Love (TV series)

Love is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, and Paul Rust. The series stars Rust, Gillian Jacobs, Mike Mitchell, and Claudia O'Doherty. Netflix 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/sex addict, a pot stirrer, and someone who tends to be dishonest with herself and others, while Gus is awkward, emotionally needy, oblivious to social cues, and prone to occasional outbursts when things do not go his way.

Main

 * Gillian Jacobs 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 as Vicki Cruikshank
 * Ed Begley Jr. as Mark Cruikshank
 * Kyle Bornheimer as Ken Cruikshank
 * Drew Tarver as Andrew Cruikshank
 * Daniel Stern as Marty Dobbs


 * Gus's coworkers
 * Iris Apatow as Arya Hopkins
 * Tracie Thoms as Susan Cheryl
 * Jordan Rock as Kevin
 * Milana Vayntrub 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 as Truman


 * Mickey's friends
 * Kerri Kenney as Syd
 * Kyle Kinane as Eric
 * Chantal Claret as Shaun
 * Andy Dick as himself


 * Other recurring characters


 * John Ross Bowie as Rob
 * Steve Bannos as Frank
 * Dave Gruber Allen as Allan
 * David Spade as Steven Hopkins
 * Eddie Pepitone 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 as Alexis
 * Michael Cassady as Dean
 * Lisa Darr as Diane
 * Briga Heelan 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 as Pastor
 * Liz Femi as Liz
 * Horatio Sanz as Jeff
 * Chris Redd as Justin
 * Paula Pell as Erika
 * Jongman Kim as Victor
 * Randall Park as Tommy

Guest

 * Carlos Acuña as Carlos
 * Stephanie Allynne as Kelly
 * Vanessa Bayer as Sarah, Gus's ex fiancée
 * Stephen Boss as Doobie
 * Jesse Bradford as Carl
 * Janicza Bravo 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 as Natasha
 * Rich Fulcher as Glen Michener
 * Leslie Grossman as Liz
 * Sandrine Holt as Jorie
 * Hannah Leder as Lila
 * Liz Lee as SLAA Member
 * Joe Mande as Jeffrey
 * Aparna Nancherla as Lauren
 * Tipper Newton as Kali
 * Graham Rogers as Mike
 * Will Sasso as Ben
 * Rory Scovel as Gator
 * Jason Stuart as Dr. Powell
 * Robin Tunney as Waverly
 * Tyrus as Keith the Creamator
 * Justin Willman as a magician
 * Nancy Youngblut as Carol
 * Charlyne Yi as Cori
 * Catherine Waller as Emma

Critical
Love has received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for the cast. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 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 the season has an average score of 72 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The Hollywood Reporter and Variety 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 of Hitfix 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 Metacritic, the season has an average score of 80 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The third season was also well-received, with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 11 reviews), and a consensus that "Love concludes with a moving final season that explores the work that goes into making a relationship succeed, allowing its central pair to surprise the audience, each other, and ultimately themselves." This season scored 77 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On The A.V. Club, Erik Adams wrote that "More than the love story itself, Love's greatest achievement might be that it managed to make Gus and Mickey feel like fully realized, complicated individuals independent of their love story."

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