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 (now Freeform) 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 will 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.
BASICS
Genre: Sitcom, Romantic Comedy
Creator by: David Holden
Theme Music Composers: Shridhar Solanki, Sidh Solanki
Opening theme: ‘I Like That’ (Season 2-5)
Composer: Christopher French
Language: English
Season: 5
Episodes: 71
Executive Producers: Ashley Tisdale, David holden, Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, Jessica Rhoades, John Ziffren, Caryn Lucas, David Hartle, Tony Carey
Producers: Devon Kelley, Kevin C. Slattery, Michael Dow, David Hartle
Running time: 22:00 minutes
Production companies: Waffle Toaster Productions, Blondie Girl Productions, Relativity Television (Season 1-2), Critical Content (Season 3-5), The Tannenbaum Company, CBS Television Studios, Freeform Original Productions
Distributor: Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Release: June 25, 2014
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
Emily Osment as Gabi Diamond
Jonathan Sadowski as Josh Kaminski
Aimee Carrero as Sofia Rodriguez
Kym Whitley as Yolanda
Rex lee as Elliot Park
Mallory Jansen as Caroline Penelope Huntington
Jesse McCartney as Cooper Finley
Bryan Safi as Alan
Jayson Blair as Jake Kaminski
Chris Smith as Nick Walker
Ashley Tisdale as Logan Rawlings
Kylie Minogue as Shauna
Keegan Allen as Tyler
Cheryl Hines as Kathy Kaminski
Jerry O’Connell as Nick Diamond
Brian Lane as Dr. Jessica Rounds
Demi Mills as Keisha
Heather Dubrow as Natasha Cook-Campbell
Betty White as Ms. Wilson
Andy Buckley as Matt Danon
Jose Moreno Brooks as Juan Carlos
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 who not 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.
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”.
RATINGS
The first season ended with a 0.4 rating in the 18–49 demographic with 900,000 total viewers.
BROADCAST
In Australia, the series premiered on July 25, 2015 on FOX8. In Turkey, the series airs on Dizimax Drama. In the Netherlands the series started on August 21, 2016 on Comedy Central. In the United Kingdom, the show started airing on November 14, 2016 on E4. In India, the first two seasons of the show aired in 2016 on Zee Café.
SPIN-OFF
During April 2016, it was confirmed that Young & Hungry would possibly spawn a spin-off series titled Young & Sofia. In May 2016, cast details surfaced with Aimee Carrero starring and center on her character Sofia Rodriguez, an ambitious banking intern and the best friend and roommate to Gabi (Emily Osment) from the original series. Other cast members include Ashley Tisdale as Logan Rawlings, Sofia’s overbearing boss at Clic’k Media, Steve Talley as Kendrick and Ryan Pinkston as Leo. The spin-off was introduced in the eighth episode of season four. The spinoff was not picked up.
