''Single Drunk Female'' (stylized as ''Single Female'') is an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series created by Simone Finch that premiered on Freeform on January 20, 2022, and ended on May 10, 2023. In April 2022, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on Freeform on April 12, 2023, with all second-season episodes released on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

on April 13. In June 2023, the series was cancelled after two seasons.

Plot

After a terribly embarrassing public meltdown, alcoholic Samantha Fink has only one chance to avoid jail time. She needs to stay sober and move back in with her bossy mother, Carol. Back in the Boston area, Samantha tries to make the best of the situation. However, that's easier said than done. Samantha is confronted with the ghosts of her past, which drove her to alcohol addiction. And then there's her mother, who was conspicuous by her absence when Samantha was young, and now meddles in everything and showers her with unhelpful advice. At first Samantha is reluctant to take a new path, but when her childhood best friend Brit reveals surprising news, Samantha has to admit that her partying life can't go on like this.

Cast and characters

Main

Sofia Black-D'Elia Sofia Black-D'Elia (born December 24, 1991) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles, such as Tea Marvelli in '' Skins'', Sage Spence in ''Gossip Girl'', Andrea Cornish in ''The Night Of'', and Frannie Latimer in '' Your Ho ...

as Samantha Fink, a 28-year-old alcoholic who is forced to move back home after hitting rock bottom *

Rebecca Henderson Rebecca Henderson (born June 4, 1980) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her portrayal of Lizzy on the Netflix series ''Russian Doll (TV series), Russian Doll'' and for her roles in independent films ''Appropriate Behavior'', ''They Remain ...

as Olivia (season 1, recurring season 2), sponsor of Samantha at

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led Mutual aid, mutual-aid fellowship focused on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions, besides emphasizing anon ...

* Sasha Compère as Brit, Samantha's ex-BFF who is a doctor * Lily Mae Harrington as Felicia, Samantha's drinking buddy and current BFF * Garrick Bernard as James, a fellow member of Alcoholics Anonymous *

Ally Sheedy Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut in '' Bad Boys'' (1983) and came to prominence as a member of the Brat Pack with roles in '' Oxford Blues'' (1984), '' The Breakfast Club'' ...

as Carol Fink, Samantha's mother *

Ian Gomez Ian Braque Gomez (born December 27, 1964) is an American actor known for his comedic TV work, which includes series-regular roles as Javier on '' Felicity'' and Andy on ''Cougar Town''. Early life He was born in New York City to a dancer mother ...

as Bob (season 2; recurring season 1), Carol's boyfriend

Recurring

Jon Glaser Jon Glaser is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his work as a writer and sketch performer for many years on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', creating and starring in the Adult Swim series '' Delocated'' and '' Neon ...

as Nathaniel, Samantha's former boss * Madison Shepard as Gail Williams, Samantha's probation officer * Jojo Brown as Melinda "Mindy" Moy, Samantha's boss at Giovanni's grocery store * Charlie Hall as Joel, Samantha's ex-boyfriend and Brit's fiancé * Madeline Wise as Stephanie, Olivia's wife * Tom Simmons as Ronnie * Ben Thompson as Peter * Ricky Velez as Alex (season 2), Samantha's new love interest

Special guest stars

Bob the Drag Queen Christopher Delmar Caldwell (born June 22, 1986), also known by his stage name Caldwell Tidicue and better known by his drag name Bob the Drag Queen, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, author, and reality television ...

as herself (season 2) *

Molly Ringwald Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and translator. She began her career as a child actress on the sitcoms ''Diff'rent Strokes'' and '' The Facts of Life'' (both 1979–1980) before being nominated for ...

as Alice (season 2), Carol's sister-in-law and Samantha's aunt *

Busy Philipps Elizabeth Jean "Busy" Philipps (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the television series ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), ''Dawson's Creek'' (2001–2003), and '' ER'' (2006–2007), and for her po ...

as Darby (season 2), Olivia's sponsor at Alcoholics Anonymous who has been 20 years sober

Production

Development

On September 25, 2019, Freeform gave ''Single Drunk Female'' a pilot order. On February 26, 2021, Freeform gave production a series order consisting of ten episodes. The series is created by Simone Finch, who also executive produces alongside

Leslye Headland Leslye Headland (born November 26, 1980) is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and playwright. She directed the comedic films ''Bachelorette'' (2012), and ''Sleeping with Other People'' (2015). She co-created the Netflix ser ...

Jenni Konner Jennifer A. Konner (born May 15, 1971) is an American television writer, producer, and director. She is best known as co-showrunner and writer with Lena Dunham of the HBO series '' Girls.'' In 2016, she directed the season finale of the fifth se ...

, and

Phil Traill Phil Traill (born June 6, 1973) is a British television and film director. Phil was born in New Jersey, but had moved to London, England at the age of six. There he attended and graduated from Newcastle University, with a degree in English and Fi ...

. Headland also directed the pilot while Finch wrote the pilot.

20th Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

is involved with producing the series. On April 26, 2022, Freeform renewed the series for a second season. On June 30, 2023, Freeform cancelled the series after two seasons.

Casting

Upon the pilot order announcement,

and

were cast to star. Upon the series order announcement, Rebecca Henderson, Sasha Compère, Lily Mae Harrington and Garrick Bernard joined the main cast. On January 7, 2022, Jojo Brown, Charlie Hall, Madison Shepard,

, Madeline Wise, and

were cast in recurring roles. On January 11, 2023, it was announced that

and Ricky Velez had been added to the cast in recurring roles in the second season, with Charlie Hall set to return as Sam's ex-boyfriend Joel.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2022)

Season 2 (2023)

Broadcast and release

The series premiered on Freeform on January 20, 2022. The second season premiered on April 12, 2023, with all ten second-season episodes released on Hulu on April 13. The series finale aired on May 10, 2023. The series was removed on Hulu on July 1, 2023.

Reception

Critical response

For the first season, the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

reported a 96% approval rating with an average rating of 7.8/10, based on 25 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Single Drunk Female''s clear-eyed chronicle of the challenges of sobriety is a joy, thanks in part to some spiky satire and

's spirited star turn."

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

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 76 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Leila Latif of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' gave the first season a B and said, "Sofia Black-D'Elia makes for an incredible lead across all 10 episodes, selling every moment of Samantha's story as a woman with high-functioning alcoholism rebuilding her life." Reviewing the series' first season for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Ellen E Jones gave a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and described it as "a show that has most to say at the very point when other shows lose interest." On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 100% with an average rating of 7.8/10, based on 6 critic reviews. Metacritic gave the second season a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Ratings

Season 1

Season 2

Accolades

In 2021, the series won the IMDbPro Top 200 Scripted TV Recipients for

ReFrame Stamp The ReFrame Stamp for Gender-Balanced Production certification is awarded by ReFrame to corporations and media that show progress toward gender equality and greater representation of women in key roles. History On June 8, 2018, the ReFrame Sta ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Freeform 2020s American comedy television series 2020s American LGBTQ-related comedy television series 2022 American television series debuts 2023 American television series endings Television shows about alcohol abuse Bisexuality-related television series American English-language television shows Freeform (TV channel) original programming Lesbian-related television shows Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Jewish American television series Television shows set in Massachusetts