All Grown Up: Millennials Are As Old As Their Favorite TV Show Characters

It all started when I was rewatching Scrubs.

The show I had loved when I was in junior high and high school had recently found its way to streaming. In showing it to new friends who had never seen it, I, a 33-year-old Millennial, realized that the J.D. that had always seemed ages older than me… was just 26 in the show.

And the J.D. who finished the show, the one who became a professor, was just 34 years old.

Bringing me to the soul-destroying realization that I, along with my Millennial peers, was fast-approaching the point in my life that I would be older than the characters in many of my favorite shows growing up.

Rather than keep my sorrows and anguish about the unending march of time to myself, today I am sharing that pain with you.

Below, you’ll find a list of shows that Millennials grew up on in the 90s and 00s, along with the ages of the main cast.

As a reminder to all playing along at home, Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996, making them between 26 and 41 in 2022. 

Millennials Are Now Older Than The Casts In These TV Shows

1. The Simpsons - As could be expected with a show as long-running as the Simpsons, Homer’s age hasn’t been the most consistent, ranging from 34 to 36 to 40. Either way, he hasn’t surpassed the oldest Millennial, which is likely enough to elicit a “D’oh!” from all of us.
   
   
2. Friends - Though Friends had a tremendously hard time keeping the ages of the main characters coherent, some general ages emerge. Rachel and Monica would’ve started the show around 24 years old and finished it between 34 and 36 years old. For anybody who watched the show during its initial run, we’re now living the later seasons of the show.
   
   
3. Scrubs - In addition to the JD realization, there’s another stunner from Scrubs. If ever we thought turning into our own version of the grisly, unflinching Dr. Cox was out of the question, knowing that the character was 42 when the series started. Our elder Millennials right? They’ll be turning 42 soon.
   
   
4. Seinfeld -  George Costanza was 30 at the start of Seinfeld and 39 at the end of the run. Elaine was 27 to start the show. Seinfeld’s age is harder to pin down, given that he shares a number of ages, along with a shared high school graduation of 1971. And Kramer is the oldest of the group, though he’s not given an age. The result? Our oldest Millennials have outgrown the Seinfeld cast.
   
   
5. Gilmore Girls - Running for seven seasons, this iconic mother-daughter show started with a 32-year-old Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and a 16-year-old daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel). At the show’s end, they would’ve been about 39 and 23. In other words, the most senior millennials among us have gone from empathizing with Rory to Lorelai.
   
   
6. The Office - From watching this workplace comedy either as we were starting out in the workplace or still going to school, it doesn’t get any easier now knowing that the generationally adored love story features 26-year-old Jim and Pam.

I imagine that can’t have been any easier for you to read than it was for me to write. 

The only salve I can offer you is the Millennial IRLA Pack, a set of coins and achievements designed especially for those of us who love brunch, rideshares, and being between 26 and 41 years old.

What about you? Did any of these shows hit home for you?