Young & Hungry
Young & Hungry is an American sitcom created by David Holden. The multi-camera series stars Emily Osment, Jonathan Sadowski, Aimee Carrero, Kym Whitley and Rex Lee, and premiered on ABC Family on June 25, 2014. On March 7, 2016, Freeform renewed the series for a fourth season, which premiered on June 1, 2016, and concluded on August 3, 2016. On October 24, 2016, Osment announced via Twitter that Young & Hungry had been renewed for a fifth season.
On March 15, 2018, it was officially announced that the fifth season would be the last. The final ten episodes premiered on June 20, 2018, and concluded on July 25, 2018. A series finale movie initially announced with the cancellation was scrapped on August 24, 2018.
Plot
Set in San Francisco, wealthy tech entrepreneur Josh Kaminski hires Gabi Diamond as his personal chef. The two have a one-night stand after having a bit of trouble on Gabi's trial dinner. The series follows the two and their lives. The dynamic follows the couple's relationship and love life. Gabi faces challenges both in and outside of the kitchen.Cast and characters
Main
- Emily Osment as Gabi Diamond, a young chef from Florida who lives in San Francisco with her best friend, Sofia. She loves cooking and she can figure out what people like to eat. Her mother died while she was a teenager and she has been on her own ever since. Despite not having enough credentials for the job to be Josh's personal chef, Josh agrees to hire her if she can make a dinner for his girlfriend Caroline that will make her say yes to his marriage proposal. After Caroline breaks up with Josh the same day, he feels distraught and he and Gabi have a one-night stand. They decide to keep it a secret, which causes her to have complicated romantic feelings for Josh. The two finally start dating in the season 3 premiere "Young & The Next Day" when Josh tells Gabi that he is crazy about her, but they break up officially in the season 3 finale "Young & No More Therapy" when they realise they don't work. Gabi and Josh then have an on-again, off-again relationship throughout season 4 and 5 and even attempt a "friends with benefits" relationship using a punch card, but she realizes she is in love with him. She confesses her love to Josh in the episode "Young & Hold" season 5. In the series finale, she is offered a job in Seattle, she proposes marriage to Josh, asking him to join her. She is named after and inspired after San Francisco food blogger Gabi Moskowitz. Osment describes her character as "a fun, ditzy, energetic blonde, but she also makes sure to put herself first. Sometimes she gets a little wrapped up in what’s going on with her relationship with Josh, but she always goes back to what’s most important for her."
- Jonathan Sadowski as Josh Kaminski, a young nerdy tech entrepreneur and self-made millionaire. He is smart, charming, and sweet and goes with his gut feelings. He and Gabi have a drunken one-night stand, which he decides to keep secret in order to propose to his vain and materialistic girlfriend, Caroline. Nevertheless, he takes an immediate liking to Gabi, often giving her life advice and looking out for her as a protective figure. In the season 1 finale, he figures out he is in love with Gabi but does not tell her, making their friendship complicated. The two start dating in "Young & The Next Day" when Josh tells Gabi that he is crazy about her, but they break up officially in "Young & No More Therapy" when they realise they do not work. Gabi and Josh then have an on-again, off-again relationship throughout season 4 and 5 when they try a "friends with benefits" relationship. In "Young & Hold", when Gabi tells Josh she loves him, Josh is about to say he loves Gabi back, but a squirrel scares them both and Josh hits his head and loses his memory of her. However, they are reunited after he gets his memories back after hearing their song "Closer". In the series finale, he plans to propose marriage to her but after some mishaps with the ring, Gabi ends up proposing to him.
- Aimee Carrero as Sofia Rodriguez, Gabi's best friend and roommate. She is a strong-minded and career-driven young woman with a degree from University of Florida. Her job as an ambitious banking intern consists of fetching coffee for the clients at her firm. She fully supports Gabi, gives her advice, and often gives her pep talks about keeping her job. She also knows about Gabi's hookup with Josh and unexpectedly becomes friends with Caroline when the two bond over singer Lorde in the episode, "Young & Secret." In season 2, she is fired from her internship, but later gets work as an instructor for a spin class. In season 4, she takes on various jobs, eventually landing a gig as an assistant for media executive Logan Rawlings. She continues to take on other jobs as a freelance writer and ridesharer, as well as unsuccessful dates. In season 5, after turning 25 years old, she meets an attractive guy in Mexico but gets into a relationship with a cocky lawyer named Nick. Her full name is revealed to be Sofia Maria Consuela Rafaella Rodriguez in "Young & Sandwich".
- Kym Whitley as Yolanda, Josh's housekeeper. She is very outspoken and says what is on her mind. She is a sassy, divorced, middle-aged, African-American mother-of-three, with a bit of an attitude, and was the first to find out about Gabi and Josh's hookup. She and Elliot frequently bicker. She moves into the apartment neighboring Gabi and Sofia's in season 2. She enjoys slacking off, eating and drinking.
- Rex Lee as Elliot Park, Josh's publicist and right-hand-man. He is an openly gay Korean-American. He initially dislikes Gabi and is outspoken about the fact that he would much rather have a professional celebrity chef than Gabi. He frequently bickers with Yolanda, when it comes to her appearance or weight. He would do anything to make Josh happy and cares for him. However, he sometimes fantasizes about him. At the end of season 2, he marries Alan, a guy he had known as an acquaintance from college.
Recurring
- Mallory Jansen as Caroline Penelope Huntington, Josh's girlfriend turned fiancée. She is very materialistic and vain, caring more about her possessions and physical appearance than Josh. Josh realizes that she is stuck-up and conceited, however he looks past this when she says she loves him. Gabi tries to impress her, but Caroline sees Gabi as unprofessional and untrustworthy. Josh breaks up with her in the season 1 finale after he finds out she's lied to him, thinking its best for them to call off the engagement, and he realises he is in love with Gabi.
- Jesse McCartney as Cooper Finley, a nerdy computer hacker that Josh hires to work for him. He has a romance with Gabi, much to Josh's dislike, but they break up after finding it difficult to keep their relationship a secret from Josh. He moves to China in the episode "Young & Getting Played", but after a grand romantic gesture, they restart their relationship. They have a brief fight when he discovers that Gabi and Josh had sex together, but reconcile when she tells him she loves him, and he decides to move back to San Francisco. However, they break up officially in "Young & Pretty Woman" when Gabi realizes she still loves Josh, and chooses him over Cooper.
- Bryan Safi as Alan, Elliot's lover and later husband. He has had a crush on Elliot since college and was brought back into Elliot's life when Gabi accidentally set the two of them up. He's also the owner of a popular gay karaoke bar of which Elliot isn't a huge fan, but gets other jobs after closing the business. He and Elliot marry at the season 2 finale episode, and he regularly helps Josh with relationship advice starting in season 3. He is Jewish and hopes that Elliot would convert in order to make his mother happy.
- Jayson Blair as Jake Kaminski, Josh's brother. Jake is introduced in episode "Young & Younger Brother Part 2". Jake initially did not know what future he held, but he decided to become a chef. Josh asks him and Gabi to cook for Alan and Elliot's wedding. He falls in love with Gabi and they date. He and Gabi travel to Coachella in their food truck. In "Young & Coachella", he and Gabi break up when Josh confesses his feelings for Gabi. He later has sex with Sofia, they then start dating for a little while, but they break up midway through season 3 when he realizes he has a fear of commitment.
- Chris Smith as Nick Walker, a cocky immigration lawyer who becomes Sofia's boyfriend in season 5. He and Josh are a bit competitive, which leads to the girls fighting, but ultimately become friends.
Guest stars
- Ashley Tisdale as Logan Rawlings, who publishes a "30 under 30" list for a popular magazine. When she appears to be attracted to Gabi, Eliott sets them up to go on a date in the hope of securing Josh a spot on her list. She heads a media company called Click'd in season 4 and hires Sofia as her assistant.
- Kylie Minogue as Shauna, a tech reporter for ABC News whom Josh has a fling with in the episodes of season 2 entitled "Young & Moving" & "Young & Ferris Wheel". Shauna has a seven-year-old son named Brett, and an estranged adult daughter, Danielle, but when Gabi reunites Shana with Danielle, they realize that Josh has had trysts with both of them.
- Keegan Allen as Tyler, a drummer Sofia pressures Gabi to date to deal with working for Josh again. A double date with Josh and woman from Gabi and Sofia's building reveals Tyler is actually homeless.
- Cheryl Hines as Kathy Kaminski, Josh's mother, who frequently has a drinking problem.
- Jerry O'Connell as Nick Diamond, Gabi's father who becomes romantically involved with Josh's mother, Kathy, much to the shock of Gabi and Josh.
- Briana Lane as Dr. Jessica Rounds, Josh's therapist in season 3, who falls for Josh when he helps take her to the animal hospital when her dog was injured.
- Demi Mills as Keisha, Elliot and Alan's 13-year-old foster child in season 4.
- Heather Dubrow as Natasha Cook-Campbell, a celebrity chef and lifestyle guru who is one of Gabi's idols.
- Betty White as Ms. Wilson, Gabi's downstairs apartment neighbor, who gives her romantic advice. Ms. Wilson reunites with an old lover Bernie, in the episode "Young & Vegas Baby", Bernie and it's revealed in that episode that her first name is Bernice.
- Andy Buckley as Matt Danon, Josh's estranged father.
- Jose Moreno Brooks as Juan Carlos, a guy in Mexico who charms Sofia in season 5.
Development and production
The show is inspired by San Francisco food blogger, Gabi Moskowitz. On August 23, 2013, ABC Family placed a pilot order. The pilot was written by David Holden and directed by Andy Cadiff. Ashley Tisdale, Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, and Jessica Rhoades serve as executive producers.Filming for the pilot started on April 21, 2014. On January 6, 2014, ABC Family placed a series order on Young & Hungry, with the premiere on June 25, 2014, alongside the comedy Mystery Girls. On September 29, 2014 the network renewed Young & Hungry for a second season. On June 24, 2014 the first webisode was released with Gabi Moskowitz starring.
Book
On April 11, 2017 a book titled "Young & Hungry: your complete guide to a delicious life" was published.Casting
Casting announcements began in September 2013, with Emily Osment first cast in the lead role of Gabi Diamond, a blunt and klutzy food blogger whonot only has a true gift for cooking, but also the ability to figure out what it is people want to eat. Aimee Carrero was the next actor cast in the series regular role of Sofia Rodriguez, Gabi's best friend and an ambitious banking intern. Shortly after, Jonathan Sadowski and Rex Lee were cast in the series, with Sadowski playing the lead role of Josh Kaminski, a young tech entrepreneur who hires Gabi as his personal chef; and Lee cast as Elliot Park, Josh's high-strung personal aide and right-hand-man. Kym Whitley was the last actor cast in the series regular role of Yolanda, Josh's housekeeper. MTV announced Australian singer Kylie Minogue as a guest star in the second season as a potential new love interest for Josh.
Series overview
Reception
Critical response
Young & Hungry has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the first season holds a rating of 43%, based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 48 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".In a double review with fellow ABC Family series, Mystery Girls, Mary McNamara of the LA Times gave Young & Hungry a mixed review. Whilst praising the comedic skills of Osment, McNamara opined "Young & Hungry feels much more Disney Channel than ABC Family" and criticized the pilot as "overwrought". McNamara finished with hope that if the series "settled down", it would "give Osment the successful starring role she deserves".