Given that Darren Star perfected the New York City TV show scene with “Sex and the City” and “Younger,” it was only a matter of time before he tackled Paris with “Emily in Paris” in 2020. Star is particularly skilled with the “city is its own character” trope and tends to focus on career-centered women who take their respective cities by storm.
“Emily in Paris” revolves around Chicago native Emily Cooper (Lily Collins), who heads to Paris to offer her American perspective to a marketing firm. Of course, that makes her the fish out of water. Emily has to navigate French culture both in and out of the office as a single career-driven woman looking for love just as much as making a name for herself.
Between other Star-led shows, city-centric series like “Gossip Girl,” and badass career women series like “The Mindy Project,” here are the best shows like "Emily in Paris" to stream after you finish "Emily in Paris" season 4.
'Younger'
Some people travel to another country to meet their career aspirations. Others pretend to be 15 years younger to restart the career that halted when they got married and had a kid. Darren Star’s show “Younger” tackles the concept of ageism in the workplace when Sutton Foster’s character Liza Miller experiences trouble getting back into the publishing industry — until she lies about her age.
Given Liza’s new status as a fake millennial, her dating life gets more complicated when she meets a twentysomething guy at a bar and has to carry out the lie. While the work lives and loves of career women in New York City is already a fascinating subject that viewers can never get enough of, the nuances of Liza’s secret make things that much more interesting as she rises in the ranks of the publishing industry and tries to avoid getting found out.
Watch on Paramount Plus
'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'
The 1950s are a far cry from the 2020s, but Amy Sherman-Palladino's “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” knows a thing or two about a woman forging her own path in new territory. After discovering her husband’s affair, Rachel Brosnahan’s Miriam "Midge" Maisel takes to the mic to roast her former housewife status and finds herself thrust into a comedy career she never would have dreamt for herself. New York City is less of a character in this series, but the comedy club culture takes on a life of its own.
Additionally, Midge’s romance arcs, while they do exist, aren’t even in the top ten percent of the show’s explored relationships — because she don’t need no man. The far more interesting dynamics come in the form of Midge’s interactions with her kids and parents as a career-driven women in the ‘50s. Her friendship with her manager Susie (Alex Borstein) is arguably the most important relationship in the show (though we can’t help shipping Midge and Luke Kirby’s fictionalized iteration of real-life comedian Lenny Bruce).
Watch on Prime Video
'Sex and the City'
When it comes to city-based shows centering on career-driven women, “Sex and the City” is probably the first one that comes to mind. That makes sense given the fact that Darren Star’s OG show helped inspire “Emily in Paris.” The late ‘90s and early ‘00s series centers on, you guessed it, the sex and career lives of four New York women.
Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw narrates “Sex and the City” while she writes a sex advice column. Though, if we’re being honest, the woes of her personal love life aren’t exactly the makings for great advice. But hey, some of the best advice-givers don’t follow their own words of wisdom. Then again, the sex component of relationships was never a struggle for Carrie.
Star’s 1998 series ran for six seasons until 2004, starring actors like Kim Cattrall (Samantha Jones), Kristin Davis (Charlotte York), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes), David Eigenberg (Steve Brady), Chris Noth (Mr. Big), and Willie Garson (Stanford Blatch). “Sex and the City” also spawned two movies, a prequel show and the revival series "And Just Like That."
'The Mindy Project'
When it comes to Main Character Energy, Mindy Lahiri and Emily are tied for first place. Mindy Kaling created and starred in her 2012 series “The Mindy Project.” And yes, she named her gynecologist main character after herself, too. “The Mindy Project” is yet another NYC-based show with a moderately self-involved main character balancing a demanding work life with the woes of dating in a big city. It doesn’t help that Mindy’s taste in men leaves a lot to be desired — from a mildly sexist minister to an egotistical philandering drug addict.
Of course, Mindy also has to deal with making a name for herself amidst her practice’s revolving door of male doctors. Ultimately, Mindy sees her life in the eyes of a rom-com and she actively works on becoming a better person throughout the series to varying degrees of success.
'The Great'
No show does historical comedy chaos quite like “The Great.” Long before we had the term “girl boss,” Catherine the Great was over here overthrowing her husband and taking control of Russia in 1762. OK, so the Hulu series takes more than a few liberties with the history that inspired the show. Still, the modernized period piece is a witty feminist delight as a German Catherine (Elle Fanning) navigates the culture shock of Russia during her plight to bring science and ethics to the country she married into.
To boot, her relationship with Peter (Nicholas Hoult) is one of the wildest relationships we’ve seen on TV. As a result, there’s significant “Emily in Paris” energy — between the international fish-out-of-water component, a career-driven woman taking charge and the heavy focus on a specific city.
Watch on Hulu
'Broad City'
True friendship is remaining besties when one friend lives in Astoria, Queens, and the other in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Naturally, with so much New York ground to cover, the city is the third BFF in “Broad City.” Unlike Emily, neither Ilana Wexler (Ilana Glazer) or Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) are particularly skilled at going after their career goals. While Abbi dreams of being an artist, Illana is quite content with her priority as a lax stoner. Still, the comedic beats are there and their love lives are just as messy.
Glazer and Jacobson are actually close friends in real life, having cooked up the show after they weren’t as successful as they’d hoped during their time at Upright Citizens Brigade.
Watch on Hulu
'Gossip Girl'
The CW series “Gossip Girl” may kick off with the characters in high school, but the vibes are there. And let’s face it: These upper-class Manhattan teens get into more adult situations than most people twice their age. The show’s arguably most important relationship is between best friends (and sometimes frenemies) Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively). However, “Gossip Girl” focuses on a large friend group and their parents.
Along for the ride is Gossip Girl: an anonymous blogger who follows the many scandals of Manhattan’s elite. Of course, the love lives of the main friend group are downright incestuous as everyone has basically dated everyone by the end of the show’s six-season run. One thing that sets the show apart, though, is the whodunnit component of figuring out the identity of Gossip Girl (even though it doesn’t seem like the writers put much thought into this particular conundrum despite teasing it so intensely).
Watch on Max
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