In 2015, Netflix released Grace and Frankie, the story about two women who learn their husbands are divorcing them for each other. The two learn how to go about life in their second act as new best friends and roommates. Fast forward three years and Chuck Lorre teamed up with Netflix and released The Kominsky Method, a story about two friends also late in age who are adjusting to life after their marriages and jobs fall apart.
While Grace and Frankie and The Kominsky Method have no connection or relationship at all, fans of both series can’t help but find similarities between the two. From deaths to feeling alone to feeling free, let’s take a look at how these two shows have more in common than we thought.
CANCER SCARES AND PROSTATE CONCERNS
It’s inevitable that the older a person gets the more things can go wrong. Bones become brittle, memories fade, and the topic of cancer becomes a daily question. Both Grace and Frankie and The Kominsky Method do a phenomenal job of showing how common these illnesses are.
In Grace and Frankie, Frankie unknowingly suffers a stroke, Grace needs a hip replacement, Robert has a heart attack, and Sol has prostate cancer. Likewise, Sandy from The Kominsky Method has issues peeing and is scared to find out why but when he does go to the hospital, he learns he has slow-moving prostate cancer. Both Sandy and Sol have to decide whether surgery is a smart idea considering their age.
SARAH BAKER WAS IN BOTH NETFLIX SERIES'
Sarah Baker is an actress most known for her time on Young Sheldon, Bob’s Burgers, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine but that’s not all she’s been in. She has a big role in The Kominsky Method as Mindy, Sandy’s daughter. She takes care of Sandy and loves him even though he wasn’t necessarily the best dad while she was growing up. Funny enough, Baker was also in an episode of Grace and Frankie! She was in “The Anchor,” when Grace is seen going on her first date with Phil. Baker plays the waitress who hilariously makes Grace feel uncomfortable while she waits for her first date. It was a small role but it’s funny how one actress appeared in both relatable shows.
BOTH SERIES’ TURN FUNERALS INTO DATES
It was extremely upsetting when Norman’s wife passed away in the first season of The Kominsky Method. She and Norman had such a lovely marriage and Sandy (Norman’s best friend) took the loss hard. To help him deal with the loss of such an important part of his family, Sandy brought his date to the hospital on the day she passed away and to her funeral as a date.
Likewise in Grace and Frankie, Nick showed up to a funeral Grace was going to because he wanted to be there for her (even though she wasn’t ready to flaunt their relationship). In essence, both shows prove that the older a person gets the more funerals occur and the more friends start fading away.
SANDY AND GRACE WEREN’T THE BEST PARENTS
It’s pretty comical how bad of a mom Grace can be. She loves her children and grandchildren but she’s not the most maternal or nurturing mother that Brianna and Mallory sometimes need. Similarly, Mindy of The Kominsky Method has said throughout the series that Sandy wasn’t the best dad. Being an actor and married three times, he wasn’t always there for Mindy when she needed him. This results in some snarky comments and a love/hate relationship — just like with Grace and her kids in Grace and Frankie.
PHOEBE AND COYOTE BOTH BATTLE ADDICTION ISSUES
Blame it on the lifestyle in California or the amount of money that both families had but both Coyote (Grace and Frankie) and Phoebe (The Kominsky Method) have addiction issues.
When we meet Coyote, he’s finally clean and is on the road to recovery. But for Phoebe, we meet her at her worst (showing up intoxicated to her own mother’s funeral) and see her grow into the woman she always wanted to be. She gets a job, becomes a dependable mother, and a respectful daughter. Seeing both characters battle addiction reflects an ongoing problem in the country and how common it is.
MARTIN AND ROBERT BOTH SUFFERED HEART ATTACKS
It was a dark moment in Grace and Frankie when Sol walked in on Robert passed out from a heart attack. Robert is glutton for bad food in his older age and his body had enough. This caused quite a panic among the two families but he made a full recovery.
In The Kominsky Method, Martin (Mindy’s older boyfriend) also had a heart attack but instead of suffering alone, he had it with Sandy and Norman while out for lunch. Both heart attacks were wake up calls for the characters and obviously states how common heart attacks can be.
BOTH SERIES’ ARE ABOUT BEST FRIENDS ADAPTING WITH CHANGE
What separates Grace and Frankie and The Kominsky Method apart from other shows on Netflix is their focus on the complexities of age. Viewers are so used to seeing stories of young adults navigating their way through college and adults having a midlife crisis that we tend to ignore the older generations. But these two shows do a fantastic job of showing the ups and downs of getting older. From senior housing to bouncing back from failed relationships, both are about change.
LIBIDO CONCERNS
It’s a scary thing to become intimate with someone new after being in a relationship for over 20 years. Many characters have grown comfortable in their bodies as they aged but it’s not the same for everyone, especially when starting over with someone new.
For Grace (Grace and Frankie), we saw how nervous she was when she slept with Guy for the first time. He was the first man she had been with since her divorce. The nerves were enough to make the night a tough one for both of them. Over in The Kominsky Method, we see Sandy worry about taking a little blue pill before sleeping with Lisa and the same goes for Norman and Madlyn. Norman had been with his wife for nearly most of his life, sleeping with someone new was intimidating for him.
WE SEE THE MAIN CHARACTERS ATTEND CHARITY EVENTS THAT END BADLY
There must be some undercover drama at most charity events because Grace and Frankie and The Kominsky Method both show charity events going horribly wrong. Grace ends up being extremely rude to a younger woman (simply because she’s young) and making Nick look bad in front of his friend. And in The Kominsky Method, Norman is upset with his date for rushing him into a relationship when he wasn’t ready.
CONTEMPLATING RETIREMENT CAN BE SCARY
For some, the thought of retiring is a scary one. This means that a person is at a time in their life when they’re too old to be working so hard (or are comfortable where they are and stop working). In Grace and Frankie, this theme runs true between Robert and Sol and even Grace. Sol wasn’t ready to leave the law firm he loved to work at so much and Grace had a hard time saying goodbye to the company she built.
Over in The Kominsky Method, Sandy’s acting career was at an all-time low and he considers stepping away from his acting studio (even though he created it). Norman was also contemplating retirement before his grandson came back into the picture.
