Television's funniest sitcom is back for season 2 – after 1 joke forced an entire episode remake

I came across the smash-hit sitcom Adults  back in 2025 and had a great time with the first season, but there was one jaw-dropping moment – not in a good way – that almost had me closing my laptop for good. It turns out I wasn't the only one.

Adults, which airs on FX in the US and Disney+ in the UK, is Gen Z's triumphant answer to sitcoms like Friends or New Girl. The show follows a group of twenty-somethings residing in their friend's parents' home outside of New York City while working out how to function as actual grown-ups and landing themselves in one absurd situation after another.

These characters aren't just play-acting at being skint while living in roomy Manhattan apartments (cough, Girls), so the show feels genuinely grounded. Paired with a hilarious script and impeccable timing from the super-talented young cast, the comedy's success should have been a slam dunk.

© Getty Images for FX Networks

However, I was recently surprised to learn that one edgy joke turned off so many viewers that the entire pilot episode has been redone—something I can't recall ever being done retrospectively before.

So what was the joke that turned so many viewers, almost including myself, away? Unfortunately, it is too R-rated to go into detail, but let's just say it includes a deeply unfortunate moment on a subway and an extreme lapse of judgment by one character, Issa.

While the extremity of the moment sets the tone for the show's often edgy humour, and is played for laughs less in the X-rated moment itself and more in the "cut to" scene afterwards, The New York Times reported that FX pinpointed "many" viewers dropping out during that first scene - so much so that they decided to redo the pilot.

Speaking about the decision to introduce new viewers to the show in a different, less provocative way, FX chairman John Landgraf said of the original opening episode: "It is definitely throwing somebody into the deep end of the pool who does not know the tone of the show and its comedic voice," adding that the show needed to "have a new front door."

Instead, a new 20-minute prequel has been introduced showing Paul Baker, the group's newest and most straight-laced friend, meeting the more eccentric, neurotic members of the gang, bringing viewers into their buzzing world alongside him. But will it do the trick? So far, it seems so! The show's second season boasts a solid 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, and the audience members who stayed seem to be loving it.

"I want a season 3 renewal with a season 4 tease, a format change to 12-episode seasons with a 3-week runtime, dropping 4 episodes per week, a holiday episode, Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott guest-starring, and an Emmy for Amita Rao by morning," one person posted on X.

Another added: "#Adults is like one of those old comedies where you can understand why anyone is a fan of any of them. Like every character is so well-thought-out/funny/intriguing/gag-worthy/everything honey," while a third person wrote: "I NEED EVERYONE TO LOCK IN AND STREAM SEASON 2 OF ADULTS RIGHT NOW, PEAK SITUATION COMEDY IS BACK."

© FX via Getty Images

So if you were among the masses who switched over to Friends reruns during episode one of Adults, I implore you to give it another go - because season two is better than ever. If this show gets the audience it deserves, it could become a sitcom hall of famer. Watch this space.