Grace And Frankie - Season 1 ((install))

Frankie processes the separation through spiritual exploration, artistic expression, and alternative rituals. She burns sage, communicates with the universe, and allows her grief to be messy and visible. While her eccentricities provide significant comedic relief, Season 1 treats her pain with equal weight. Frankie’s challenge is finding grounding and independence after decades of being anchored by Sol's practical management of their lives.

Where to stream: Netflix (exclusively)

Most articles about Grace and Frankie - Season 1 focus on the premise, but the real magic is the decades-long friendship between its leads. Fonda and Tomlin starred together in 9 to 5 (1980). By 2015, their rhythm is telepathic.

The season smartly avoids making the sons and daughters the focus. Instead, the central conflict is internal: Can Grace learn to be vulnerable? Can Frankie learn to be practical? And can these two women ever share the same bathroom? Grace and Frankie - Season 1

Robert (Martin Sheen) and Sol (Sam Waterston) are successful divorce attorneys who have been law partners for decades. Grace and Frankie assume the dinner is to announce their husbands' well-deserved retirements. Instead, Robert and Sol drop a bombshell: they are gay, they have been having an affair with each other for 20 years, and they want divorces so they can legally marry.

It’s a messy, unglamorous, and wholly earned moment of grace (pun intended). By the end of Season 1, Grace and Frankie isn’t a show about being old. It’s a show about starting over when the map you’ve followed your whole life turns out to be wrong.

It is, in many ways, a minor miracle that Grace and Frankie survived its first season. By most metrics, a Netflix original that debuted to such a middling critical reception would have been a one-and-done, an interesting footnote in the streaming wars. But Grace and Frankie defied the odds. Audiences, even if critics were hesitant, responded to the show's warmth and its legendary stars. Netflix renewed it, and the creative team listened to the feedback. The show's later seasons are widely regarded as a massive improvement, finding a better balance between comedy and drama, deepening the supporting characters, and fully embracing its identity as a hangout comedy about found family. By 2015, their rhythm is telepathic

Season 1 is notable for its frank (no pun intended) discussion of senior sexuality. It addresses menopause, lubrication, and the sexual agency of older women.

The primary cast consists of seasoned actors who were in their mid-to-late 70s when production began:

Some notable episodes from Season 1 include: For those who prefer physical media

All episodes of Grace and Frankie are available to stream exclusively on worldwide, as the series was a Netflix Original production. It is also available to purchase on digital platforms like Prime Video and Google Play . For those who prefer physical media, the Season 1 DVD set is also available.

Rather than fading into the background, Grace and Frankie actively reinvent themselves. They refuse to let their adult children manage their lives or dictate how they should grieve. Season 1 establishes that growth is not reserved for the young; the process of finding out who you are is a lifelong endeavor. The Ripple Effects: Family Dynamics