'Young & Hungry' Review: Emily Osment Stars In A Fun New Comedy

Young & Hungry, ABC Family’s new original comedy series follows the life of a young woman, Gabi Diamond (Emily Osment), and her adventures as she pursues her dream of becoming a professional chef. You may remember Osment from her time playing Miley Cyrus’ best friend, Lilly Truscott, on the Disney Channel original series, Hannah Montana. Now, Osment is all grown up and the star of the show.

Osment’s character, Gabi, is very different from the innocent and quirky character she played on Hannah Montana. She’s beautiful and all grown up, but her humor and charisma has only been enhanced. In series premiere, Gabi is hired to be the personal chef of Josh Kaminski (Jonathan Sadowski), a self-made millionaire living in San Francisco. However, after sharing a test dinner and several glasses of champagne, Gabi ends up having sex with Josh. Despite the awkwardness, Josh extends the offer that Gabi continue be his personal chef and she accepts.

During the second episode, “Young and Ringless,” Josh’s new fiancé, Caroline, (Mallory Jansen), puts down her engagement ring while she takes a shower. When she gets out of the shower, the ring is gone and Caroline accuses Gabi of stealing it. Caroline and Gabi are complete opposites. While Gabi is light-hearted, funny, and fun loving, Caroline is serious, snotty, and entitled. When Josh surprises Caroline with a massage, she tells the masseuse she likes it hard, deep, and no eye contact.

Similar to the premiere, Gabi faces a number of challenges during the episode. She must prove her innocence in the engagement ring disappearance and she must prepare an authentic Chinese meal for the Chinese investors coming to visit Josh. She is reminded that her resume said she was proficient in preparing Chinese meals, but she lied, so basically she has no idea what is doing.

Some of the funniest moments of the show come from Elliot Park (Rex Lee), Josh’s publicist. From the beginning, Elliot has made it clear that he does not like Gabi. When Gabi asks how Josh likes his eggs, Elliot replies that he likes them like her “over easy.” Osment and Lee’s exchanges are hilarious. The two bicker back and forth with witty one-liners. But, even Lee alone is hysterical. His mannerisms and remarks will keep you laughing the entire episode.

One of the funniest moments occurs at the end of the episode when Josh retrieves the video from his security cameras in his bedroom. Josh, Gabi, Elliot, and Yolanda watch as Elliot slips the ring on his finger and prances around looking at the ring and singing out that he loves it.

The young audience appropriate for Hannah Montana is probably not the appropriate one for this new comedy series. There are a number of sexual jokes and the fact that Gabi had sex with her boss after the trial dinner is the basis of the plot. Nevertheless, I’d guess we have a lot more laughs and awkward situations to come. Emily Osment proves she can be the star of the show and her humor and charisma are steadily entertaining.

Young and Hungry airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC Family.