5 Shows with Fantastic Female Friendships

I love watching on-screen female friendships in my favourite TV shows!

Sometimes, friendships can even trump relationships- especially when shows create friendships that seem realistic and relatable with their platonic chemistry.

There are so many reasons to love fictional female friendships when it comes to shows, books and films.

They often last much longer than relationships- and they can be so much more interesting to follow as part of the storyline.

In this blog post, I’ve put together a list of my 5 favourite shows with female friendships!

There are so many shows with iconic female friendships – here are a few of my favourites:

  • ‘Sex Education’
  • ‘The Bold Type’
  • ‘Gilmore Girls’
  • ‘Emily in Paris’
  • ‘Gossip Girl‘

Let’s take a look at these shows in a little more detail…

1. ‘Sex Education’

I love ‘Sex Education‘, and it’s full of diverse and relatable storylines.

The female friendships in this show, particularly the second series, are beautifully written to make them interesting, funny and heart-warming.

Three characters from the cast of 'Sex Education' stand by the lockers of a high school
Picture credits here

In the second series of this show, one of the young girls, Amy, is sexually harassed on the bus to school.

She can’t get back on the bus, and it starts to affect her personal and school life. The other girls at school, led by Amy’s best friend Maeve, encourage her to express her anger.

They even get on the bus with her, to help her overcome her fears. This iconic scene is touching, and a real show of fantastic female friendship.

2. ‘The Bold Type’

I just finished watching ‘The Bold Type‘, and the central friendship is what makes it so amazing!

Jane, Sutton and Kat are great friends, all helping each other navigate their unique and individual experiences in life.

The three main female friends from 'The Bold Type' series stand in the fashion closet
Picture credits here

I love the fun aspects of their friendship, but their friendship is also touching too.

Sometimes they fight, sometimes they cry on each other and sometimes they get drunk together- but their fantastic friendship is really what holds the show together.

3. ‘Gilmore Girls’

This show focuses on the relationship between a young mother and her teenage daughter, but there are so many other relatable friendships, too.

Lorelai and Rory Gilmore stand together in a still from the series 'Gilmore Girls'
Picture credits here

I love the fun and loyal friendship between Lorelai and Sookie, and Rory and Lane have a cute childhood friendship that spans years.

I also love Rory and Paris’ friendship. They are enemies first and friends second.

‘Gilmore Girls‘ is a great show full of lively and complex characters. I really recommend checking it out if you haven’t already.

4. ‘Emily in Paris’

I really enjoyed this light-hearted series about one woman’s adventures in Paris.

Although it is so unrealistic and incredibly cheesy, I love the female friendships in ‘Emily in Paris’.

Picture credits here

Emily meets Mindy, a young woman from China living and working as a nanny in Paris, and they soon start a cute friendship.

Emily also makes friends with her good-looking neighbour and his girlfriend, Camille, and I loved following these fantastic female friendships through the twists and turns of the series.

5. ‘Gossip Girl’

‘Gossip Girl‘ is one of my favourite, nostalgic TV shows, and it is full of amazing female characters that are strong and great fun to watch.

I love Blair and Serena’s on-and-off friendship- it’s up and down so much, which makes for an amusing watch!

The cast from 'Gossip Girl' stand on steps
Picture credits here

I also love how the characters have such a fraught relationship, but they know deep down that they will always be friends- despite saying some pretty awful things to each other.

By the end of the show, they are family to one another, and I find this really touching.

Do you like watching fantastic female friendships unfold on screen? What is your favourite TV show? What do you think of these TV shows with great female friendships?

Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below 🙂

Happy reading x

Unknown's avatar

Author: Not-So-Modern Girl

I’m Eleanor, welcome to my little corner of the internet! I’m a freelance content writer and book lover from Yorkshire. On my blog, I write about life as a 20-something, including posts about freelance life, blogging, book reviews and more. I also write resources for bloggers and writers on my Gumroad account, including my ebook 'The Art of Blog Writing'.

75 thoughts

  2. Love this post! Can’t agree more with Gilmore Girls! I also loved the friendship in Good Girls and Desperate Housewives. I really need to watch Sex Education! my sister keeps recommending it to me! x

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  4. oh, I also love such shows that portray friendship bonds! Currently watching the bold type and totally loving it and adding sex education and Gilmore girls to my list! Thanks for sharing xx

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  5. I’ve watched all of these before and love them all! Every couple of years I’ll rewatch Gossip Girl. Blair and Serena’s friendship is friendship goals!

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  6. Emily in Paris is my favourite out of all of these. I cant wait for the next season to start. I have watched The Bold Type and Gossip Girl. I am not a fan of Gossip Girl. I have never watched Sex Education or Gilmore Girl but I want to see them. Thank you for sharing.

    goalofhappiness.com

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  23. I know some titles here but honestly, I haven’t watched all of them 😭 I bet they’re really good shows. Thanks for sharing this! I hope I can watch one of these once I have free time x

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  24. I recently checked out Emily in Paris and thought that it was super sweet. I love the relationship that the girls form – the fact that they came together while she was so desperately in need of a local friend made me smile. I am a huge fan of Grey’s and Station 19, and recently I’ve been IN LOVE with the friendship between Andy and Maya on Station 19. The fact that they are for each other through the good times and the bad is so heartwarming.

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  28. It seems that a lot of the great female friendships exist mainly in shows that are targeted at a female audience. Are female friendships completely overlooked if the show’s aren’t targeted to those that identify as female?

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Hmm I’m not sure, it could be that they know what will be relatable to the audience as I don’t watch many shows with male main characters, I just don’t find them quite as relatable (although there are exceptions of course) 🙂

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  29. Ah, my life is all about people telling me about these great shows and me telling them that I’ll surely try their recommendations without ever doing so. I like this list and will probably start with Emily in Paris. 😛 Thanks for sharing. xx

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  30. I’ve been wondering whether to watch Sex Education and now I’ll definitely give it a go now – thanks for the recommendation! I love seeing strong female friendships on sceen, too. Netflix seems to be pretty great at this!

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  33. Would you believe I’ve never watched any of these?! Crazy I know lol.. Sex Education looks so good though, definitely gonna check it out x

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  35. I have only seen Gilmore Girls (currently almost done with season 1) and I love the strong female friendships! We need more examples in the media. I will have to check out the other shows now. Thank you for sharing!

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  38. Oh I just love Sex Education, it’s an amazing series which had me hooked from day one. I love seeing strong female friendships form within a series, it almost makes you feel like your part of it. I haven’t watched any of the other series you’ve mentioned so I best get catching up haha Xo

    Elle – ellegracedeveson.com

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