History Series / Love

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''Love'' is a Creator/{{Netflix}} original romantic comedy-drama series that debuted in 2016, co-created by Creator/JuddApatow and starring Paul Rust and Creator/GillianJacobs as Gus and Mickey, respectively. ''Love'' follows the struggles of Gus and Mickey as they attempt to navigate love, sex, and relationships and the fallout from all of the above.

Not to be confused with the 2011 sci-fi film ''Love'', nor the '60s psychedelic rock band of the same name.

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!!This work contains examples of:

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Marty Dobbes is a more creepy, passive-aggressive manipulative alcoholic type.]]
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Mickey feels this way about her boss, more pronounced in Season 2 and 3.
* AdamWesting: Andy Dick appears as himself.
-->'''Gus''':...and what the fuck, you're friends with Andy Dick?!
* ADayInTheLimelight: "Bertie's Birthday" is one for Bertie and Chris in Season 3, focusing on Bertie celebrating her first birthday in America. It culminates in Chris taking Bertie out to a wrestling event when he finds out that she has no big plans to commemorate and sets the groundwork for [[spoiler: the two of them eventually becoming a couple.]] Notably, Mickey only appears at the very start of the episode while Gus is completely absent.
* TheAlcoholic: Mickey. She's an alcoholic, drug addict and sex/love addict. [[spoiler: Mickey's father is a lifelong alcoholic as well.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: The show makes the point of how Gus' politeness is a facade for him [[PolitenessJudo getting what he wants]]. [[spoiler: This becomes especially clear once he starts directing his movie.]] He finally admits to this at [[spoiler:his parents' anniversary party.]]
* BetaCouple:
** Bertie and Randy.
** Bertie and Chris in the final few episodes.
* BetterAsFriends: Bertie and Gus halfway through their first date.
* BrattyHalfPint: Arya.
* BusmansHoliday: Gus and Mickey, obviously annoyed with Randy and Bertie, propose taking a trip to Palm Springs. When Randy and Bertie invite themselves along, it's the same situation except in a much worse house and neighborhood.
* ButtMonkey: Gus is the [[HateSink Hate Sink]] of the Witchita set.
* ComingOfAgeStory: Seems to be this for [[ShowWithinAShow Witchita's]] main character, played by Arya.
* DisposableFiance: Gus breaks up with the girl he starts out with in the very first episode.
* ExtremeDoormat: Gus, until he isn't, either responding with passive-aggression or a proper [[FreakOut meltdown.]]
* FriendsRentControl: Mickey has a pretty nice house in Los Angeles, but may be partially averted as she has a decent career as a manager at a radio station and has a roommate.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Mickey is the most obvious example.
** Gus does have good intentions sometimes. The trouble is he's just not very self-aware about how controlling his excessive politeness and sycophantic tendencies can be.
* JewishAndNerdy: A running gag in which Gus (who is Catholic) is perceived to be Jewish.
* HeelFaceTurn: Gus and Mickey both start to make them in Season Two, with Mickey being sober and Gus becoming more self-aware over the dangers of constantly checking up on Mickey.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Bertie and Randy.
* ItsNotYouItsMe: [[spoiler: Mickey to Gus in the last episode of season one.]]
* LeavingYouToFindMyself: See It's Not You, It's Me above.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]. In any other show, Mickey would be the impulsive thrill-seeker who teaches Gus to lighten up and have fun, but her behavior is portrayed as extremely self-destructive and stemming from deep insecurities.
* NiceGuy: The general theme with Gus is a subversion of this trope: He seems to have good-intentions and claims to be the more smart one in any relationship he has had whose doing right, but as pointed in the first episode, his girlfriend claims to be "fake nice".
* NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals: Said almost word-for-for by one of Gus's co-workers on the set of [[ShowWithinAShow Witchita]] when they have a wolf on set.
* OffTheWagon: Mickey falls off the wagon hard and ends up partying with Andy Dick.
** Subverted later, where Mickey orders a drink, but refuses it at the last moment.
* ReasonYouSuckSpeech: Plenty, almost the trademark of the series. Bertie is surprisingly adept at them.
** Probably the best one is the one Gus gives [[spoiler:to himself in South Dakota in front of his family.]]
* RecoveredAddict: Mickey oscillates between this and FunctionalAddict.
* SpoiledBrat: Deconstructed. Arya is a demanding, spoiled, lazy, and arrogant teen star. However, she's also portrayed as more responsible than her parents, and has used her status to help out Gus repeatedly on set and [[spoiler: on the film he directs]].
* ShowWithinAShow: Gus is an on-set tutor for the show, Witchita.
* UglyGuyHotWife:
** They're not married, but Mickey is several notches about Gus looks-wise. [[spoiler: Played straight in the finale.]]
** A similar non-married example with Bertie and Randy.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: There is no on-screen resolution of [[spoiler: Mickey's infidelity in the second season, or to Gus taking his ex-fiancée to her hotel room after the wedding, despite Mickey explicitly saying not to.]]
** WordofGod is that both were intentional: [[spoiler: Mickey's infidelity was left unaddressed to contrast with other shows that show men having consequence free flings, and Gus's actions were unaddressed to show that Mickey had more faith in him than prior seasons]].
* YourCheatingHeart: Mickey apparently has quite a streak going, as most (if not all) her ex-boyfriends that we've seen have at least claimed that she cheated on them.

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Marty Dobbes is a more creepy, passive aggressive manipulative alcoholic type.]]

* ADayInTheLimelight: "Bertie's Birthday" is one for Bertie and Chris in Season 3, focusing on Bertie celebrating her first birthday in America. It culminates in Chris taking Bertie out to a wrestling event when he finds out that she has no big plans to commemorate and sets the ground work for [[spoiler: the two of them eventually becoming a couple.]] Notably, Mickey only appears at the very start of the episode while Gus is completely absent.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: The show makes the point of how Gus' politeness is a facade for him [[PolitenessJudo getting what he wants]]. [[spoiler: This becomes especially clear once he starts directing his movie.]]
* BetaCouple: Bertie and Randy.

* BrattyHalfPint: Arya

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Mickey is the most obvious example.

* HeelFaceTurn: Gus and Mickey both seem to making one in Season Two, with Mickey being sober and Gus becoming more self-aware over the dangers of constantly checking up on Mickey.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]. In any other show, Mickey would be the impulsive thrill-seeker who teaches Gus to lighten up and have fun, but her behaviour is portrayed as extremely self-destructive and stemming from deep insecurites.

* UglyGuyHotWife: They're not married, but Mickey is several notches about Gus looks-wise. [[spoiler: Played straight in the finale.]]
** In some ways, Gus is this played straight due to that example.

* BrokenBase: The fanbase tends to split pretty evenly between what the AVClub calls "Gus Sucks" and "Mickey Sucks."

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Bertie and Kevin are routinely praised, even in unsympathetic reviews.

* NiceGuy: The general theme with Gus is a subversion of this trope: He seems to have good-intentions and tries to be a good person, but as pointed in the first episode, his girlfriend claims to be "fake nice".

** WordofGod is that both were intentional: [[spoiler: Mickey's infidelity was left unaddressed to contrast with other shows that show men having , and Gus's actions were unaddressed to show that Mickey had more faith in him than prior seasons]].

* NiceGuy: Subverted with Gus. He seems to have good-intentions sometimes and tries to be a good person but as pointed in the very first episode, his girlfriend claims to be "fake nice" and not genuine nice.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: There is no on-screen resolution of Mickey's infidelity in the second season.]]

* BusmansVacation: Gus and Mickey, obviously annoyed with Randy and Bertie, propose taking a trip to Palm Springs. When Randy and Bertie invite themselves along, it's the same situation except in a much worse house and neighborhood.

* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler: After three seasons ('''8 months''' in-universe) of helping the other to improve as a person, Gus and Mickey decide to elope on a whim; with an impromptu ceremony on Catalina Island. After talking it through with their friends and witnessing a heart attack on the beach, they both decide it isn't such a good idea. However, they change their minds later that night, marrying each other with no witnesses. Arguments can be made either way for how it works out in the end.]]

* BetterAsFriends: [[spoiler: Bertie and Gus after their first date.]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: The show makes the point of how Gus' politeness is a facade for him [[PolitenessJudo getting what he wants]].

** Even though he's not all nice, Gus does have good intentions sometimes. The trouble is he's just not very self-aware about the dangers of his excessive politeness and sycophantic tendencies.
* JewishAndNerdy: Averted with Gus. A girl at a party in the first season assumes him to be Jewish and he quickly corrects her.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Mickey feels this way about her boss, more pronounced in Season 2.

* SpoiledBrat: Deconstructed. Arya is a demanding, lazy, and often arrogant teen star. However, she's also used her status to help out Gus, notably by saving his tutoring job after he has an outburst in the writer's room and demanding he be allowed on set during the filming of the episode he "wrote".

''Love'' is a 2016 Creator/{{Netflix}} original series written by Judd Apatow and starring Paul Rust and Gillian Jacobs as Gus and Mickey, respectively. ''Love'' follows the struggles of Gus and Mickey as they attempt to navigate love, sex, and relationships and the fallout from all of the above. Not to be confused with the 2011 sci-fi film ''Love'', nor the psychedelic rock band of the same name.

''Love'' is a 2016 Creator/{{Netflix}} original series written by Judd Apatow and starring Paul Rust and Gillian Jacobs as Gus and Mickey, respectively. ''Love'' is follows the struggles of Gus and Mickey as they attempt to navigate love, sex, and relationships and the fallout from all of the above. Not to be confused with the 2011 sci-fi film ''Love'', nor the psychedelic rock band of the same name.

* UglyGuyHotWife: They're not married, but Mickey is several notches about Gus looks-wise. [[spoiler:: Played straight in the finale.]]

* UglyGuyHotWife: They're not married, but Mickey is several notches about Gus looks-wise. [[spoiler:: Played straight in the finale.]]

* UglyGuyHotWife: They're not married, but Mickey is several notches about Gus looks-wise.

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Marty Dobb's is a more creepy, passive aggressive manipulative alcoholic type.]]

* ADayInTheLimelight: Mickey's roommate Bertie gets her own episode in Season 3, focusing on her first birthday in America.