Darren Star’s “Younger” is a dreamy, confectionary fairy tale of New York in its second season on TV Land. Sutton Foster, formerly of the cultishly, critically admired “Bunheads” and before that a Tony-winning star of Broadway musicals, plays Liza, who gave up a career as a book editor to raise her daughter; now divorced at 40, she’s passed herself off as a 26-year-old in order to land a job as an assistant at a publishing house.
With wonderful contributions from Debi Mazar, Hilary Duff and Miriam Shor, the show, which airs Wednesdays, is a classic disguise comedy with a rom-com heart, like a chronological “Tootsie,” with the exception that all it takes for Liza to pass for a person 14 years her junior is some new clothes, a slight adjustment of posture and remembering to keep her cultural references in order.
That this conceit is not entirely whimsical is laid to rest by the presence of Foster, whose almost supernaturally youthful person validates the series’ premise. She and Star, himself a hard-to-place 54 and previously the creator of “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Sex and the City,” met on a rainy morning a couple of weeks back to discuss their show over coffee. A third season order, about which they pronounced themselves “hopeful,” was announced by the network the following day.
“I’m very patient,” said Star, “because I’ve had the experience of shows like ‘Beverly Hills 90210,’ which was not a success out of the gate. ‘Sex and the City’ didn’t hit at all our first season because nobody was really watching HBO for series, really. It didn’t start to take off at all until the second season. I just love having a supportive network that likes what we’re doing.”