to 7th grade girls everywhere, they do justice to 2000. Raunchy comedy, check! Accurate portrayal of the time period, check! Depth of character, check! This is a great show and I look forward to more. My kids and I love it!… Expand
  9. EludiumQ36
    Mar 9, 2019
    2
    Beware, all the 8/9/10 ratings are shill-bots. Notice how "too enthusiastic" they seem to be. Anyway, this series portrays a 7th grade none of lived or that anyone will live. This could've scored well on portraying the many genuinely awkward situations that plague both girls AND boys as they enter their teens, but instead it's wasted on the perspective of two girls that run into situationsBeware, all the 8/9/10 ratings are shill-bots. Notice how "too enthusiastic" they seem to be. Anyway, this series portrays a 7th grade none of lived or that anyone will live. This could've scored well on portraying the many genuinely awkward situations that plague both girls AND boys as they enter their teens, but instead it's wasted on the perspective of two girls that run into situations most kids don't see until high school or college. And the boys are mostly objects for the girls to play with, so, take that, guys? Go counter-sexism?… Expand
  10. shoulderoforion
    Feb 9, 2019
    0
    literally only made it through the first 3 minutes of the first episode. like nails on a chalkboard.
  11. Comrade_Critic
    Apr 5, 2019
    10
    One of this year's best comedies. I was skeptical as it seemed like Freaks and Geeks for millenials, but this show has genuine emotion. Good stuff. Hope they do a second season.
  12. truerock
    Nov 23, 2020
    6
    Trying to remember what it was like when I was 13 was too difficult. I had to look at home-movies of my kids when they were 13 in 1998 2000 and 2002 to get a better feel of what it was like to be a young teen in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
    My experience as a 13 year old in the 1960's was more similar to PENU15 where things were not highly controlled by the parents.
    But, in the late    Trying to remember what it was like when I was 13 was too difficult. I had to look at home-movies of my kids when they were 13 in 1998 2000 and 2002 to get a better feel of what it was like to be a young teen in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
    My experience as a 13 year old in the 1960's was more similar to PENU15 where things were not highly controlled by the parents.
    But, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, school and church dances were highly controlled by the mothers and youth sports were highly controlled by the fathers (and some mothers in girls sports).
    I don't feel PEN15 represents accurately what was going on in 2000 for most 13 year olds.
    But, sure - I imagine a lot of 13 year old kids had experiences similar to PEN15.
    Likewise, I'm thinking the Maya character was too over the top to be anywhere close to realistic.
    So, there is nothing wrong with a series like PEN15 not being extremely realistic. Regardless, my feeling is that the Maya character should have been written, directed and acted in a more realistic way and the other casting could of also have been more realistic. Maya's older brother Shuji (played by Dallas Liu) was a more realistic, better written, directed and acted character and I felt more interesting to watch.
    If there is a 3rd season of PEN15, I hope the Maya character is re-written and re-formulated into something better.    … Expand
  13. danodog
    Apr 19, 2019
    9
    Takes you back in time to 100% self-conscious grade 7 when your best friend was your universe. A great balance of laughs and tenderness at the same time. Nothing like it on TV.
  14. geewah
    Jun 3, 2021
    8
    Original, honest, disturbing, touching, hilarious but it's ability to be relatable is it's greatest strength.

Awards & Rankings

35
#35 Best TV Season of 2019
48
#48 Most Discussed TV Season of 2019
57
#57 Most Shared TV Season of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Adrian Horton
    Dec 3, 2019
    80
    Erskine and Konkle so convincingly effect the “no duhs” and knee-jerk emotions of the tweener years that I genuinely forgot they were adults for most of the series. ... “You’re my rainbow gel pen in a sea of blue and black writing utensils,” Anna tells Maya by the end of the first episode. It’s an insight into lockstep friendship, one of many joys over of the course of the series.
    Read full review
  2. Reason.com
    Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    Mar 21, 2019
    85
    But it's the eternal internal world of adolesence that's mostly the concern of Pen15, and that's not always a good fit for nostalgia. Erskine and Konkle do not skip past the mindless cruelty of teenagers, and it's possible that for all its rip-roaring daffiness, Pen15 is at its best when it's most lacerating.
    Read full review
  3. Time
    Reviewed by: Judy Berman
    Feb 12, 2019
    75
    Though some episodes read as millennial nostalgia trips or rehashes of teen tropes, standouts that challenge the best friends' relationship("Ojichan," "Community Service") suggest that this sharp duo has much more to offer. [18-26 Feb 2019, p.108]
See all critic reviews »