“Minimum Wage” is Netflix’s new sitcom from the minds of the creators of American High. Shot in a mockumentary format, the show follows a group of teenagers working and managing a pizzeria named The Slice Club. Netflix released 14 episodes onto their service.
The show stars “Saturday Night Live” newcomer Grace Reiter, Aiden Micho, Hyde Healy, Julia Dicesare, Luke Burke, Ryan Micho, Tommy Armstrong, who all play characters of the same name.
Originally aired as a web series in 2024, Netflix announced last April that it would produce a 28- episode season with the series original cast reprising their roles. Randall Park, known for “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Always Be My Maybe,” joins the cast as Terry Sylvester, the recently divorced CEO of The Slice Club.
People may know American High through American High Shorts and College Life’s short-form sketch comedy videos typically centered around high school and college experiences. They are also known for producing movies such as “Plan B” and “Pizza Movie” both of which are available on Hulu.
As a long-time viewer of American High Shorts I was excited to see what this new show had in store. One of the most impressive things about the series was that the majority of the episodes were written and directed by the main cast.
The show walks to the beat of its own drum, finding the humor out of everyday situations that teen employees face like no phones during work, managing friendships and relationships and seeing teachers outside of school. The cast and writers do an excellent job in heightening these situations from realistic to chaotic.
As streaming moves into longer episodes and shorter seasons, “Minimum Wage” takes a different approach. With 14 episodes ranging from 12 minutes to 20 minutes long, the show is a delightfully bingeable series that left me anticipating what the next 14 episodes would entail.
With these shorter episodes, however, it was difficult to establish characters quickly. The character of Aidan was not showcased until later in the season, while others like DiCrasse’s Julia and Burke’s Luke were spotlighted and easily understood from episode one.
In addition to this, some of the episodes, such as episode 6 “Lottery Tickets,” were fighting to make a minimum time requirement. These episodes in particular came across as though the writers were expanding from a short-form model.
Despite this, all episodes were jam packed with laughs. The show, especially episode 9 “Sleepover” and episode 14 “New Year’s Kiss,” highlighted the cast’s chemistry. It proved why the original web series gained popularity. The writers were able to bring the absurdity down to create earnest moments that were surprisingly heartfelt. It made the story easy to emotionally invest in.
Many reviews try to hail “Minimum Wage” as the Gen-Z version of “The Office” or, strangely, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” I would argue that this cast of writers have created their own place amongst these sitcom giants.
“Minimum Wage” is laying the groundwork for Gen-Z era workplace comedy with its unique charm and the cast’s commitment to the bit. I, like many others, am eagerly awaiting my second trip to The Slice Club to see what this combination of cast and writers cook up in the next 14 episodes.