10 Best Shows Like The Sex Lives Of College Girls

As the long-awaited third season arrives, tons of fans will be looking for more shows like The Sex Lives of College Girls. In addition to starring in her own series, Mindy Kaling has also launched several others as a producer, including The Sex Lives of College Girls. This comedy aims to take a look at the sex lives of the title characters, and it demonstrates a remarkable complexity in its engagement with this thorny and at-times difficult issue. Additionally, there are a number of other series currently streaming that cover similar territory.

College comedies are typically male-dominated, but The Sex Lives of College Girls uses the genre to tell hilarious and insightful stories about these complex and fun characters. The show is also able to touch on heavier subjects without losing the fun and sense of humor it has become known for. Fans can still find some funny coming-of-age stories that similarly mix great characters with funny situations.

10 Love, Victor (2020-2022)

3 Seasons, 28 Episodes

The success of the movie Love, Simon spawned a spinoff, which focuses on the character of Victor, who has to figure out not only who he is but also what he wants in terms of romance. In the course of its three seasons, Love, Victor addressed a number of issues related to the lives of young LGBTQ+ people, including coming out, friendships, and family. What’s more, it never loses sight of the fact that it’s a comedy with a big heart.

A major theme of Love, Victor is the difficulty of being a young person attempting to come to terms with their identity. While the show speaks directly to the LGBTQ+ community and many of their experiences, this is a struggle that every young person can relate to. The Sex Lives of College Girls showcases that the anxiety, uncertainty, and shame of young identity don’t go away when high school ends.

9 Physical (2021-2023)

3 Seasons, 30 Episodes

Actor Rose Byrne has proven herself to be an incredibly talented comedic performer in movies like Bridesmaids, Spy, and Neighbors. However, the Apple TV+ series Physical allows her to be hilarious while also building a strong and inspiring character. Byrne stars in Physical as Sheila, a woman living in the 1980s who is unhappy with her life as a housewife. However, she finds unexpected purpose and power in the world of aerobics.

Just as The Sex Lives of College Girls attempts to show the complicated psychology that is always involved with sex, so Physical also immerses the viewer in its main character’s psychology, allowing for a deeper understanding of what makes her tick and why she sees her eating disorder as a means of controlling her body. Byrne is able to fuse the comedy and drama of the series effortlessly, making Sheila a hilarious and entertaining protagonist with depth.

8 Queer As Folk (2000-2005)

5 Seasons, 83 Episodes

There are few LGBTQ+ series quite like Queer as Folk, which sought to explore the various ways in which its gay characters navigated life in Pittsburgh in the first few years of the new millennium. It was also very straightforward in its approach to sex, with an explicitness that was notable (even if it was on Showtime). However, what was important was that the sex wasn’t just intended to stimulate; it allowed the series to explore issues such as intimacy, love, and queer friendship in ways that are even now rare on television.

While the title The Sex Lives of College Girls might hint at a show that is a wild sex comedy, it is also a more thoughtful examination of romance, sex, and exploration at this age. Queer as Folk came out in an era when gay characters on television were still not totally accepted by the mainstream, but the show fully embraces its depiction of these characters in an honest way instead of just being scandalous.

7 Scream Queens (2015-2016)

2 Seasons, 23 Episodes

College is a formative time for young women, as seen in both Sex Lives of College Girls and Scream Queens, albeit in much different ways. Ryan Murphy has had quite a career in Hollywood, producing numerous television series which have experienced varying levels of success. Scream Queens, which focused on a clutch of murderous college students, was one of his lesser ventures, but it did have a camp feeling to it that aligned it with other Murphy series such as American Horror Story.

Beneath the murderous facade, the series demonstrates how often violence lurks beneath the surface of many college campuses. Taking away the horror elements of Scream Queens, the characters and their situations feel like something right out of The Sex Lives of College Girls. It is a show filled with humor even if it is willing to scare the audience as well.

6 Yellowjackets (2021-Present)

2 Seasons, 19 Episodes

The Sex Lives of College Girls isn’t the only series that aims to explore the psychological lives of its characters, as a similar dynamic emerges in the series Yellowjackets. In this case, the series focuses on a group of women who survived a plane crash when they were teenagers and look back on the events. Those who lived through the experience deal with the trauma years later, while flashbacks reveal what they went through and what they had to do to survive.

Just as Sex Lives aims to blend together elements of psychological drama and comedy, Yellowjackets weaves elements of horror, mystery, and suspense into its dramatic story. However, fans should be aware that Yellowjackets is a much more intense series that can be hard to watch at times. It is more about the dynamic of these young women in a situation when societal norms go out the window.

5 Queens (2021-2022)

1 Season, 13 Episodes

The past few years have seen a number of television series aiming to unpack the relationships that emerge with musical recording groups, even as they also evoke nostalgia for the 1990s. In the case of Queens, the four central characters are members of a female R&B group who reunite after years of estrangement for an attempted return to chart success.

As with The Sex Lives of College Girls, the series also dives deeply into the personal lives of its characters, all of whom have to balance competing demands and loyalties. Both shows are heavily focused on female friendships with the women supporting each other through difficult times and personal struggles, but also dealing with their own differences. It is interesting to see such relationships explored through the lens of these older women with the longer history shared between them offering some fun dynamics.

4 Shrill (2019-2021)

3 Seasons, 22 Episodes

Aidy Bryant is one of the longest-running members of Saturday Night Live, and she has a comedic voice that is all her own. That’s what makes her such a success in the series Shrill, based on the book by Lindy West. What’s especially notable about this series is that it is forthright about the fact that it is exploring issues related to weight and the fat-phobia that is so much a part of American culture writ large. Byant excels at creating a character who is determined to forge a life on her own terms.

Shrill is able to address modern issues with how society treats women and the struggles of being a young woman in the modern world. However, like The Sex Lives of College Girls, it does all this with a strong sense of humor and a cleverness that makes its messages all the more impactful.

3 The Chair (2021)

1 Season, 6 Episodes

Between Sandra Oh’s Grey’s Anatomy and Killing Eve roles, she is a very well-respected actress with a number of well-regarded roles under her belt. While Netflix’s The Chair might not be as well known as those other series, it gives Oh another complex protagonist that she excels at playing. Oh stars as Ji-Yoon Kim, who takes over an English department in crisis as the first woman of color to take the position.

This series approaches college life from the opposite angle of The Sex Lives of College Girls, looking at a middle-aged woman who is part of the faculty rather than a young girl starting her adult life. However, it is still a tremendously entertaining, and often hilarious, look at the foibles, flaws, and idiosyncrasies that are such an important part of the academic experience and that dominate the lives of professors. It also manages to convert similar areas from its own perspective, such as the struggles to be taken seriously as a woman.

2 Dear White People (2017-2021)

4 Seasons, 40 Episodes

There are several series out there, including The Sex Lives of College Girls, that examine fraught cultural territory, but few do so as successfully and rigorously as Dear White People. A follow-up to the 2014 movie of the same name, Dear White People follows the lives of several Black students at a predominantly white Ivy League university, as they deal with discrimination in its subtle and unsubtle forms.

Like The Sex Lives of College Girls, Dear White People approaches the issues of culture and race colliding on a college campus with some of the uncomfortable moments that result. This series largely eschews easy solutions or commentary and opts instead to blend together human drama, comedy, and social engagement in a way that allows its message to land successfully. It is insightful and eye-opening while still providing an entertaining show filled with complex characters.

1 Girls (2012-2017)

6 Seasons, 62 Episodes

When Girls debuted in 2012, it was like few other shows on television, thanks in large part to the unique creative presence of Lena Dunham, who created the series and also played the main character, Hannah. Like The Sex Lives of College Girls, Girls explores various aspects of life for a group of young women trying to make their way in New York City during the 2010s. They deal with their respective love lives as well as their own issues with each other while struggling with what they are meant to make of their lives as young adults.

The Sex Lives of College Girls is a bit more uplifting in terms of its female relationships, as there is a stronger sense of support between the core group as opposed to the more selfish characters in Girls. However, the unlikability of Girls‘ main characters is part of the appeal, as the show gets a lot of laughs and cringe comedy moments out of seeing these characters make very relatable yet frustrating mistakes with their lives.