Ah, so many shows, so little time. Every conversation I have these days is inevitably peppered with phrases like, “Have you seen that great new show…” or “Did you catch so-and-so on that series?” I mean, we’re no longer dealing with seasonal network television, kids—material is coming at us, full force, every month of the year. Who can keep up?
That’s why More Beautiful has done the work for you. Here’s a sprinkling of the best shows women in our age group are devouring and talking about. Some are currently streaming their latest season, while others have recently come to a tearful end or awaiting their next installment. (Which means that now is a great time to catch up.) Have fun kicking your feet up and streaming!
Julia
One of many shows about famed cookbook author Julia Child, this latest offering from HBO Max stars an in incandescent Sarah Lancashire as the French Chef herself, along with David Hyde Pierce as Julia’s husband, Paul, and Bebe Neuwirth as Julia’s friend and collaborator Avis DeVoto. The show focuses on a pivotal time period in Child’s life that’s marked by big transitions. Not only is she evolving from cookbook author to TV host, but she’s journeying through menopause (yes, we see her battling hot flashes, which were not discussed back then), all while the second wave of feminism is changing the country. I had no idea, until watching a scene in this show, that Feminist Mystique author Betty Friedan almost shamed Child into quitting The French Chef, because “it set women back.” I also had no idea that Childs’ was the first modern cooking show and marked the emergence of public television as a new social institution. Trust me, besides great performances, Julia will give you plenty of fodder for your next dinner party conversation.
Ted Lasso
As fans eagerly awaiting this beloved series’ third and final season, this is a great time to get acquainted with Ted Lasso & Co. if you somehow haven’t already. The Apple TV series follows Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), an American college football coach who is hired to head up an English soccer team. Unbeknownst to Lasso, the owner (a gorgeous 40-something Hannah Waddington) is actually trying to destroy the team as a vendetta against her ex-husband. Lasso fights an uphill battle as he tries to adapt to British culture and win over everyone from his undisciplined players to the harsh local spectators to his new boss (whom he eventually charms with a secret cookie recipe). By the end of the first season, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein and the rest of the quirky ensemble cast feel like family who drive you nuts but you can’t imagine not having in your life.
Dead to Me
This dark comedy from Netflix is about a deep friendship that blossoms between recently widowed real-estate agent Jen (Christina Applegate) and Judy (Linda Cardellini), a woman she meets in a grief support group. At the end of the pilot it’s revealed that Judy had something to do with the hit-and-run that killed Jen’s husband, and the storyline steers into a new direction. Crazy plot twists combined with fine acting (punctuated by a real-life bond that developed between the actresses) make this one of the strongest shows about ride-or-die female friendships to date. In the recently debuted third and final season, Applegate, who has been battling MS in real life, put forth some of her best work, and her sharp comedic skills make the tears you’ll shed watching the second season slightly more bearable.
The Crown
Changing it’s excellent cast every two seasons, this compelling series about the royal family is not only highly entertaining, but offers a large dose of world history. Seriously, I was on my laptop Googling almost everything that went down, from King Edward’s abdication in season one, to Princess Diana’s first encounter with Dodi Fayed in the current season five. The historical facts may be blended with fiction, but the half-century of drama and scandal the show covers is worth the ambiguity (and ensuing research). Now that Queen Elizabeth has passed and Charles finally reigns England, the show’s scathing portrayal of him is particularly poignant.
White Lotus
The honors have been piling up for Mike White’s comedy-drama that follows the guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain. Each season is comprised of just seven episodes—one for every day of the guests’ weeklong stay—and the majority of the cast turns over. The first season was set in Hawaii and examined money and socio-economic class, and the second season was set in Sicily and focused on sex. From the glamorous settings to the dark humor to the range of complex characters who dance around one another, trying but ultimately failing to hide their neuroses, this series is one of the best out there. Rumor has it that the third installment will take place somewhere in Asia and spirituality will be the thematic thread that runs through it.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Fans are eagerly awaiting the fifth season of Amazon’s award-winning comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls). Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the show stars Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a New York housewife who discovers she has a knack for stand-up comedy and pursues a career in it. The show makes you laugh and cry and go gaga over the mid-century fashion and design. It also reveals the ups and downs of the creative journey, especially for a woman attempting to blaze a new path for herself during that time period. Brosnahan and the supporting cast, including Alex Borstein, Tony Shalhoub and Luke Kirby as real-life comedian Lenny Bruce, are charming and relatable.
Emily in Paris
I have to confess, when I started watching this Darren Star Netflix romcom, I wasn’t so sure about it. The lead character’s tone was grating, the French clichés rampant. But the story about a Midwestern marketing executive (Lily Collins) who moves to Paris to work for a French firm eventually won me over. Maybe it’s the gorgeous, over-the-top fashions. Maybe it’s a strong supporting cast, including fiftysomething Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu who plays Emily’s chic and sardonic boss. Or maybe it’s just the pure fun of watching a show set in the City of Light. In any case, watching the characters go from enemies to got-your-back colleagues by the end of the first season is worth its weight in croissants.
The Chair
In this Netflix limited series, Sandra Oh stars as Professor Ji-Yoon Kim, the newly appointed chair of the English department at fictional Pembroke University. The first woman chosen for the position, she attempts to ensure the tenure of a young black colleague, negotiate her relationship with her colleague, and parent her strong-willed adopted daughter. Numerous subplots touch on changing societal norms, generation gaps, and a rapidly evolving landscape of higher education. Oh gets an A+ for her stellar performance as an ambitious yet down-to-earth academic.
Firefly Lane
This Netflix drama, based on the novel of the same name by Kristin Hannah, navigates the lives of best friends Tully (Katherine Heigl, in her first big role since Gray’s Anatomy) and Kate (Scrubs‘ Sarah Chalke), from their teenage years in the 1970s all the way through their 40s in the early 2000s. While the plot, which moves back and forth in time, can be jarring, the relationship between the ladies is authentic and moving, and the vintage touches—especially Tully’s early-’80s Farrah Fawcett flip—are a blast to take in. The show is currently in the middle of its second and final season, with new episodes dropping next spring, so you’ve got plenty of time to catch up.
Grace and Frankie
Shame on your if you haven’t yet seen Hollywood icons Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in this charming, Emmy-nominated series, whose sixth and final season wrapped earlier this year. Created by Friends show runner Marta Kauffman for Netflix, the series stars Grace and Frankie (Fonda and Tomlin), two aging women who form an unlikely friendship after their husbands (Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston) reveal they are in love with each other and plan to get married. Grace is a hard-edged, retired cosmetics mogul; Frankie a quirky artist. Never particularly fond of one another, now they’re forced to live together and eventually become business partners and BFFs. The supporting cast, especially June Diane Raphael as Grace’s younger daughter, is the icing on the wedding cake (you’ll get it when you see the opening credits).
The Lincoln Laywer
Based on a 2008 novel The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (a sequel to his novel The Lincoln Lawyer), this David E. Kelley legal drama revolves around hotshot Los Angeles defense attorney Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), who works out of a chauffeur-driven Lincoln Navigator. After an accident sidelines him, Mickey stumbles upon a murder case that will hopefully restart his career and his relationship with his two ex-wives and teenage daughter. The series, which has been renewed for a second season, features a suspenseful, well-written plot and a solid cast including Becki Newton (remember her as the devilish receptionist in Ugly Betty?) and Party Of Five‘s Neve Campbell making a comeback of her own.
The Morning Show
Inspired by Brian Stelter’s 2013 book Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV, this Apple TV’s drama series released its first two seasons during the pandemic and has been renewed for a third, set to debut sometime in 2023. The show follows Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston), coanchor of a popular New York news program, after her on-air partner of 15 years (Steve Carrell) is fired amidst a sexual misconduct scandal. Alex fights to retain her job as top news anchor while sparking a rivalry with an impulsive field reporter (Reese Witherspoon) who is brought in to replace Mitch. The show examines the characters and culture behind broadcast news show in a time rocked by the #Metoo movement. A supreme supporting cast that includes Billy Crudup, Karen Pittman, Marcia Gay Harden and Holland Taylor…and, in season two, Julianna Margulies, Mindy Kaling and Greta Lee.
Russian Doll
Yet another comedy-drama from Netflix, Russian Doll was created by actress/director/writer/producer Natasha Lyonne, along with Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler, The Emmy-nominated series follows Nadia Vulvokov (Lyonne), a game developer who repeatedly dies and relives the same night in an ongoing time loop. The second season gets even wackier, taking Nadia on a journey through the decades. While plans for a third season haven’t yet been announced, this one’s worth bingeing regardless of its fate—if only to see Lyonne unleash her comic genius on all five boroughs of NYC. And remarkably, she’s a good sport about kicking the bucket over and over.
The Kominsky Method
This series, starring Michael Douglas as fictional actor-turned-acting coach Michael Kominsky, wrapped up after its third season—but fans wished it had gone on longer. The show explores the relationships between Kominsky and his agent-turned-BFF Norman (Alan Arkin), his on-again, off-again girlfriend (Nancy Travis), his daughter and gaggle of acting students who look up to him. But the best thing about The Kominsky Method—besides rooting for the 80-something bartender who, on almost every episode, shuffles across the floor of Kominsy’s favorite restaurant, precariously balancing a martini on a tray—is the array of possibility it lays out for people “over a certain age.” On the KM, it’s never too late to take an acting class, fall in love, make amends with a family member, or even achieve superstardom. About time, right? Watch the trailer.
