Netflix's 7-Season Comedy Is Perfect From Beginning to End

Published Oct 26, 2026, 2:56 PM EDT Amanda M. Castro is a Network TV writer at Collider and a New York–based journalist whose work has appeared in Newsweek, where she is an Associate Editor, and The U.S. Sun, where she previously served as a Senior Consumer Reporter. She specializes in network television coverage, delivering sharp, thoughtful analysis of long-running procedural hits and ambitious new dramas across broadcast TV. At Collider, Amanda explores character arcs, storytelling trends, and the cultural impact of network series that keep audiences tuning in week after week. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Amanda is bilingual and holds a degree in Communication, Film, and Media Studies from the University of New Haven. Some sitcoms run out of steam after a few seasons, stretching their characters beyond recognition to keep the jokes coming. Grace and Frankie, Netflix’s long-running comedy starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, lets its characters grow older, messier, and closer, turning an unlikely friendship into the heart of a series that only gets better with time. Created by Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris, the comedy premiered in 2015 and wrapped up in 2022 after seven seasons and 94 episodes. It wasn’t an instant critical darling, but the series found its footing by following two women as they discover life doesn’t stop just because their plans have fallen apart. What Is 'Grace and Frankie' About? Image via Netflix Grace Hanson (Fonda) is a sharp-tongued former cosmetics executive who likes her martinis strong and her opinions stronger. Frances “Frankie” Bergstein (Tomlin), meanwhile, is a free-spirited artist whose approach to life couldn’t be further from Grace’s. The two women have little in common and have never particularly liked each other, but their husbands are about to change that. Robert (Martin Sheen) and Sol (Sam Waterston), longtime law partners who have each been married to their wives for 40 years, reveal they’re in love and plan to get married. With their marriages over and their futures suddenly uncertain, Grace and Frankie move into a shared beach house in San Diego, where they must figure out what comes next. The setup sounds like a familiar odd-couple sitcom, but Grace and Frankie doesn’t leave its protagonists stuck in a cycle of petty disagreements; their relationship develops as they navigate new romances, complicated family dynamics, health scares, and increasingly ridiculous business ventures. They even attempt to develop a toilet designed for older adults, because, to them, starting over in your seventies means becoming an entrepreneur. The supporting cast makes the most of the chaos. Grace’s daughters, Brianna (June Diane Raphael) and Mallory (Brooklyn Decker), have their own complicated relationship, while Frankie and Sol’s sons, Coyote (Ethan Embry) and Bud (Baron Vaughn), bring different kinds of dysfunction to the family. Robert and Sol also get their own storylines, letting the show explore what happens when one chapter finally makes room for another. Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin Make an Unbeatable Comedy Duo Image via Netflix The biggest reason to watch Grace and Frankie is its two leading ladies. Fonda plays Grace with deliciously cutting wit, delivering insults with the confidence of someone who's spent decades getting exactly what she wants. Tomlin’s Frankie is her perfect opposite, a woman whose unconventional worldview can turn even the most ordinary situation into an adventure. The chemistry they share makes their friendship believable, even when their personalities threaten to annoy each other. Grace always tries to control Frankie’s life, while Frankie keeps pushing Grace to reconsider the strict rules that govern hers. Neither woman is always right, and they don’t have to change their personalities for the friendship to succeed. The show portrays friendship as something as significant as love. Grace and Frankie become friends not because the storyline requires it, but because they learn to understand each other and admit their mistakes along the way. Their friendship becomes the central theme of the series, and it gives the comedy a backdrop to build on rather than simply relying on laughter. Fonda and Tomlin are supported by a cast that knows how to make even the smallest moments count. Raphael is particularly entertaining as Brianna, whose caustic humor and refusal to pretend she likes people make her a natural successor to her mother’s sharp tongue. Sheen and Waterston also bring warmth to Robert and Sol, whose marriage offers a different perspective on love, commitment, and the passage of time. Seven Seasons Gave This Netflix Comedy Room to Grow Image via Netflix Across 94 episodes, Grace and Frankie has enough room to explore its sprawling family without losing sight of the two women who started it all. Not all subplots work well, and some side characters aren't used as effectively as they could be. However, the show's ability to let characters evolve over time makes the series so effective, something long-running sitcoms often struggle to achieve. That narrative method is clearest in the show's final season. As Grace and Frankie face anxiety about their future, their friendship becomes even more vital. As they learn to adapt to one another’s personalities, the show ends with the ultimate question: What does it mean to live with someone who becomes crucial to your happiness? The answer isn’t that love makes aging or loss any less frightening. Those experiences become easier to face when you don’t have to face them alone, and Grace and Frankie find humor in the indignities of getting older without pretending those indignities are the whole story. Seven seasons later, the show’s greatest achievement is keeping Grace and Frankie complicated until the very end. Their friendship doesn’t erase their differences; it gives them a reason to keep working through them. If you’ve been putting off this comedy because you’ve already seen a dozen odd-couple sitcoms, give these two women a chance. You might laugh at their latest disastrous scheme one minute and think about your own closest friendships the next. And if Grace and Frankie teach us anything, it’s that the best relationships are often the ones we never saw coming.