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Sex and the City poster

Shows that feel likeSex and the City (1998–2004)

Based on the bestselling book by Candace Bushnell, Sex and the City tells the story of four best friends, all single and in their late thirties, as they pursue their careers and talk about their sex lives, all while trying to survive the New York social scene. 

If you loved Sex and the City, the closest series we have are Emily in Paris (2020), Friends (1994) and Gilmore Girls (2000). All three share Sex and the City's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Girls (2012).

11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
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If Sex and the City hit the spot, these will too

Emily in Paris poster
Emily in Paris
2020– · 6 seasons · Netflix
★ 6.8drama · comedyNetflix

Aspirational city living, great clothes and dating as a spectator sport

The difference: Younger and softer — one woman abroad rather than four friends comparing notes

New passions. New fashions. New Emily? A plucky American marketing whiz spreads her wings in life and love after landing her dream job in Paris.

Friends poster
Friends
1994–2004 · 10 seasons · NBC
★ 8.8comedyMax

A New York friend group as the real relationship of the show

The difference: Network sitcom, chaste and much broader

Six young people from New York City, on their own and struggling to survive in the real world, find the companionship, comfort and support they get from each other to be the perfect antidote to the pressures of life.

Gilmore Girls poster
Gilmore Girls
2000–2007 · 7 seasons · The WB
★ 8.2comedy · dramaPrime VideoHulu

Fast, literate dialogue between women who tell each other everything

The difference: Small-town and mother-daughter, cosy rather than sexual

Set in the charming town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, the series follows the captivating lives of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, a mother/daughter pair who have a relationship most people only dream of.

Boys Over Flowers poster
Boys Over Flowers
2009 · 1 season · KBS2
★ 7.8comedy · dramaNetflixPrime Video

Courtship treated as high drama, with wealth and status stacked against it

The difference: A teenage schoolyard, and one central couple instead of four adult lives

A poor high school student earns a scholarship to an elite academy, where she clashes with the most popular boy in school!

Girls poster
Girls
2012–2017 · 6 seasons · HBO
★ 7.4drama · comedyMax

Both rooted in New York City

The difference: Easier on the romance than Sex and the City

The assorted humiliations, disasters and rare triumphs of four very different twenty-something girls: Hannah, an aspiring writer; Marnie, an art gallery assistant and cousins Jessa and Shoshanna.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo poster
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo
2016–2017 · 1 season · MBC
★ 8.3comedy · drama

Warm, chatty and unhurried, with friends talking each other through crushes

The difference: College kids and first love — none of the adult candour about sex

A competitive swimmer crosses paths with his childhood friend, a rising weight lifting star, and realizes that she has a secret crush on his cousin.

2 Broke Girls poster
2 Broke Girls
2011–2017 · 6 seasons · CBS
★ 6.7comedy

Women in New York talking each other through work, money and men

The difference: Multi-cam sitcom, coarser and much less aspirational

Comedy about the unlikely friendship that develops between two very different young women who meet waitressing at a diner in trendy Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and form a bond over one day owning their own successful cupcake business. Only one thing stands in their way – they’re broke.

How I Met Your Mother poster
How I Met Your Mother
2005–2014 · 9 seasons · CBS
★ 8.3comedyHulu

Both are built on the same subject: sitcom

A father recounts to his children - through a series of flashbacks - the journey he and his four best friends took leading up to him meeting their mother.

iCarly poster
iCarly
2007–2012 · 6 seasons · Nickelodeon
★ 6.8comedyNetflixParamount+

Both keep coming back to the same thing: sitcom

Watch Carly, Sam, and Freddie, as they try to balance their everyday 8th grade lives with their newfound fame managing and starring in the most awesome show on the web.

The King of Queens poster
The King of Queens
1998–2007 · 9 seasons · CBS
★ 7.4comedyParamount+Peacock

Late-nineties comedy about what people put up with in a relationship

The difference: Multi-cam and suburban, married rather than single

Life’s good for deliveryman Doug Heffernan, until his newly widowed father-in-law, Arthur, moves in with him and his wife Carrie. Doug is no longer the king of his domain, and instead of having a big screen television in his recently renovated basement, he now has a crazy old man.

Seinfeld poster
Seinfeld
1989–1998 · 9 seasons · NBC
★ 8.8comedyNetflix

Four New Yorkers dissecting the etiquette of dating in exhaustive detail

The difference: Pure comedy of manners, and nobody grows

A stand-up comedian and his three offbeat friends weather the pitfalls and payoffs of life in New York City in the '90s. It's a show about nothing.

True Beauty poster
True Beauty
2020–2021 · 1 season · tvN
★ 7.9comedy · dramaNetflixMax

Appearance as armour, and the work that goes into looking effortless

The difference: A teenager's secret rather than grown women openly comparing notes

After being bullied and discriminated because of her ugly looks, a high school girl transforms herself into a gorgeous "goddess" and quickly rises to fame after mastering the art of makeup via online tutorial videos.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed series that share Sex and the City’s defining feeling.