Whenever we’re looking to watch a show about single women the go-to recommendation is always Sex and the City. But, contrary to pop-culture’s obsession with the show, it wasn’t the first or the only to feature a group of friends living their best lives with or without the presence of a man.
Long before and even after Beyoncé‘s “Single Ladies” became our unofficial anthem we were rooting for plenty of strong, independent women on relatable sitcoms and dramas. Whether it’s because the relationships in these shows were just so darn terrible or because the women in them made being alone look awesome, watching these shows is to make you feel better about not being tied down. Here are 16 of our favorites:
1. 2 Broke Girls
Two broke, young waitresses strike up an unlikely friendship that unexpectadly leads to a genius business idea: cupcakes.
Street-smart Max (Kat Dennings) doesn’t expect much from Caroline (Beth Behrs) as she pegs her for just another spoiled little rich girl — until she learns that she can bake a mean cupcake. From there, the two women embark on a get-rich-quick journey, confident that if they can just get enough cash to fund the business then their money woes will all be gone.
2. Single Ladies
This Atlanta-set VH1 comedy-drama follows three best friends who don’t hold the same philosophies on relationships, but who all crave the finer things in life. Keisha is a quick-witted former video girl on a mission to find a rich man who can support her lavish lifestyle; April, a music publicist, discovers married life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and soon finds herself in the middle of a sex scandal with a city official; while fashionable Raquel tries to balance running a booming business and finding fairy-tale love with her mother’s meddling opinions and assistant Omar’s sarcastic judgement. One of them will speak to your soul — and the others will remind you of some of your BFFs.
3. The Bold Type
What’s harder than being a single woman? Being a single woman working at a magazine that caters to single women and their struggles. Just ask Jane, Kat, and Sutton on Freeform‘s newest original series. Starring Katie Stevens, Aisha Dee, and Meghann Fahy, the series is inspired by the life of Cosmopolitan editor in chief, Joanna Coles and offers a rare glimpse into the outrageous lives and loves of those responsible for creating a fictional version of our favorite mag.
4. Living Single
Created by Yvette Lee Bowser in the ’90s, Living Single features rapper-turned-actress Queen Latifah and centers on her and five other friends living the single life in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. Throughout its run, the show became one of the most popular African-American sitcoms and remains a fan favorite for its hilarious one-liners courtesy of the high-maintenance but loveable, Regine Hunter, played by Kim Fields.
5. Ally Mcbeal
A legal comedy-drama series, FOX’s Ally McBeal starred single lady Calista Flockhart as a young lawyer working in the fictional Boston law firm Cage and Fish. Sounds boring initially, but here’s the twist: Her ex-boyfriend works at the firm too! Talk about awkward. The show followed her along with other young lawyers whose work and romantic lives were just as hilarious and awkward as our own.
6. Gilmore Girls
Set in a fictional Connecticut town of Stars Hollow, this classic series follows a quirky and higly-sarcastic mom and daughter duo, Lorelei and Rory Gilmore. With the strongest coffee addiction in TV history and a commitment to eating any and every piece of junk food they could find, the ladies’ antics made them household names and spurred one of the biggest fandom debates ever: #TeamJess or #TeamLogan. (No one in their right mind is #TeamDean… right?)
7. Girlfriends
Before Tracee Ellis Ross was nominated for an Emmy and starring on ABC’s black-ish she was known as Joan Clayton on Mara Brock Akil‘s fan-favorite series. Much like the others on this list, the show features an ensemble cast of four women and shows how they deal with life’s tests and triumphs together. From dating to divorce, friends to family to relationships, no topic went uncovered. Best of all, Girlfriends‘ quirky realness paved the way for shows like Insecure.
8. Girls
Created by writer and actress Lena Dunham, HBO’s Girls follows Dunham, a scatterbrained aspiring writer, and her three friends, all in their early 20s, trying to deal in New York City. Although they’re not quite sure what they want in life or just how they’re going to get it, we’ve gotta say it’s relatable. Point blank: it’s millennial life in a nutshell.
9. Chewing Gum
Chewing Gum premiered on a British channel in 2015 and came to Netflix in late 2016 where it quickly got Twitter talking. It’s an adaptation of actress and writer Michaela Coel’s one-woman show, Chewing Gum Dreams, that she wrote as a drama student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. It follows Tracey (played by Coel), a 24-year-old virgin living in a London housing estate who spends most of her time trying to get laid. Seems like an easy thing for a woman to do in the modern world except for the fact that Tracey’s family and her boyfriend are very religious — meaning no sex before marriage. Now what’s a girl to do?
10. Being Mary Jane
Starring veteran actress Gabrielle Union, Being Mary Jane follows Mary Jane Paul, a wildly successful TV reporter who is searching for love in all the wrong places and has a history a self-sabotaging said love the second she gets close to it.
While she thrives in her day job, her attempts to balance her messy love life along with it and an overbearing family to-boot always prove to be a struggle.
11. Golden Girls
If our golden years are anything like Rue, Dorothy, Blanche, and Sophia’s then we can’t wait to get older! Golden Girls wasn’t your average granny series. Four young-at-heart Miami housemates and their varying personalities ranging from flirtatious to sarcastic formed the perfect circle of friends. And while they constantly bickered with one another, they always remained close friends. Their retirement-era escapades are legendary and we can only hope to be as bad ass one day.
12. Jane The Virgin
A routine visit to the OB/GYN quickly goes haywire for Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez) when she’s accidentally inseminated by the sperm meant for a patient in the next room. Adding insult to injury, it winds up being her boss’ sperm… and she’s with another man! She’d been waiting until marriage for sex because her mother got pregnant as a teen, and with the squeeze of basically a turkey baster, she becomes Jane the pregnant virgin.
13. New Girl
Zooey Deschanel plays a 30-something upbeat and quirky teacher in this sitcom. Originally from Oregon, she does what anyone woman would do after going through a rough breakup and moves in with three equally offbeat single dudes. Genius. What better way to learn what guys are looking for and what you’re looking for in a guy, than by living with men themselves? It gets a little extra complicated when a romance emerges between Jess and one of her roomies — but what can you do?
14. The Mindy Project
Inspired by her own mother’s journey as an OB/GYN Mindy Kaling plays a fictitious version of herself in this sitcom, now in its final season. A successful doctor in New York anxious to get her love life on track — AKA she wishes it resembled her favorite romantic comedies — she enlists the help of her quirky co-workers leading to some pretty hilarious adventures.
15. Broad City
What started as a web series has quickly become a hit series. Showing on Comedy Central, Broad City, created by Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer follows two ladies in their late 20s as they struggle to ~adult~ in New York City. Both characters have an “always up for anything” attitude, making even the smallest and most mundane moments hysterical to watch.
16. Insecure
HBO‘s newest hit series created by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore stars Rae and Yvonne Orji as two young black women who are both equally insecure about their everyday lives. Set in Los Angeles, Insecure‘s Molly (Orji) and Issa’s friendship is front and center as both ladies cope with their flaws, relationship woes, racial disparities and the general difficulties of young adulthood through some pretty quirky adventures. This show is all anyone’s talking about right now and if you want to be in-the-know with your friends, binge this ASAP.