Older, Hotter, Wiser? is a new Peacock show (essentially a short-form web series, with 7 episodes that are 12 minutes or less) from social media influencer Serena Kerrigan. The series splices together Kerrigan’s popular dating advice with a narrative series about a trip she and her real-life boyfriend take from New York to L.A. so she can perform a live show to a sold-out audience. As the pair – playing heightened versions of themselves – travel across the country with a seven-day deadline (and a coffin strapped to their car), they encounter mishaps and misunderstandings that you would hope would be either funny or motivational but are, unfortunately, neither.
The Gist: If you’ve opened up your Peacock app this week, you may have noticed a group of new shows under the “Emerging Artist Series.” Older, Hotter, Wiser? is one of four series included in this year’s batch of comedy shows which also include The Warehouse Phase, The Kouncil, and People Like Me, all of which feature short (under 15 minutes) episodes created by digital creators in a limited series format. Older, Hotter, Wiser? was developed by content (or should I say confidence) creator Serena Kerrigan, who also stars along with her real-life boyfriend, podcaster Felix Levine, as the pair have to get to L.A. for Kerrigan’s upcoming sold-out show.
In the show’s first episode, Serena Kerrigan initially plays an insecure version of herself who becomes inspired by her own alter ego, SFK (“Serena Fucking Kerrigan”). This is analogous to the brand Kerrigan has created on social media and TikTok where she often doles out advice to followers on how to boost confidence and become the main character in your life. We see a montage of Kerrigan steadily gaining popularity and becoming an influencer whose advice is often unconventional and comedic. In this series, this culminates with her getting the chance to put on her stage show in L.A. – a one-woman show that’ a not-quite TED Talk – the problem is, a part of the show involves using a large, pink, custom-made coffin in her act, and the airline won’t let her fly with it. So Serena and Felix plan a week-long road trip from New York to L.A. in a Nissan Pathfinder that has a giant pink coffin strapped to the roof.
Throughout each episode, we get to see snippets of Serena’s show – proof that she’s actually made it to Los Angeles – cut in with scenes of the journey as she and Felix drive across the country. The trip is not without its drama, and sometimes, but not all the time, it relates back to Serena’s act. But the show is mainly a vehicle for Serena’s performance, her tale of how she gained the confidence you see today. Unfortunately, the bulk of her advice is either “fake it till you make it,” or “fuck around till you make it,” and I can’t tell how seriously I’m supposed to take this.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? In format alone, Older, Hotter, Wiser‘s conceit of splicing together performance footage with the show’s narrative beats is not unlike old Seinfeld episodes where his act informs the plot. The main difference is that Seinfeld was funny.
Our Take: Kerrigan’s stage show, which is woven throughout Older, Hotter, Wiser?, is a series of vignettes about her life and about how only you have the power to rewrite your own script to be in control of the narrative. (Is it me or did you also just hear the theme song to The Hills start playing in your head?) In theory, this is a positive, inspiring credo. And yet most (all) the stories Kerrigan tells about how she learned to empower herself are about… giving guys head or becoming fuckable. I wasn’t sure how to read into this: is this actually empowering to her? Or is it a meta commentary on what we put ourselves through to feel accepted and loved? I think it’s the former but I can’t be sure, all I know is that her act is heavy on the blow jobs and it was funnier when Chelsea Handler did it.
So if the series isn’t succeeding on the motivational side, one would hope that at least it’s funny, but alas…
While there are plenty of jokes throughout the trouble is that they’re just not very original. In the first episode, Kerrigan makes several references to L.A. – in one, she jokes that she can’t buy a coffin in the city because “they don’t die in L.A., they just get younger!” At another point in her act she asks, “Can I say something that no one has ever said in Los Angeles before? I turned 30 this year!” I’m sure someone somewhere will laugh at this, but jokes about L.A.’s obsession with looks and age have been done for decades and have got to be more original than this to actually earn a laugh. Similarly, a lot of the sex jokes feel misplaced, like Kerrigan is just working blue for the hell of it. When she stumbles on a message board full of cruel commenters hating on her, Felix tells her to read them all as a form of exposure therapy. “The more you face it, the less it stings,” he says. “Like anal?” she asks.
Being a reviewer – especially when you’re reviewing something made by an emerging artist – can feel like you’re a dream-crusher, stomping on all the hard work someone had done to realize something important to them. So I’ll say this, Kerrigan’s online content is often fun and funny, and her message is much clearer when it’s not tied into a sitcom-y narrative. The trouble with this series is that I don’t think this version of her work really translates to a longer-form show. As a scripted comedy, the jokes feel very first-draft and the advice is one-note, which is basically “be yourself, but also be sexier.” The best part about the show is that it is, mercifully, short.
Sex and Skin: A lot of Serena’s advice involves embracing your sexuality and setting sexual boundaries, but there’s nothing gratuitous beyond that.
Parting Shot: At the end of the first episode we watch Felix and Serena drive off, out of New York, with a big pink coffin strapped to their car.
Performance Worth Watching: Serena and Felix are the only two recurring cast members in the series and while they both are successful on their existing platforms, unfortunately neither stands out as a gifted comedic performer who can or should carry a series. Sometimes it’s actually hard to “play” yourself, and this seems like one of those times.
Memorable Dialogue: “People say that something changes when you turn 30 an they’re right. I stopped doing coke. As much… I traded in my therapist for a psychic. And I started giving head again,” Kerrigan tells her audience during her opening monologue, encouraging them to applaud. This is a representative sampling of the kind of jokes she tells throughout the series.
Our Call: I wish I could say that Older, Hotter, Wiser? represents a new wave of feminism or comedy (or both) that I’d be proud to see taking up the mantle, but unfortunately, the series falls flat and only inspires me… to watch something else. SKIP IT.
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.