‘Minimum Wage’ Review: Netflix Adapts Another YouTube Comedy — SkimNews
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- Minimum Wage premiered on YouTube in 2024 as a rapid-fire sketch comedy from American High about incompetent teens working at a pizza shop.
- Netflix expanded the web series into 14 episodes that stay close to its original formula, retaining the original cast, many of whom also write and direct.
- Grace Reiter returns as a 17-year-old whose management style blends Michael Scott and Dewey Finn; last month, she became the first Saturday Night Live cast member born in the 21st century.
- Julia DiCesare reprises her YouTube role as a painfully earnest homeschooler who treats each day like an alien hearing about Earth, and the review names her performance the standout.
- Netflix has made a concerted effort in recent years to convert YouTube successes into Netflix hits, citing Ms. Rachel, Hot Ones and CoComelon as earlier examples.
- YouTube remains the most popular streaming platform in the U.S. by a substantial margin; earlier cross-platform moves include Comedy Central backing “Broad City,” HBO expanding “High Maintenance” and Crave turning “Letterkenny Problems” into “Letterkenny.”
Why it matters: Netflix’s 14-episode version gives the original YouTube audience a familiar show while adding a Netflix title built around an established web property. Retaining Grace Reiter, Julia DiCesare and other cast members who write and direct preserves the creative voice the review credits for making the transition work.
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