Middle-age is a time of life that doesn’t often get the spotlight shone upon it in the streaming era, writes streaming columnist NICK OVERALL.

These days any platform’s homepage is bound to be smothered in young, hot people getting into all sorts of dramatic conundrums that are sure to catch the eyes of the Instagram generation.

But what about the stories of those in their forties, fifties, even older that are rarely seen?

Well a new comedy drama series on Netflix has bucked the trend and it’s proven a hit while doing it.

It’s called The Four Seasons and it’s written by Tina Fey, who shot to fame for her work on the popular TV series 30 Rock and the 2000s classic Mean Girls.

The show follows three well-to-do, 50-something couples who are lifelong friends and who meet every three months for a bougie holiday catch up.

We drop in on their lives during one such idyllic holiday that devolves into an awkward catastrophe when Nick (Steve Carrell) secretly tells the others he plans to divorce his wife Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) after 25 years of marriage.

Making things even more tense is that Anne has no idea it’s coming. In stark contrast to her husband, she tells the others she’s secretly planning a special vow-renewal ceremony to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Now the other four in the group are left to try and navigate their allegiances and decide whether or not to give the game away.

This dysfunctional coterie also includes Kate (played by Tina Fey herself) a scrupulous, highly-strung realist who is the main organiser of the holidays. In contrast, she’s married to Jack (Will Forte), an easy-going optimist who often serves as the diplomat navigating the drama of the group.

Then there’s Danny (Colman Domingo), an introspective architect with a life-threatening heart condition he’s also been keeping from the others and his husband Claude (Marco Calvani), perhaps the most energetic of the bunch, who offers deadpan observations on their woes.

Over the show’s eight episodes viewers get a glimpse at four of these holidays, each taking place in a different season, meaning by the end they’ve seen the dynamic between these friends both evolve and devolve.

The show is a rework of the 1981 film of the same name directed and starred in by Alan Alda. And the M.A.S.H star himself also makes a surprise appearance in this new adaptation.

It’s another example of a film idea that is far more at home in the TV streaming world, where a large ensemble of characters each have more time on screen to develop and, in turn, make the audience care more about them.

The acting and casting choices here are A-plus. Selling these characters as a group that have been friends for decades requires palpable chemistry and thankfully it’s here. Particularly impressive is Steve Carrell, who once again has proven his ability to balance his dramatic and comedic timing with suave assurance.

It’s thanks to all this that The Four Seasons is a candid and amusing take on life in middle-age, even if the core concept of people taking four holidays a year with their friends seems a little far-fetched. As an effective story-telling device though, it can be excused.

What’s perhaps most interesting about the show though is its wide appeal.

The main target audience here is clearly an older demographic, but that hasn’t stopped it pulling in numbers from a wide range of subscribers.

The show has even managed to hit Netflix’s number one spot this month, a feat there’s no way it would be able to achieve without being able to draw crowds of many different ages.

In terms of viewership, it’s even managed to dethrone Netflx’s wildly popular psychological thriller series You that, as mentioned previously, is chock-full of hot people trying to murder each other.

That right there makes The Four Seasons a pretty compelling case of age before beauty.