The Golden Girls (1985-1992)
The Golden Girls centers around four older women who lived together in Miami and follows them as they find love and grow older. I loved this show growing up for the dry humor. I love this show now for the snarky comebacks, dry humor, and how many serious topics it covers in such a relatable way.
Dorothy struggles with worrying about her mother, Sofia, who lives with them after her retirement home burns down. Sofia is the eldest of the four, and through health scares and friends dying, she remains strong and loving.
Blanche is full of confidence and passion, but also shows times of doubt in her abilities and talents. Rose is not the sharpest knife, however, she is full of love and support.
I love being able to watch these women support each other as they all experience obstacles that everyone experiences or will at some point.
It is the perfect balance of comedy and drama and love. I might be biased for this show – as my Golden Girls version of Clue will vouch for – but this show is well worth binging.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996- 2003)
Buffy Summers is a hardcore vampire slayer and with her best friends and trainer, she saves the world multiple times (and also comes back to life multiple times). The special effects are very telling of the time it was made, but highlighting a strong female wasn’t very common practice.
I grew up watching this show, and my dad would help my sister and I run on walls and do backflips so we could be like Buffy. We also frequently sported leather jackets and tall black boots that made us feel like we could do anything, just like Buffy.
Buffy gave me someone to look up to and showed that females could be strong, instead of just scream loudly at any danger. Buffy has superpowers and is given super strength, but her friends are just as amazing without any abilities.
Willow and Xander are Buffy’s best friends who face danger and learn to fight demons to help save the world. Rupert is her fearless trainer with an irreplaceable knowledge of the dangers they face.
Everything about Buffy is empowering, and even though she struggles with high school- but who doesn’t- she kicks butt and takes names every single day.
Brooklyn 99 (2013-2018 on FOX, 2019- present on NBC)
Brooklyn 99 is an office comedy featuring a team of detectives in the NYPD that covers a range of issues and shows their lives on and off the job.
In one episode, Terry Crews’ character, Sgt. Terry Jeffords, is out of uniform and searching for his daughter’s toy when he is harassed by a white cop. Terry files a complaint against this cop in hopes to teach him a lesson in racial prejudices, but his Captain warns that it could damage his chances to higher leadership positions.
Very recently, an episode follows a sexual assault case, and the episode as a whole brings awareness to how often women in the workplace are sexually harassed or assaulted. In addition to tackling these relevant issues, there is also a strong representation and spectrum of characters.
The captain is a black gay man and often the audience sees how many obstacles he has gone through because of this. In later seasons, one of the detectives comes out to her friends and family, and it shows how challenging it can be in different environments. The reason I love this show is that it talks about issues going on in the real world, such as police violence, shootings, and sexual harassment, which are never portrayed in TV shows.
Jane the Virgin (2014 – present on The CW)
For those of you who love drama, this is the greatest drama currently on TV. Jane the Virgin is a take on telenovelas, complete with the ‘latin lover’ narrator, and twists and turns on every episode.
Jane lives with her mom and grandma and didn’t grow up with her father in the picture. Jane’s mother had her at a young age, so when Jane is accidentally inseminated (watch the show for the full dramatic explanation), this fact and their Catholic faith adds more conflict to the situation.
Their religion is a staple in their lives, as they are often shown praying and going to church. Jane’s grandma is an immigrant and throughout the series it is a concern that she may get deported. Hispanic families aren’t often represented, and showing how close and supportive they are is really important representation.
In addition to living with her mom and grandma, her child has half siblings and they all have a relationship with each other, despite the parents not getting along. Jane the Virgin is a perfect balance of love and suspense for any day and anybody.
Emma Farina
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