20 TV Shows To Watch If You Like Younger

Airing for seven seasons, Younger stars Sutton Foster as Liza, a forty-year-old mother recently separated from her husband who realizes she has put her dreams on hold to live a small family life in the suburbs. When she takes a shot at an entry-level job at a publishing house in New York City, everything changes. Also starring Hilary Duff and Nico Tortorella, this show had the laughs, the acting chops, and the fashion sense to remain successful. It ended up airing on TV Land, Paramount+, and Hulu before finally ending things.

After Youngerwrapped up after seven successful seasons, fans missed seeing what adventures Liza is having. While there was a Kelsey spin-off series in the works starring Hilary Duff with Darren Star still in control, that all ended when Duff chose to move on to star in the How I Met Your Mother spinoff, How I Met Your Father. With Younger truly coming to an end, the good news is that there are plenty of similar shows for fans to dive into with the similar humor, heart, and charm that this series ran with for seven seasons.

20 Bunheads (2012-2013)

A Former Ballerina Becomes A Small-Town Teacher

Bunheads had a similar, yet opposite story from Younger. Instead of a woman who was trapped in the suburbs deciding she wanted to make it in the big publishing world, Bunheads hada former ballerina turned Las Vegas showgirl who moves to a small town and starts teaching ballet to children. Both shows also have the women breaking out on their own. In Younger, it was a divorce, and in Bunheads, it was Michelle's new husband's sudden death.

However, both shows have women taking on roles that are unexpected from them and finding happiness finally becoming who they feel they were meant to be. Bunheads received mostly positive reviews, with critics praising the performances and storylines. However, after getting an eight-episode addition to the end of the first season, ABC Family announced it was canceling the series after those episodes came to an end. Despite its cancelation, it remains one of the best shows to premiere in 2012.

19 Catastrophe (2015)

A Couple Gets Engaged After A Woman Gets Pregnant

Catastrophe is a British sitcom with a slightly different premise than Younger, but it remains very similar in the type of humor on display. In this series, Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney (whose characters are named Sharon and Rob) play two people who get engaged after Sharon unexpectedly gets pregnant while Rob is visiting London. When Sharon tells him about the pregnancy, Rob moves to London from Chicago and starts their life together.

Like Younger, the series shows how much trouble it is for someone to move into a new phase of their lives; in this case, Rob moves to London and finds that he isn't as happy there, even though he has fallen in love with his new wife. Their relationship goes through many ups and downs and continues into the final fourth season, with a perfect ending encapsulating everything that came before. Catastrophe won a BAFTA for its writing and earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Carrie Fisher.

18 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019)

A Woman Follows Her Ex From New York To California

Premiering in 2015, My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend aired on The CW and was a romantic comedy with musical aspects created by Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna. Bloom also stars in the lead role as Rebecca Bunch, a lawyer who moves from New York City to West Covina, California, to follow her ex-boyfriend from high school. This is slightly the opposite of Younger since Rebecca is leaving New York for a small town, and she is chasing a man instead of trying to reinvent herself - at least at first.

The series takes a respectful stance on mental health issues as well as female sexuality, making it a strong comedy drama for fans of Younger.

The show also has the same quirky sensibility as Younger, but in this case, the eccentric part of the show is musical numbers, almost all of them taking place in Rebecca's imagination. However, the musical numbers are still based on real interactions and encounters, although the music itself is all in her head. The series takes a respectful stance on mental health issues as well as female sexuality, making it a strong comedy drama for fans of Younger.

17 UnREAL (2015-2018)

A Reality TV Producer Is Forced To Create Controversy

In Younger, the show has the lead character move into the realm of big-time publishing to make her name, albeit using lies about her identity and age. In UnREAL, the show is also about a woman moving into a big-time business, but this time, it is reality television and a dating competition series. However, the entire plot follows the woman as her unscrupulous boss demands that she do anything she can to stir up controversy for the dating series, turning her back on her own integrity to do so.

Shiri Appleby stars as Rachel Goldberg, a producer who had a breakdown in the show's previous season but whose executive producer (Constance Zimmer) brings her back to run the show anyway and almost seems to be pushing her into another breakdown. UnREAL has comic moments, but it is also a scathing look behind the scenes of reality television and is a lot darker and more disturbing than the scenes from Younger. However, it is easy to see some of Rachel in Liza.

16 The Mindy Project (2012-2017)

A Gynecologist Tries To Balance Her Personal & Professional Life

The Mindy Project is a romantic comedy created by and starring Mindy Kaling. In the series, Kailing stars as Mindy Lahiri, an obstetrician/gynecologist who worked at a small practice in New York City. The series was based on Kaling's mother, who was an OB/GYN herself. The series, similar to Younger, might focus on the young woman and her professional aspirations, but it also shares the trait of focusing on her co-workers and their relationship with Mindy.

The Mindy Project ran for six seasons and 117 episodes, proving to be a massive hit for Mindy Kaling. It started on Fox for three seasons and then aired the next three on Hulu. However, the one big difference is that Kaling revived a lot of criticism for featuring a predominantly white cast, even though she claimed her emphasis was that an Indian woman could date non-Indian men. This made Younger much more diverse than The Mindy Project, but the comedy remains very similar and critically acclaimed.

15 How I Met Your Mother (2015-2019)

A Man Tells His Kids The Story Of How He Met Their Mother

How I Met Your Mother has a lot in common with Younger - focusing on a group of twenty-somethings in New York City trying to figure out their love lives and career paths. Of course, this could apply to a huge number of sitcoms, but like Younger, HIMYM has a unique twist - it is all told in flashback, narrated as a love story told by the main character to his children.

This isn't quite the same as a middle-aged divorcee pretending to be in her 20s, but if the quirkiness of the premise is something that appeals about Younger, HIMYM should have a similar appeal. It also compares to Younger, which has long-term love triangles, great style, and awkward romance, although it is less female-focused and, unfortunately, is also less diverse. It is also interesting to point out that Hilary Duff starred in the spinoff How I Met Your Father after leaving Younger.

14 Emily In Paris (2020-)

A Young Woman Moves To Paris For A Fashion Job

Emily in Paris is the most recent series from Darren Star, the creator of Younger, so there's little doubt that fans of one will enjoy the other. Both have the same central female figure, stumbling through life, amazing fashion, and aspirational lifestyles to enjoy. Unlike Younger, Emily In Paris follows a young American woman who takes a job in Paris and struggles to acclimate to her new life in the city of love.

However, she quickly starts making friends and falling in love, creating many of the same elements that are so enjoyable in Younger. Love triangles, first dates, stunning style, and an awkward struggle to fit in (based on culture rather than age) make this a fun series to enjoy. It has also been a huge success for Star and lasted longer than Younger, with four seasons already on Netflix and a fifth on the way. Emily in Paris has earned two Golden Globes and two Primetime Emmy nominations over its run.

13 Jane The Virgin (2014-2019)

A Latina Virgin Becomes Pregnant After An Artificial Insemination Mishap

Jane the Virgin aired over almost the same time period as Younger - and the two series have a surprising amount in common. Like Liza, Jane finds herself in a complicated situation,although her pregnancy is a surprise due to a mistake made by the gynecologist. Despite this major difference, the two shows have many similar core concepts to explore - from figuring out sudden life changes to navigating love triangles and complicated romances to balancing career and parenthood.

Jane the Virgin is also beautifully colorful and fun (with many nods to the telenovelas that Jane loves), making it a pleasure to watch. Throughout its five-season run, Jane the Virgin showed up on critics' top ten lists every season, and it has a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes for the entire run. The show also won several awards, including ones from the American Film Institute, the Peabody Awards, and the Golden Globes, although it was shut out of the Emmys despite two nominations.

12 Insecure (2016-2021)

The Awkward Experiences Of A Contemporary African American Woman

One of the major issues with Younger is the lack of diversity in the cast - like Star's other New York Set series, Sex and the City, Younger presents a version of the city that is unrealistically white. Insecure, however, takes on the Black millennial experience in L.A. and does an excellent job of getting a little more realistic with the issues it explores - while remaining bright, fun, and gorgeously fashionable.

Based on Issa Rae's acclaimed web series, Awkward Black Girl, Rae chose to show how a Black woman's life was relatable, and this show is mostly about a regular person living life in an often imperfect world. The friendship between Issa and Molly will remind Younger fans of Liza's friendship with Kelsey, and the women deal with the same sort of issues around love, dating, and pursuing their careers. Rae received three Golden Globe and three Primetime Emmy nominations for her performance.

11 Girlfriend's Guide To Divorce (2014-2018)

A Self-Help Author Finds Solace In Friends During An Impending Divorce

While many shows similar to Younger focus on the twenty-somethings making their way in life, Girlfriend's Guide To Divorce will appeal more to those who loved seeing Liza get her life back after a tough divorce. This series focuses on Abby, a successful author who is trying to do the same. This show is set in LA, rather than New York, but there are lots of clear similarities.

The style and subject matter are very similar, the lead is in a similar situation - and even the same industry, although as an author rather than a publisher - so the overall feel of the series is comparable. It does occasionally get the claws out a little more than Liza and co., though. The series lasted for five seasons and actually changed its name in its final three seasons (Girlfriends' Guide to Freedom in season 3, Girlfriends' Guide to Bossing Up in season 4, and Girlfriends' Guide to Ever After in season 5).

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