21 of the best TV shows created by women
It turns out that behind every great TV show, is an even greater woman. In honour of Women’s History Month, we celebrate the best TV shows written and created by kick-ass female creatives. From everyone’s new Amazon prime favourite, The Bold Type, to British gems like Chewing Gum and Fleabag, here are the shows you didn’t know were written by women.
The Bold Type
Created by: Sarah Watson
First aired in: 2017
Channel: Freeform/Amazon PrimeNew journalism drama The Bold Type has been all everyone's talking about since it hit Amazon Prime last month. The series centres around three budding journalists who work at a New York-based glossy magazine called Scarlet. Jane (Katie Stevens), Kat (Aisha Dee) and Sutton (Meghann Fahy), a tight group of colleagues /BFFs are the protagonists. We watch them motivate and empower one another as they aim to make their way from assistants to big shot writers and editors. The show, created by rising TV writer, Sarah Watson, couldn’t feel more timely following the pro-female movements in Hollywood right now.
30 Rocks
Created by: Tina Fey
First aired in: 2006
Channel: NBC/NetflixNot-so-secretly based on the backstage shenanigans of Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock is a guaranteed laugh. It centres around Liz Lemon, a young woman who is the head writer of a live comedy sketch show in New York. The show, created by comedy queen, Tina Fay, sees Liz juggle the crazy egos of the shows cast while chasing her own dreams.
Crazy Ex Girlfriend
Created by: Aline Brosh McKenna and Rachel Bloom
First aired in: 2015
Channel: The CW/NetflixCrazy Ex-Girlfriend sees successful lawyer Rebecca Bunch swap her career-led life in New York for a quest to find romance in a quiet Los Angeles suburb. However, as the title suggests, it doesn’t quite go to plan. The show, which released its third season on Netflix late last year, is co-written by Aline Brosh McKenna (the screenwriter for The Devil Wears Prada) and Rachel Bloom.
Scandal
Created by: Shonda Rhimes
First aired: 2012
Channel: ABC/Google PlayShonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey’s Anatomy, delivered yet another gem when she introduced the world to Scandal’s Olivia Pope - the most badass lawyer known on TV. A ‘fixer’ who helps Washington’s rich and powerful clean up their messes and plays the PR game to perfection, Pope is the definition of a kickass woman doing it for herself, while helping others.
Don't Trust The B---- In Apt. 23
Created by Nahnatchka Khan
First aired in: 2012
Channel: E4/NetflixStarring Dreama Walker and Krysten Ritter as roommates, June and Chloe, Don’t Trust the B---- in Apt. 23 gives the perfect dose of inappropriate humour, courtesy of screenwriter Nahnatchka Khan.
New Girl
Created by: Liz Meriwether
First aired in: 2011
Channel: E4Liz Meriwether created one of the most lovable characters on TV with New Girl's Jess. Played by Zooey Deschanel, Jess' heartbreak is the entry point of the show but it soon centres around her relationships with her hilarious (and slightly wacky) group of friends.
Being Mary Jane
Created by: Mara Brock Akil
First aired in: 2013
Channel: BET (available on Sky)Gabrielle Union stars in the BET original movie-turned-TV-series, [i]Being Mary Jane [/I] where she plays successful news presenter, Mary Jane Paul. The series, created by American screenwriter Mara Brock Akil, follows her as she deals with day-to-day life and her desire to start a family.
Chewing Gum
Created by: Michaela Coel
First aired in: 2015
Channel: E4/NetflixE4 comedy Chewing Gum is the hilarious creation of British actress and screenwriter, Michaela Coel. The London-based, BAFTA award-winning sitcom follows 24-year-old virgin Tracey Gordon (played by Michaela) as she deals with the mishaps of her council estate neighbourhood, friends and family - all while trying to get laid.
Marvel's Jessica Jones
Created by: Melissa Rosenberg
First aired in: 2015
Channel: NetflixKrysten Ritter is back but in a very different role as Marvel's Jessica Jones - a superhero-turned-private investigator fighting crime around New York City. The series, created by American screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, is based on the comic of the same name and will release its second season on International Women's Day.
Power
Created by: Courtney Kemp Agboh
First aired in: 2014
Channel: Starz/NetflixNew York-based drug drama Power is the number one talking point on social media whenever a new season drops. The show, which centers around protagonist James St Patrick or “Ghost” as he’s known on the streets as he leads a double life - by day, he’s a respectable club owner and businessman who gives back to his community, by night he’s a ruthless drug lord. The show stars rapper 50 cent and is written by The Good Wife creator, Courtney Kemp Agboh.
GLOW
Created by: Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch
First aired in: 2017
Channel: NetflixA fictionalised account of the female wrestling shows that popped up on 80s television, GLOW, written by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch and produced by the all-female team behind Orange Is The New Black, centres on out-of-work actress Ruth (Alison Brie) and her best friend Debbie (Nurse Jackie’s Betty Gilpin), who end up cast in the same show and sloughing it out in the ring (while bedecked in metallic leotards and some serious 80s eye makeup).
Girls
Created by: Lena Dunham
First aired in: 2012
Channel: HBOFrom the mega-awks sex scenes, to the complicated nature of female friendship, Lena Dunham's Girls is an unapologetic portrayal of attempting to be an adult woman, f***-ups and all.
Jane The Virgin
Created by: Jennie Snyder Urman
First aired in: 2014
Channel: E4/NetflixWritten by Jennie Snyder Urman, Gina Rodriguez plays the star of this comedy, which sends up the telenovela in all its outlandish glory (Jane gets pregnant through a mix up at the gynaecologist).
Created by: Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer
First aired in: 2014
Channel: Comedy CentralComedy series Broad City is both created by and stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer - two perfectly sassy symbols of feminist anarchy. The show follows the 20-something best friends as they try to navigate life in New York City with little money - as you can imagine, it isn’t easy but they’re survivors.
Orange Is The New Black
Created by: Jenji Kohan
First aired in: 2013
Channel: NetflixFive seasons in and we're still obsessed. Where else other than OITNB can you watch nuanced stories of so many women? Race, class and sexuality aren’t sidelined or treated with kid gloves. With detailed back stories for all the characters, the women of Litchfield Penitentiary are portrayed as more than inmates; and there’s a smart commentary on the US criminal justice system to boot.
UnReal
Created by: Sarah Gertrude Shapiro and Marti Noxon
First aired in: 2015
Channel: Amazon PrimeIf you’re obsessed with reality TV shows like Love Island or The Bachelor, you’ll love this. UnReal, is a clever take on what goes on behind the scenes of dating show Everlasting (designed as a spoof of aforementioned hit American dating show, The Bachelor). Co-written by Sarah Gertrude Shapiro and Marti Noxon, it follows young producer Rachel and executive producer Quinn as they manipulate the relationships of the contestants of the show to make good TV.
Alias Grace
Created by: Margaret Atwood and Sarah Polley
First aired in: 2017
Channel: NetflixNetflix original Alias Graceis an adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood’s 1966 novel of the same name. It tells the story of Grace Marks, an Irish immigrant who leaves her abusive father to become a house girl in Canada, but ends up being accused of the murder of her employer and his wife and serving a life sentence. The six-part series, which is based on real life events from the 19th century, hit Netflix last December and was adapted by Canadian actress, writer and director, Sarah Polley.
The Mindy Project
Created by: Mindy Kaling
First aired in:
Channel: E4The brilliant Mindy Kaling is the writer behind the self-titled sitcom in which she also plays protagonist, Mindy Lahiri - a successful and skilled doctor. But her personal life is not as perfect as her career as she's often unlucky in love. Being the persistent woman she is, however, she never gives up.
Insecure
Created by: Issa Rae
First aired in: 2016
Channel: HBO/Sky LivingIssa Rae dismantled the long-standing notion that all black women should be strong and confident at all times when she created best friends, Issa (named and played after herself) and her best friend Molly (played by Yvonne Orji). Insecure centers around their friendship and how they navigate life with Issa's awkwardness and tendency to make questionable decisions, to Molly's crazy love life. The show, written by Issa, also touches on a variety of social and racial issues that relate to the contemporary black experience.
Grey's Anatomy
Created by: Shonda Rhimes
First aired in: 2005
Channel: Sky LivingBefore she gave us Scandal, Shonda Rhimes cemented her role as a screenwriting queen when she wrote Grey's Anatomy. The show is still running in its 17th season - take a bow, Shonda!
Gilmore Girls
Created by: Amy Sherman-Palladino
First aired in: 2000
Channel: NetflixA fast-paced battle of wits between three generations of women in well-heeled Connecticut, Gilmore Girls is noted for its zingy scripts, quick-fire pop culture references, and seven seasons of storylines that demolish the Bechdel Test.
Fleabag
Created by: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
First aired in: 2016
Channel: BBC Three/Amazon PrimePhoebe Waller-Bridge is both the writer and lead actress in the most accurate portrayal of life as a young British woman in BBC series, Fleabag. She f**** up like the rest of us; she can be a mess like the rest of us and she boomerangs back and forth from a safe-but-boring relationship like the rest of us. There's also creative swearing and filthy sex - and it’s glorious.
