Red Oaks
Genre	Comedy drama Coming-of-age[1]
Created by	Gregory Jacobs Joe Gangemi
Starring	Craig Roberts Jennifer Grey Richard Kind Greer Barnes Ennis Esmer Gage Golightly Oliver Cooper Josh Meyers Alexandra Socha Paul Reiser Gina Gershon Freddie Roman Alexandra Turshen
Composer	Chad Benton
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	26
Production
Executive producers	Joe Gangemi David Gordon Green Gregory Jacobs Steven Soderbergh
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Gabdec Productions Picrow Amazon Studios
Original release
Network	Amazon Prime Video
Release	August 28, 2014 (2014-08-28) – October 20, 2017 (2017-10-20)

Red Oaks is an American comedy drama television series created by Joe Gangemi and Gregory Jacobs. The first season was released on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2015. On December 18, 2015, Amazon announced that the show would be returning for a second season in 2016.^[2] The second season was released on November 11, 2016.^[3] On January 30, 2017, Amazon announced that the series was renewed for a third and final season, which was released on October 20, 2017.^[4]

David, a college student, begins working at Red Oaks, a Jewish country club in New Jersey during his summer break in 1985. The show follows David's life, with numerous subplots including his family, friends, and coworkers, and primarily revolves around the club. The show explores themes such as adolescence, relationships, socioeconomic mobility, and the pursuit of happiness in a mostly comedic fashion against the backdrop of the New York–New Jersey area in the 1980s.

For his role as Nash, Ennis Esmer read with director David Gordon Green in both his regular voice and what The New York Times describes as "an invented accent he calls 'Indo Middle Eastern British'", while trying to get Green to laugh.^[6] Esmer used a vocal coach to improve the accent and continued using it while on the set.^[7]

Red Oaks has received mostly positive reviews. On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a score of 81%, an average rating of 7.8/10, based on 26 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "Red Oaks offers an affectionate nod to 1980s sex comedies that – largely thanks to a talented ensemble cast – finds fresh humor in its familiar premise."^[12] Metacritic gives the show a score of 70 out of 100, sampled from 21 reviews, signifying "generally favorable reviews".^[13]

Entertainment Weekly gave the pilot a B+, and singled out Esmer's performance:

The amusing Ennis Esmer is the best thing here, as David's sleazy co-worker Nash. But it's sometimes hard to tell if Red Oaks is a clever dissection of old, reactionary sex comedies, or if it's just a reactionary sex comedy itself. B+^[14]

The New York Times enjoyed the pilot:

Set at a suburban New Jersey country club in 1985, Mr. Green's pilot is not a sendup of 1980s coming-of-age comedies or even a tribute to them, but a surprisingly straightforward extension of the genre. It's as if the spirits of John Hughes, Harold Ramis and the young Richard Linklater had all gotten together to consult.^[15]

Newsday liked it as well:

A funky retro-'80s distinctiveness makes Red Oaks Amazon's single best new series. Dryly amusing, the characters are sharply drawn and often appealing – even when they are not. Ennis Esmer ruthlessly heists every scene he's in, and Craig Roberts deftly creates a character you may even recognize from your own past – only funnier.^[16]

Chaney said this series is an example of 1980s nostalgia.^[17]

• Staten Island Summer

• Red Oaks at IMDb