''Love'' is an American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

-drama

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

series created by

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films ' ...

Lesley Arfin Lesley Arfin (born 1979) is an American comedy writer and author. Life Arfin was born to a Jewish family in 1979 in Long Island, New York. She attended Syosset High School and Hampshire College. Career Lesley Arfin was a contributor to ''Vice' ...

, and Paul Rust. The series stars Rust,

Gillian Jacobs Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series ''Love'' (201 ...

, Mike Mitchell, and Claudia O'Doherty.

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

originally ordered two seasons of the show. The first 10-episode season was made available on February 19, 2016, and a 12-episode second season premiered on March 10, 2017. Netflix renewed the series for a third season one month prior to the second-season premiere. On December 15, 2017, Netflix announced that the third season would be its last. Season 3 premiered on March 9, 2018.

Summary

The series is presented as a "down-to-earth look at dating", exploring male and female perspectives on romantic relationships through the characters Mickey and Gus, played by Jacobs and Rust, respectively. Mickey and Gus are two untrustworthy people, each with significant emotional baggage, attempting to build a trusting relationship with each other; Mickey is an alcoholic, a

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

sex addict According to proponents of the concept, sexual addiction, also known as sex addiction, is a state characterized by compulsive participation or engagement in sexual activity, particularly sexual intercourse, despite negative consequences. The c ...

, a pot stirrer, and someone who tends to be dishonest with herself and others, while Gus is awkward, emotionally needy, oblivious to

social cue Social cues are verbal or non-verbal signals expressed through the face, body, voice, motion (and more) and guide conversations as well as other social interactions by influencing our impressions of and responses to others. These percepts are impo ...

s, and prone to occasional outbursts when things do not go his way.

Episodes

Cast

Main

as Mickey Dobbs * Paul Rust as Gus Cruikshank * Claudia O'Doherty as Bertie Bauer * Chris Witaske as Chris Czajkowski (season 3, recurring seasons 1–2) * Mike Mitchell as Randy Monahan

Recurring

;Gus's and Mickey's family *

Kathy Baker } Katherine Whitton Baker (born June 8, 1950) is an American actress. Baker began her career in theater and made her screen debut in the 1983 drama film '' The Right Stuff''. She received the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Suppor ...

as Vicki Cruikshank * Ed Begley Jr. as Mark Cruikshank *

Kyle Bornheimer Kyle Edward Bornheimer (born September 10, 1975) is an American actor and comedian known for his roles on the sitcoms '' Worst Week'', ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', '' Casual'', and '' Playing House''. Life and career Bornheimer was born in Mishawaka ...

as Ken Cruikshank *

Drew Tarver Andrew Tarver (born May 6, 1986) is an American actor and comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles. He is known for starring in the Seeso show '' Bajillion Dollar Propertie$'' and for his appearances on comedy podcasts, i ...

as Andrew Cruikshank * Daniel Stern as Marty Dobbs ;Gus's coworkers *

Iris Apatow Iris Apatow (; born October 12, 2002) is an American actress and socialite. She portrayed Arya Hopkins in the Netflix series ''Love'' and Krystal Kris in the 2022 Netflix film '' The Bubble''. She is the second daughter of filmmaker Judd Apato ...

as Arya Hopkins *

Tracie Thoms Tracie Nicole Thoms is an Emmy-nominated American television, film, and stage actress and singer. She is known for her roles in ''Rent'', ''Cold Case'', '' The Devil Wears Prada'', ''Death Proof'', and the short-lived Fox television series ''Wo ...

as Susan Cheryl * Jordan Rock as Kevin *

Milana Vayntrub Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub ( , Russian: ; born March 8, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and activist. Born in the Soviet Union to Jewish parents, she began her career as a child actress shortly after immigrating to the United States ...

as Natalie * Seth Morris as Evan * Dawn Forrester as Denise Hopkins, Arya's mother ;Mickey's coworkers * Brett Gelman as Greg Colter ("Dr. Greg") *

Bobby Lee Robert Lee Jr. (born September 17, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. From 2001 to 2009, Lee was a cast member on ''MADtv'', and he co-starred in the ABC single-camera sitcom series '' Splitting Up Together'' alongs ...

as Truman ;Mickey's friends *

Kerri Kenney Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series '' Reno 911!'' and previously for her sketch comedy work on MT ...

as Syd * Kyle Kinane as Eric *

Chantal Claret Chantal Claret Euringer (born February 21, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the rock and power pop band Morningwood. Early life Claret was born on February 21, 1982, in Berkeley, California, th ...

as Shaun *

Andy Dick Andrew Roane Dick (born Andrew Thomlinson; December 21, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, musician, and television and film producer. Known professionally as a comic, his first regular television role was on the short-lived but influential ...

as himself ;Other recurring characters *

John Ross Bowie John Ross Bowie (born May 30, 1971) is an American actor and comedian best known for playing Barry Kripke on ''The Big Bang Theory'' and Jimmy DiMeo on '' Speechless,'' in addition to over 100 film and TV credits. He is of no known relation to s ...

as Rob *

Steve Bannos Steve Bannos (born August 5, 1960) is an American television and film actor, writer and photo dealer. As an actor, he often had cameos in Judd Apatow and Paul Feig films, and is also known for his portrayal of Frank Kowchevski on the short-lived ...

as Frank * Dave Gruber Allen as Allan *

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...

as Steven Hopkins *

Eddie Pepitone Edward David Pepitone (born November 5, 1958) is an American character actor and stand-up comedian. Early life Pepitone was born to a Sicilian father and a Jewish mother in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, and was raised from the age of nine ...

as Eddie * Saxon Sharbino as Simone * Dawn Forrester as Denise Hopkins * Mark Oliver Everett as Brian * Rich Sommer as Dustin * Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Beth *

Esther Povitsky Esther Povitsky (born March 2, 1988), formerly known by the stage name "Little Esther", is an American actress and comedian. She is the co-creator and star of the comedy series ''Alone Together'' (2018), and starred as Izzy in the Hulu series '' ...

as Alexis * Michael Cassady as Dean * Lisa Darr as Diane *

Briga Heelan Briga Heelan (pronunciation ) (born April 2, 1987) is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her work on the sitcoms ''Cougar Town'', '' Ground Floor'', ''Undateable'', ''Love'', ''Great News'', and ''B Positive''. Early life and e ...

as Heidi McAuliffe * Jason Dill as Len * Alexandra Rushfield as Ali Rush * Dave King as Wyatt Meyers * Jake Elliott as Aidan * Cristin McAlister as Britney * Mike Hanford as Wade * Neil Campbell as Kyle * Armen Weitzman as Ruby * Tim Kalpakis as Walt * Kulap Vilaysack as Rebecca *

Jay Johnston Jay Johnston (born October 22, 1968) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as a writer and cast member on ''Mr. Show with Bob and David'' and for his roles on ''The Sarah Silverman Program, Arrested Development,'' and ...

as Pastor * Liz Femi as Liz *

Horatio Sanz Horacio Sanz (born June 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Horatio Sanz, is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on '' Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006. Early life Sanz was born on June 4, 1969 in Sant ...

as Jeff * Chris Redd as Justin *

Paula Pell Paula Pell (born April 15, 1963) is an American comedy writer, producer, and actress, best known for her work writing for the sketch series ''Saturday Night Live,'' being recognized with a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety ...

as Erika * Jongman Kim as Victor *

Randall Park Randall may refer to the following: Places United States *Randall, California, former name of White Hall, California, an unincorporated community * Randall, Indiana, a former town *Randall, Iowa, a city *Randall, Kansas, a city * Randall, Minneso ...

as Tommy

Guest

* Carlos Acuña as Carlos * Stephanie Allynne as Kelly *

Vanessa Bayer Vanessa Bayer (born November 14, 1981) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for being a cast member on '' Saturday Night Live'' from 2010 to 2017, which earned her an Emmy nomination. She co-created, co-executive produces, and ...

as Sarah * Stephen Boss as Doobie *

Jesse Bradford Jesse Bradford (born May 28, 1979) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor at the age of five and received two Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film nominations for his performances in ''King of the ...

as Carl *

Janicza Bravo Janicza Michelle Bravo Ford (; born February 25, 1981) is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Her films include ''Gregory Go Boom'', a winner of the short-film jury award at the Sundance Film Festival; ''Lemon'', co-writte ...

as Lorna * Danny Cole as William the Wonder * John Early as Daniel * Eric Edelstein as Devon Monahan * Chase Ellison as Jacob * Jessie Ennis as Stella * John Ennis as Don *

Megan Ferguson Megan Ferguson is an American actress. In 2011, Ferguson married fellow actor Nico Evers-Swindell Nico Thomas Evers-Swindell is a New Zealand actor who portrayed Prince William in the 2011 Lifetime original film '' William & Kate''. Previous r ...

as Natasha * Rich Fulcher as Glen Michener *

Leslie Grossman Leslie Erin Grossman (born October 25, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Lauren on The WB sitcom '' What I Like About You'', and for her frequent collaborations with Ryan Murphy, appearing as Mary Cherry on The WB’s co ...

as Liz * Sandrine Holt as Jorie *

Hannah Leder Hannah Leder (born September 28, 1986) is an American film actress. Born in Los Angeles, California, she is the daughter of director Mimi Leder and actor Gary Werntz. As a child actress she appeared in the films ''The Peacemaker (1997 film), The ...

as Lila * Liz Lee as SLAA Member *

Joe Mande Joseph Mande (born March 16, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and actor. Early life Mande was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Louis Mande, a lawyer, and Deborah Mande, a judge. He moved to St. Paul, Minnesota at the age of t ...

as Jeffrey *

Aparna Nancherla Aparna Nancherla (born August 22, 1982) is an American comedian and actress of Indian descent. She has appeared on '' Inside Amy Schumer'' and has written for ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' and '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell''. Nancherla ...

as Lauren * Tipper Newton as Kali * Graham Rogers as Mike *

Will Sasso Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wil ...

as Ben *

Rory Scovel Rory J. Scovel (born August 6, 1980) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He released his first stand-up comedy album ''Dilation'' in 2011. He has since released the stand-up specials ''The Charleston Special'' (2015), ''Rory Scovel Tries ...

as Gator * Jason Stuart as Dr. Powell * Robin Tunney as Waverly * Tyrus as Keith the Creamator * Justin Willman as a magician *

Nancy Youngblut Nancy Youngblut (born February 14, 1953) is an American actress. She has appeared on stage and television. On Broadway in Burn This and on episodic television including '' Bones'', ''Cold Case'', ''The Unit'', '' E.R.'', ''CSI: Crime Scene Invest ...

as Carol * Charlyne Yi as Cori *

Catherine Waller Catherine Waller is a New Zealand Americans, New Zealand-American television writer and actress. Early life and education Catherine Waller was born in Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, to Wendy Waller and John Waller, who are both Americans. Wa ...

as Emma

Reception

Critical

''Love'' has received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for the cast.Fienberg, Daniel (February 14, 2016)
"'Love': TV Review."
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (HollywoodReporter.com). Retrieved February 16, 2016.Lowery, Brian (February 8, 2016)
"TV Review: Love."
''Variety.com''. Retrieved February 11, 2016. On the review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, season one holds an approval rating of 88 percent based on 40 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Judd Apatow's ''Love'' is an honest look at building a relationship, helped along by its two appealing leads." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

the season has an average score of 72 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' and ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' reviewed the show positively but commented that the length of the episodes (up to 40 minutes) and the familiar premise do not always work in the show's favor. Daniel Fienberg at ''The Hollywood Reporter'' observes, "It's a variation on a common theme, but it's also squirmingly effective, fitfully funny and carried by a great, uncompromising performance from Gillian Jacobs...If you can warm up to the prickly, but probably realistic, characters, there's a lot to like, if not love."

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...

Hitfix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...

reviewed it positively and said, "I can see all those issues, and more. I just don't care. When you feel it—as I very quickly did with ''Love''—nothing else matters." On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 94 percent based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 7.19/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "In its sophomore season, ''Love'' treads the balance between comedy and drama with greater confidence, going deeper into the endearing, frustrating, delightfully realistic relationship of Mickey and Gus." On

, the season has an average score of 80 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

In 2017, ''Love'' was nominated for Best Musical or Comedy Series at the 21st Satellite Awards.

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018) 2010s American comedy-drama television series 2010s American romantic comedy television series 2016 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings Alcohol abuse in television English-language Netflix original programming Television series created by Judd Apatow Television shows filmed in Los Angeles Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series about show business Television series by Legendary Television