# PEN15 (2019)

> Two adult actors play their thirteen-year-old selves in a cringe-heavy R-rated look back at middle school in the year 2000.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/72797

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 25
- Episode runtime: 27 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, Maya Erskine
- Network: Hulu
- Cast: Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Mutsuko Erskine, Taylor Nichols, Melora Walters, Taj Cross, Dallas Liu, Wyatt Walter
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8324422/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: cringeworthy, nostalgic, irreverent, sincere, raunchy

## What critics say

Audiences broadly rate the series positively for its raw, cringe-heavy portrayal of middle school awkwardness.

## Synopsis

PEN15 (2019-2021) is an American adult comedy created by Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, and Maya Erskine for Hulu. Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play versions of themselves as thirteen-year-old outcasts in the year 2000, surrounded by real teenage actors. Maya Ishii-Peters, played by Erskine, and Anna Kone, played by Konkle, pursue popularity, crushes, and belonging while every attempt to fit in risks public humiliation. Mutsuko Erskine and Taylor Nichols play their parents, grounding the awkwardness in home life. The engine of each episode is a single social disaster, from a gel pen mishap to a botched party, that spirals through the school day. The series runs two seasons and twenty-five episodes of short, brisk half-hour comedy. Its tone is cringe-heavy and unflinching, yet tender toward its characters' longing. Set in suburban early two-thousands America, it is built on period detail, flip phones, and awkward dances. Fans of Freaks and Geeks and Big Mouth will find resonance in its raw, nostalgic take on adolescence.

## Shows like PEN15

- [Awkwafina is Nora From Queens (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/81222)
- [Insecure (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/59643)
- [Big Mouth (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/64522)
- [Boo, Bitch (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/109235)
- [Reboot (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/117893)
- [Togetherness (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/54924)
- [Untitled Rachel Sennott Comedy Series (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/178141)
- [Chabos (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/194610)
- [Derry Girls (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/65970)
- [Long Story Short (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/176477)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt