WTF Tina Fey?

A Review of Netflix's "The Four Seasons" by a Recovering Alcoholic

The other day, I had a good ole-fashioned binge-sesh. I plopped myself down on the couch and didn’t move until I finished an entire limited series. Leading up to this binge was a slew of stressful days. I had an important work event and some relationship challenges, which had me twisted up. My point is, I was not bingeing to escape and isolate. This was a well-deserved mini break.

So what was on the screen? Netflix’s reboot of the old Alan Alda movie The Four Seasons. In some review somewhere, I read that this TV series was for married 50-something-year-olds. Perfect! That’s me.

Here’s how Wikipedia describes the show:

The Four Seasons is an American comedy drama miniseries created by Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracey Wigfield for Netflix, starring Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo, and Will Forte. It is an adaptation of the 1981 film of the same name, which was written and directed by Alan Alda, who has a guest role in the series.

I never saw the Alan Alda movie, or if I did, I don’t really remember it. And I’m not here to comment on that. However, Netflix sure wants me to watch it because it keeps popping up in the “Your Next Watch” category.

I enjoyed The Four Seasons series—it was the perfect pick for my binge-sesh—but here’s the problem.

As someone with 14 years of sobriety, I was deeply disturbed by how the series portrays non-drinkers as killjoys, while consistently framing alcohol consumption as the normal path to connection and joy.

Dinner Parties? More Like Booze Fests

“I hope audiences feel like they are inside a big sweater with us, and also having a dinner party with us, and I hope that any of the joy and warmth that we all feel for each other all transfers to them, and that we are a comfort and provide some laughs for them in their home.” Tina Fey in an article written for Netflix about the series.

Each and every episode of The Four Seasons includes scenes of the friends drinking. It was how they gathered together, how they socialized, how they had fun. In my opinion, the show makes it clear that the friends can only find joy and warmth with a buzz on. Just check out this clip from Episode 4, “Beach Bar.”

(BTW, I tried but failed at finding a proper way to share Netflix clips, so instead, I pointed my phone at my TV. Sorry for the crappy quality.)

What if I, a recovering alcoholic, were at THIS dinner party? Personally, if I’m spiritually fit and connected to my network, I can be around this type of drinking. I would probably roll my eyes at the people doing shots, and I’d get up on the dance floor sober AF. However, the minute people started getting drunk, I’d be outta there because that shit’s annoying. Drunk people are sloppy. They think they are funny, but they are usually just annoying. And they repeat themselves a lot! Who wants to be around that?

But what if there were a newly sober person at this dinner party? Certainly, they’d feel excluded, not a part of. They might be thinking, “Why does everyone else get to drink but me?” And then, they might say, eff it, and swig back a shot.

Failing at Sober Fall

I mean, even the characters on the show could not NOT drink. In the episode “Family Weekend,” the group gathers at a college. Kate, Tina Fey’s character, and her husband, Jack, report that they are participating in “sober fall.” The minute things get rough, Jack and Kate both pick up a drink.

I applaud anyone who attempts to curtail their drinking, but if you need to participate in Dry January or Sober October, well, maayyybeeee, you have a problem with drinking, and quitting for one month is not going to solve that.

It seems clear to me that the Kate character was an alcoholic. She repeatedly got herself in trouble after drinking, saying hurtful things to her husband and her best friend. You often hear people say in meetings, “I didn’t get in trouble every time I drank, but every time I got in trouble, I had been drinking.”

Non-Drinkers Presented As Lame

Ok, so never mind the constant drinking in this series, which we recovery people deal with in almost every movie or TV show (except my beloved show Mom about a sober group of women that I miss so much!) Why does The Four Seasons have to portray non-drinkers as killjoys? Getting sober is hard enough. Can we not make it even harder by reinforcing the idea that a life without alcohol is inherently less fun, less connected, and less normal? Take, for instance, the entire ski trip episode, where it’s considered a drag to be around young people who are not drinking.

Check out this clip:

“Yeah, they’ll die at 100, but when will they get to live?” Jack, Will Forte’s character, says.

Well, I can tell you, I’d most likely die at age 52 if I picked up a drink now. My brother died at 21. So, maybe, fuck you Jack?

A Personal Story

A couple of years ago, I participated in a Four Seasons-like weekend away with old friends. I was the only sober person there. That’s not usually an issue for me. Like I said, if I’m connected to my network and spiritual fit, I can hang with drinkers. But on this particular weekend away, the day’s outing was … hanging out at a distillery. Inhaling whisky fumes while my friends day drank when there was not a cup of coffee in sight is not how I want to spend my precious free time. Then, we all went out to dinner, where the drinks continued to flow. With her martini glass to her lips, one of my friends proceeded to tell me what AA’s problem was. (Yes, she had the nerve to diss my beloved 12-step program while she was drunk!) That’s it. I was D.O.N.E. But the problem was I was stuck. I was in a situation where I couldn’t just leave, which is on me. I will never put myself in that position again.

Please, Let’s Do Better

But back to The Four Seasons. With alcohol-related deaths rising dramatically in recent years, these representations have real consequences.

How hard would it have been for the show's creators to include a sober person in their group of friends? In the limited series Nobody Wants This, the creators at least included a “California sober” character—someone who doesn’t drink but smokes weed.

Media creators have an opportunity—and I'd argue, a responsibility—to portray the full spectrum of relationships with alcohol, including characters who are confidently and joyfully sober without making it their entire personality or a source of ridicule. These representations matter because they shape our cultural expectations about what "normal" socializing looks like.

And while we wait for Hollywood to catch up, perhaps we can all take a moment to reflect on our own social gatherings. Are your get-togethers centered entirely around alcohol? Maybe pick an activity that doesn’t involve day drinking. Go for a hike or do goat yoga. I’m not saying you can’t drink while socializing with your friends, but don’t make the main activity revolve around drinking. Your sober friend will thank you.

Disclaimer: To err is human. Please excuse any typos or grammatical errors. I use Grammarly, but mistakes still occur. In this world of AI, they're my way of keeping things delightfully human.