15 Best TV Shows Like Emily In Paris

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Love it, hate it, love-while-occasionally-hating it, or hate-while-still-devotedly-watching it, Netflix's "Emily in Paris" has become a veritable TV institution — as evidenced by its recent renewal for a sixth season. The Darren Star-created dramedy has remained steadfast in its mission to offer brisk, escapist, sweetly romantic fun amid the most scenic of Paris locations, and that commitment makes it elite-tier comfort TV, with just the right amount of edge and emotional tension offered up by its gleefully soapy writing.

If you've already gotten through all of the show's five seasons, and have been left craving more of that particular warm glow supplied by the Europe-trotting adventures of Emily Cooper (Lily Collins), you've come to the right place. Below, you'll find a list of 15 tonally and thematically similar shows that you absolutely can't miss if you love "Emily in Paris."

If you love the way "Emily in Paris" layers a breezy, cheerfully urban slant on its woman-centric exploration of the corporate world, "The Bold Type" is just the show for you to get into next. Created by Sarah Watson, this Freeform series aired five seasons between 2017 and 2021, and gained a devoted following in that time by emphasizing honest, character-centric, yet always dynamic and entertaining storytelling.

An heir to the classic tradition of female friendship shows centered around a power trio, "The Bold Type" primarily focuses on Jane Sloan (Katie Stevens), Kat Edison (Aisha Dee), and Sutton Brady (Meghann Fahy) — who begin the show as, respectively, a newly-hired writer, a social media director, and an assistant at the fictional women's magazine Scarlet. Under the tough but caring tutelage of editor-in-chief Jacqueline Carlyle (Melora Hardin), they search for professional fulfillment in the chaotic world of New York City journalism while balancing myriad trials in their personal lives. It's an effortlessly compelling watch, witty and emotional and often quite serious, yet rarely departing from the realm of certified comfort viewing.

"Emily in Paris" is often a proudly ludicrous show, in which the tonal balance between comedy and drama makes it possible for numerous narrative big swings to hit with a certain willful cheekiness while still remaining affecting. This, as it happens, is a specialty of Darren Star, as demonstrated by an underrated 2010s series with a wild premise that somehow found a way to work: "Younger."

This TV Land (and later Paramount+ and Hulu) production was Star's immediately prior brainchild to "Emily in Paris," and stars Broadway icon Sutton Foster in her only TV starring role outside of "Bunheads." Foster plays Liza Miller, a newly-divorced 40-year-old who needs to get back into the workforce to pay for the college tuition of her daughter Caitlin (Tessa Albertson). Faced with the ageism of the job market, Liza adopts an out-there strategy: Passing herself off as a 26-year-old. "Younger" mines that idea for all the comic potential it can offer, while also sincerely and effectively unspooling the story of Liza's personal and professional self-rediscovery. It's an endlessly charismatic and enjoyable show, provided that you're cool with a somewhat ambiguous ending.

Darren Star and Amy Sherman-Palladino both transformed American television with their predilection for quick-witted, light-footed dramedy steeped in equal parts snark and generous humanity. Their kinship is aptly demonstrated by a number of Sherman-Palladino creations that reverberate directly in the tone and writing style of "Emily in Paris," including award-winning sensations like "Gilmore Girls" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." But the very best Amy Sherman-Palladino show for "Emily in Paris" fans premiered just last year, and it's the prematurely canceled "Étoile."

Co-created by the duo, "Étoile" is the sort of dashing, ambitious TV production that could only hail from an auteur with a certain cachet. A star-studded cast including Luke Kirby, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Lou de Laâge comes together to tell a transatlantic story centered around two leading dance companies: The New York Metropolitan Ballet and Paris' Le Ballet National. Faced with growing crisis in the post-COVID arts landscape, the two companies come up with the idea to swap their main stars and make a publicity uproar out of it. Cue typical Palladino house wit applied to the rhythms of both Paris and New York (with plenty of French dialogue at the usual lightning pace), and an irresistibly zany exploration of the ballet world's beauty and intensity.

For a show with a similar vibe to "Emily in Paris" but set in a very different milieu, you can look to Netflix's own "Sweet Magnolias." Based on the eponymous novel series by Sherryl Woods, this is the kind of show for which the "comfort watch" moniker was invented: The lives of its central trio are first and foremost a soothing, heartwarming delight to follow along, even when drama and heartbreak rear their head.

"Sweet Magnolias" stars JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Brooke Elliott, and Heather Headley as best friends Maddie Townsend, Dana Sue Sullivan, and Helen Decatur, a.k.a. the Sweet Magnolias, who have been inseparable since childhood and now help each other deal with the trials of fortysomething life, from troubled teenage kids to risky business endeavors. 

The fourth protagonist is the setting: The fictional tight-knit town of Serenity, South Carolina, depicted both as a safe haven and as a hotbed of gossip and intrigue where anything can happen. Lived-in acting, well-written conflict, and a sturdy sense of place go a long way in spinning gold from that simple setup. Like "Emily in Paris," it's TV perched on a sweet spot between cozy and juicy.

Created by Jordan Weiss, "Dollface" is a surefire next watch if you're an "Emily in Paris" fan with a taste for eccentricity and fantasy. (Granted, it may be a tad bit tough since the series was part of that notorious Disney-Hulu content purge in 2023).

Like the Netflix series, this Hulu offering centers the trials of a young urban woman as she embarks on a new chapter of her story and gets pushed to reassess what she wants out of life. On "Dollface," however, the big precipitating change is not geographic but romantic: Jules (Kat Dennings) has just been dumped by Jeremy (Connor Hines), her boyfriend of five years.

As it happens, Jules spent those five years focusing on her relationship with Jeremy to the detriment of her goals, her existential preoccupations, and especially her friendships — so when she goes to her college best friends Madison (Brenda Song) and Stella (Shay Mitchell) in search of support, they're understandably reticent. 

Whimsical and near-fantastical in nature, with frequent use of dream segues involving Jules' ongoing dialogue with a cat-headed spiritual guide (Beth Grant), "Dollface" examines the complexities and the joys of female friendship, the wackiness of Los Angeles life, and the unspoken challenges of "figuring it out" — all from an utterly singular perspective.

While "Emily in Paris" and "Ted Lasso" would seem to have little in common on the level of plot, what with one being set in the world of high-end advertising and the other in the world of professional soccer, both shows exist in a similar emotional and experiential ballpark — to borrow a word from the wrong sport.

Like "Emily in Paris," "Ted Lasso" follows the transplant of a chipper and somewhat clueless American to a new and challenging professional position in the middle of the Old Continent. Like "Emily in Paris," it begins as a fish-out-of-water comedy — with college football coach Ted (Jason Sudeikis) awkwardly acclimating to the outer London town of Richmond and to the rhythms of a sport he's never worked in before — only to layer in increasing seriousness and emotional intensity as the protagonist develops deeply significant relationships with their new co-workers and fellow townsfolk.

On "Ted Lasso," of course, the drama is sent into frequently heartrending overdrive, in such a way that the kooky-found-family sitcom antics become especially cathartic; the miracle of the Apple TV show is that it still works wonderfully as soothing escapism even while tackling serious, thorny stuff. It's one of the best sports TV shows of all time.

Darren Star's most famous creation by far prior to "Emily in Paris" was HBO's "Sex and the City," a show that, true to its title, permanently changed the way TV tackled the realities of being a woman out and about in the metropolitan bustle. 

Based on the eponymous '90s newspaper column by Candace Bushnell, "Sex and the City" follows Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Samantha (Kim Cattrall), a quartet of friends experiencing the joys and sorrows of turn-of-the-century New York — sometimes together, sometimes apart, always convening to hash it all out.

Give or take the occasional glossy lie about living in New York City, no show before it had been as forthright in its depiction of the (then) modern realities of dating, sex, gender roles, and adulthood; "Sex and the City" often gets its importance dismissed on misogynistic grounds, but, as early-2000s HBO shows go, it's as totemic, influential, and crucial to its era as the likes of "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under." Naturally, "Emily in Paris" is among the countless 21st-century shows that drink from it, both as a wry cosmopolitan romcom full of glitzy vicarious living, and as a vehicle for Star's unmistakable authorial voice.

The sadly short-lived "Partner Track" is another Netflix original that should be on the radar of "Emily in Paris" fans. Developed by Georgia Lee, also known as the writer-director of the underrated 2005 indie movie "Red Doors" and a writer on the first three seasons of "The Expanse," this 2022 series was adapted from the novel "The Partner Track" by Helen Wan, and takes after its breezy yet dense style.

Like the novel, "Partner Track" follows Ingrid (Arden Cho), a high-ranking mergers and acquisitions lawyer at a New York City law firm, who is determined to ascend to the rank of partner — an ambition bolstered by her enormous competence and tireless dedication, but complicated by the discrimination she suffers within the firm as an Asian woman. 

"Partner Track" grippingly weaves fraught romantic subplots with a surprisingly sharp and layered exploration of the indignities of American corporate culture for women and people of color, creating a narrative that compels you to root more for Ingrid the clearer it becomes that the odds are stacked against her. It's a more dramatic and frequently darker show than "Emily in Paris," but shares its love for the fun of earnest, well-delivered workplace soap.

One of the most fascinating tonal balances of contemporary television is struck by Netflix's "Ginny & Georgia," a show that dares to look for the middle ground between "Emily in Paris" and "Desperate Housewives." To keep comparisons going, "Ginny & Georgia" could also be described as a darker spiritual successor to "Gilmore Girls," also focusing on a young mom who treats her child more like a best friend than a daughter, with similarly daffy humor and camaraderie ensuing — but with much pricklier emotional outcomes.

Currently standing at three seasons with a fourth one on the way, "Ginny & Georgia" follows thirtysomething Georgia Miller (Brianne Howey) and her daughter Ginny (Antonia Gentry) and son Austin (Diesel La Torraca) as they move to the fictional Wellsbury, Massachusetts in pursuit of a new life unencumbered by various past troubles. 

For large stretches, the show hews to the structure and mood of a typical light dramedy, charting the ins and outs of the Millers' daily lives with plenty of pep and razor-sharp dialogue. But then things will get unexpectedly serious and intense, with both troubled leads expanding as characters in the process. It's a tough balancing act that creator Sarah Lampert and the other writers pull off handsomely.

The precursor to all soapy workplace dramedies in American television from the 2010s onward is ABC's "Ugly Betty." One of numerous international adaptations of the Colombian telenovela "Yo soy Betty, la fea," this Silvio Horta-developed series wears its Latinidad proudly on its sleeve, right down to its graceful movement between cackling humor and unabashed pathos.

America Ferrera stars as Queens resident Betty Suarez, who begins to work at the popular fashion magazine MODE. Initially looked down on for her unglamorous looks, Betty transforms the magazine's cutthroat environment with her intelligence and integrity, and in the process also transforms herself into a confident and driven young woman.

The DNA of "Ugly Betty" is all over "Emily in Paris," from the sunny yet snarky disposition to the winking melodramatic plotting to the characterization of its protagonist as a cheerful, underestimated rising star in her field. It's a can't-go-wrong rec if you enjoy following Emily's exploits at Savoir.

The arguable testing ground for "Emily in Paris" as a highly scenic Netflix production set in Paris and centered around quippy lovelorn thirtysomethings was "The Hook Up Plan." This three-season series ran from 2018 to 2022 and is distinguished from "Emily in Paris" by the fact that it's actually French, with Parisian flair a little more steeped in everyday life in addition to tourist routes. But the two shows are actually quite similar in other respects.

Like "Emily in Paris," "The Hook Up Plan" (titled "Plan Cœur" in French) is a fundamentally escapist concoction, easy to watch as if reclining on a cloud. Here, however, the setup is much more fraught: The awkward and melancholy Elsa (Zita Hanrot) can't seem to get over her ex-boyfriend, so her best friends Charlotte (Sabrina Ouazani) and Milou (Joséphine Draï) come up with the idea to hire a charming male escort (Marc Ruchmann) to whisk her off her blues. As the show progresses, it moves beyond the screwball tension of that premise to become a more straightforward hangout-com about modern dating and friendship — but the jittery comedy of the first few episodes remains intact.

One of the most apposite TV recommendations for fans of "Emily in Paris" is a 2012 teen drama worth revisiting. Created by April Blair, "Jane by Design" was canceled too soon and aired just 18 episodes in total. Still, it's a great show to give a shot if you're looking for something equally fun and nimble in the "young woman working through a challenging new career" wheelhouse — so long as you don't mind that the "young" here is much younger.

A reverse "Younger" of sorts, "Jane by Design" stars Erica Dasher as Jane Quimby, an overachieving 16-year-old who, while looking for an internship, ends up being mistaken for an adult and getting a job at a luxury fashion company run by legendary designer Gray Chandler Murray (Andie MacDowell). Despite that teen-centric setup and frequent high-school-drama leanings, "Jane by Design" is attentive enough to Jane's work challenges and inner life that it becomes an enjoyable perky dramedy for viewers of all ages.

Speaking of teen shows with a lot to offer, if you dig "Emily in Paris," any devoted follower of Emily Cooper's ever-expanding love polygon would be doing themselves a disservice in not watching Prime Video's "The Summer I Turned Pretty." This hit romantic drama series was developed by Jenny Han from her own eponymous novel trilogy, and, like all of Han's oeuvre, it is funny, sweet, heartbreaking, and constantly enthralling.

More diverse than its source material (with the protagonist changed from white to Korean-American like Han herself), "The Summer I Turned Pretty" chronicles the first brushes with heartache of Isabel "Belly" Conklin (Lola Tung), who's accustomed to spending summers at Cousins Beach with her family and their wealthy friends, the Fishers. 

As she nears 16, Belly realizes that the Fisher brothers, Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), have both started seeing her with different eyes, leading to a period of tough yet tender self-discovery as Belly weathers the complexities of an unusually knotty first love.

Mindy Kaling is another television auteur whose work should be of interest to "Emily in Paris" enthusiasts across the board; no one else combines affable kookiness, raw honesty, razor-sharp cultural wit, and sweet-natured character work quite like her. Her first work as a TV creator following years of excellent writing for "The Office" was "The Mindy Project," a show that started out as a Fox network sitcom in the early 2010s, ended as a Hulu original in the late 2010s, and managed to hold itself together deftly through that industry-wide shift.

Kaling herself plays Dr. Mindy Kuhel Lahiri, an obstetrician/gynecologist at a New York City practice. Even though it's a vastly different workplace setting from the ritz of Savoir, Kaling and company depict it with a similarly light touch, a similar fascination with the cast of eccentric co-workers around the titular character, and a similar fondness for heartstring-tugging relationship drama in tandem with the sitcom business. All told, "The Mindy Project" is one of the best romcoms of the 2010s, on TV or otherwise.

Also created by Mindy Kaling, this time together with Justin Noble, "The Sex Lives of College Girls" is one of the best college-set shows, and very much deserves a watch if you're looking for effervescent relationship comedy with dramatic elements in the "Emily in Paris" vein. While largely known for being sexually forthright like few other recent American shows, it is a series whose primary appeal lies in being, simply put, a riot — comedically, narratively, stylistically.

Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Renée Rapp, and Alyah Chanelle Scott star as four freshmen roommates at the fictional Essex College. Finding themselves finally liberated from the constraints of adolescence, they embark on a life of sex, partying, and mayhem that the show's writers and directors depict with a replenishing gusto, as though offering a corrective to years of male-centric college sex comedies. Somehow, "Sex Lives" balances that noble party-animal spirit with thoughtful deconstruction-slash-reconstruction of coming-of-age tropes, yielding heaps of affecting character drama to go along with the fun. Few shows are better at demonstrating what a dramedy can be.