Summary
- Gilmore Girls stood out among dark shows with its blend of humor, drama, and girl power.
- The show has retained a solid fan base even after ending in 2007, becoming a cult classic.
- For those who enjoyed Gilmore Girls, similar shows like Sex and the City and Grace and Frankie are recommended.
In a sea of dark and even disturbing television shows about the daily lives of girls and women, Gilmore Girls
was a funny, honest, and wholesome series that was also serious and dramatic. The main characters, Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter Rory, only had each other as they navigated the world of single parenthood and high school (and later college) life.
The show started in the year 2000 and lasted for seven years until ending in 2007, but the popularity of the show endured in various forms of media and still retains a solid fan base as a cult classic. For those who liked the series and want to experience something similar, there are plenty of shows that have the same mix of drama, humor, and girl power.
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6
Sex And The City
Love And Friends In New York
Sex And The City was designed to look like an authentic snapshot of city life, and thanks to the backing provided by producers at HBO, it had a budget that actually looked like the upper-class life of New York. Sarah Jessica Parker played Carrie Bradshaw, a character based on the real-life city writer Candance Bushnell, who also wrote a column and eventually a book with the same title.
Carrie is one of four women who cover a few different demographics. Charlotte is the prim and proper art dealer, Miranda is the lawyer and more of a pessimist, and then there’s the shameless cougar and PR professional Samantha. Together they navigate the exciting and often dangerous world of love, sex, and fashion in the big city. There are also a couple of movies and a reboot series that celebrate their continuing adventures.
5
Grace And Frankie
Misery Loves Company
Lily Tomlin has always been famous for her comedic talent, and the dramatic actors who join her in this series are having just as much fun. Known for their serious roles, Sam Waterston, Martin Sheen, and Jane Fonda show their talent for laughs in this drama about making big lifestyle changes later in life.
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Grace and Frankie are both women married to men, but their worlds turn upside down when their husbands leave them after decades of marriage to marry each other. The twist is that the titular characters are polar opposites who were never really close friends: an outspoken hippie and a successful and now retired cosmetics executive, now connected by their mutual divorces.
4
Sabrina The Teenage Witch
Magically Funny
This fantasy-comedy sitcom is based on a character that started in the Archie comics before she was featured in her own line of graphic novels and an animated series. The lore of the vintage books is recreated in the live-action adaptation, in which Sabrina Spellman lives with her two 600-year-old aunts and is mentored by a talking black cat, Salem.
The story begins when Sabrina turns 16 and discovers that she’s a witch, setting up the show for a coming-of-age story combined with the covert life of a powerful supernatural being. Being a network television show, things never get too heavy, but Sabrina still has to deal with both teenage problems and magical issues.
3
2 Broke Girls
Too Real And Too Funny
For a more working-class comedy with an edge, 2 Broke Girls takes place in a more gritty environment of New York, specifically the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Max Black grew up poor in an abusive home, while her friend Caroline grew up in a privileged environment, but they’re connected by a shared dream of opening their own cupcake business.
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There are two reality shows that I consider guilty pleasures: Too Hot to Handle and 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days. They’re so entertaining that whenever there’s a new season, it’s hard for me to put it down. My boyfriend judges me for it but always ends up watching it with me.
Caroline and Max have modest jobs at a local diner while saving their pennies and hoping to make their aspiration a reality, all the while dealing with the usual drama from customers, managers, friends, and family. The show recalls older sitcoms like Laverne & Shirley
, complete with raunchy jokes and subversive plotlines.
2
Hacks
Making It By Faking It
Imagine moving Gilmore Girls to a glitzy city filled with dashed hopes and crazy dreams. The glamor of Las Vegas has a cynical side, and this story of comedy and media hype is partly about reality versus fantasy when it comes to public life. The main character is Deborah Vance, a stand-up comedian with a long career and some clout, but her show is stagnating and needs some modern improvement.
Thanks to her agent, Deborah gets hooked up with young, angry comedy writer Ava Daniels, who has a difficult time finding work because of a few insensitive tweets that have tainted her image. As the two help each other, with Ava revitalizing Deb’s routine and Deb helping Ava learn how to behave in front of a crowd, the two form an unexpected bond that becomes the framework for the rest of the series.
1
The White Lotus
Drama In Exotic Locations
A popular show that has equal parts dark comedy and drama, The White Lotus isn’t just about the drama that happens naturally between people, but the exotic and often strange places their emotions take them. Since the show takes place in different locations every season, this can be a literal description of what keeps the show interesting.
The White Lotus is a luxury resort, and every season tells the secrets and stories of what happens in that one week when everyone goes on vacation. Some characters are recurring, but for the most part, the cast is different every time. The setting for the first season was Hawaii, the second was in Sicily, and the current season takes place in Thailand.
