A new mockumentary sitcom premiered on Netflix this week. Minimum Wage is quickly climbing the streaming charts.
Minimum Wage is the No. 5 most-watched show on Netflix in the United States, down from No. 4 yesterday, per FlixPatrol. The series is also in the Top 5 in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, and New Zealand. Minimum Wage also brings a new format to Netflix, with more episodes and a much shorter run-time.
Minimum Wage Is Changing the TV Formula
Luke Burke in a pizza costume in Minimum WageImage via ©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Season 1 of Minimum Wage will have 28 episodes, released in two 14-episode batches. The first 14 episodes are out now. With most modern streaming shows releasing 10 episodes per season, Minimum Wage brings back the classic network TV format. However, the series is also breaking other TV formats, with shorter episodes than most shows. Each Minimum Wage episode runs between 12 and 20 minutes, averaging 12.5 minutes.
While 20-minute episodes are typical for network sitcoms with commercials, 12 minutes is significantly shorter than nearly every other TV series. In the age of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Reels, viewers increasingly consume short-form programming of no more than a few minutes. Streaming services have experimented with this type of content before, with Quibi even launching its own short-form platform service in 2020. However, Quibi ultimately failed.
Minimum Wage is proving more successful than past attempts at short-form content on a streaming platform. Netflix seems to be catering to shorter attention spans, and with Minimum Wage’s success, we may see even more of these bite-sized TV shows in the future.
What Is Minimum Wage About?
Ryan Micho, Grace Reiter, Tommy Armstrong in Minimum WageImage via ©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Minimum Wage is a mockumentary series created by Jeremy Garelick and Will Phelps, based on the web series of the same name. The show follows a group of overwhelmed teenagers in upstate New York struggling to run a local pizzeria called Slice Club. While working at Slice Club, the teens also juggle high school, a manic boss, minimum-wage pay, and service industry burnout. The series logline teases, “The stakes are low, and the pressure is immense.”
Minimum Wage stars Aidan Micho, Grace Reiter, Hyde Healy, Julia DiCesare, Luke Burke, Ryan Micho, Tommy Armstrong, and Randall Park. Series creators Garelick and Phelps said in a statement, “The cast of American High Shorts shot the original sketches on their phones, in an abandoned high school. Now they’re series regulars on Netflix. That’s the American High model. Find the funniest kids in the room, hand them the keys, and get out of the way. We’re making coming-of-age comedies in the spirit of John Hughes for the generation that grew up on a screen, and we’re honored Netflix is letting us do it at this scale.”
Minimum Wage is streaming on Netflix.
Release Date
October 26, 2026
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Jeremy Garelick, Will Phelps
Writers
Tommy Armstrong, Luke Burke, Julia DiCesare, Jeremy Garelick, Hyde Healy, Aidan Micho, Ryan Micho, Will Phelps, Grace Reiter
Cast
Randall Park
Mr. Sylvester
Kevin Michael Brennan
Second Man
Tuleck Porchia
Customer #1
Magdalyn Donnelly
Bald Man’s Wife