AI Summary
5 min read“I feel like there used to be this period of time where generally if you were super rich, you were fine being super rich and living your life and that was fine. And now we’re in this bizarre period in history where because these people can put their thoughts and their faces in our faces all the time… they’re essentially showing us constantly what we don’t have.” That observation, from New Yorker television critic Inkoo Kang, captures the pivot at the heart of a new wave of prestige television. Kang calls it “Broke TV”—a genre focused not on the super-wealthy or the entrenched poor, but on the downwardly mobile middle class. In a conversation with host Brittany Luse on NPR’s It’s Been a Minute, Kang explains why these stories are suddenly everywhere, what emotional truth they tap into, and why watching them feels less like escape and more like recognition.
What Broke TV is—and isn’t
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:20) **Defining "Broke TV"** - TV critic Inkoo Kang introduces the term for a new wave of shows focused on downward mobility and the struggling middle class.
- 2 (02:26) **Key Examples of Broke TV** - Kang highlights *Beef* season 2 and *The Comeback* as prime examples, while critiquing *Margot Scott's Money Troubles*.
- 3 (04:28) **Broke vs. Poor: A Key Distinction** - "Broke" describes a temporary, relatable state of anxiety, unlike the entrenched poverty shown in older class-conscious shows.
- 4 (08:15) **Why This Era is Unique** - The shift from "rich people bad" narratives to "Broke TV" reflects a worn-out trope and Hollywood writers' own economic precarity.
- 5 (14:10) **The Core Emotion: Status Anxiety and Resentment** - Unlike *Roseanne*, Broke TV is not about accepting a working-class life, but about the agitation of believing you should have more.
- 6 (17:25) **The K-Shaped Economy on Screen** - The shift from aspirational '80s yuppie stories to "Broke TV" mirrors the growing wealth disparity of a K-shaped economy.
- 7 (18:36) **Money Poisoning Relationships** - A core theme of Broke TV is how financial scarcity seeps into and destroys personal relationships.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
It seems like the days of prestige TV shows about the wealthy elite have been replaced by the vocal majority: the downwardly mobile.
New Yorker TV critic, Inkoo Kang, noticed that her favorite shows so far this year all focused - in some respect - on the people whose lives have been financially squeezed beyond recognition by the very elite we used to enjoy watching.
Building resentment about the shrinking middle class, a hopeless job market, and few political pathways towards change has made our entertainment reflect a devastating reality back to us. Inkoo joins the show to break down how we got to this point and the fine line between entertainment and catharsis on screen.
You can read Inkoo’s article, ‘Welcome to the Age of Broke TV’, here.
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