Television series

Being Erica

Being Erica is a warm Canadian drama where a frustrated woman gets chances to revisit and reshape her regrets. Each episode sends her back to confront a past mistake, then forward to live differently. It's *It's a Wonderful Life* meets therapy—smart, funny, and genuinely moving. For anyone who's ever thought: I'd do that differently now.

TVMaze rating4.0

If you liked this

Pushing Daisies2007

Whimsical magical realism with genuine emotional stakes. A man can touch dead things and bring them back to life; the show uses this to explore love, loss, and what we can and cannot fix. Visually gorgeous and surprisingly tender.

But The colour palette and twee sensibility can feel saccharine. Some find the narration intrusive or the tone too arch for the sadness underneath.

Pushing Daisies poster

Manifest2018

A plane lands five years late; passengers haven't aged. The show balances mystery-box plotting with character-driven drama about regret, second chances, and whether you can outrun your past. Addictive and emotionally smart.

But The mythology gets sprawling and sometimes contradicts itself. Later seasons rely heavily on cliffhangers that frustrate more than intrigue.

Manifest poster

The Good Place2016

Erica's whole arc is about becoming a better person; *The Good Place* builds an entire show around that question. Philosophy, humour, and genuine character growth. It knows what it's doing and sticks the landing.

But Relies on twist reveals that lose their punch on rewatch. The humour is sometimes too clever for its own good.

The Good Place poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Being Erica

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

About Time2013

Both are fundamentally about getting a second chance with the past, and both arrive at the same conclusion: some things can't be fixed, only accepted and loved anyway.

A man discovers he can time-travel and uses it to fix relationships and moments he regrets. But the film's real magic is watching him realize you can't optimize away the pain of living. Deeply moving and funny in equal measure.

But The time-travel mechanism is introduced casually and never rigorously explained. Some find the sentimentality about family cloying; it swings hard toward sincerity in the final act.

About Time poster
More like this (8)

Fleabag2016

A woman stuck in patterns, using dark humour and fantasy elements to explore why she sabotages herself. Six episodes per season, perfectly shaped. The fourth-wall breaks and magical thinking will feel familiar.

But The tone swings hard from comedy to despair. Some viewers find the main character too abrasive to root for.

Fleabag poster

Russian Doll2019

A woman trapped in a time loop on her birthday, forced to confront the choices that landed her here. Darkly funny, visually inventive, and structurally clever. Same DNA as Being Erica, much grittier execution.

But Bleak and occasionally self-consciously arty. The second season loses the loop's propulsive energy and becomes philosophically murky.

Russian Doll poster

Atypical2017

Character-driven comedy-drama about a teen on the spectrum and his family learning to live better. Genuinely funny, never condescending, and deeply interested in how people change and forgive each other.

But The representation debate is live; some viewers in the autism community have objections to the show's approach.

Atypical poster

Gilmore Girls2000

Fast-talking, warm, obsessed with how people communicate and misunderstand each other. The mother-daughter relationship is the heart; watching them repeat patterns and slowly break them is the real story.

But Can feel repetitive across seven seasons. The revival movie disappointed many fans and there's a reason people debate its ending.

Gilmore Girls poster

Parenthood2010

Multi-generational family drama where characters actually learn from mistakes and grow. Honest about how hard change is, but insistent that it matters. Generous and big-hearted without being maudlin.

But The earnestness can feel heavy-handed. Six seasons in, some storylines feel recycled and character arcs plateau.

Parenthood poster

Everwood2002

A family rebuilds after the father's stroke. Each character has to reckon with who they were and who they want to be. Sincere in a way that feels increasingly rare on television.

But The melodrama can tip into soap opera. Some storylines resolve too neatly given the show's premise of genuine struggle.

Everwood poster

Twelve Monkeys1995

Both use time travel as a metaphor for therapy—repeatedly confronting the same moment to understand it differently. Both ask whether knowing your past can actually change it.

A time-travel noir where a man loops through his own timeline trying to prevent catastrophe. Visually stunning, structurally audacious, and surprisingly emotional about determinism and regret. Gilliam at his best.

But The plot requires active attention and repeated viewings to fully parse. The tone is bleak and hallucinatory, very far from Being Erica's warmth.

Twelve Monkeys poster

Russian Ark2002

Both use time travel as a form of emotional archaeology—excavating the past to understand regret. Both are ultimately about what remains when you look closely at a moment that shaped you.

A 96-minute continuous take through the Hermitage museum, moving through centuries of Russian history. A ghost and a contemporary man walk through time itself. Visually hypnotic and genuinely philosophical about memory and loss.

But No conventional plot; purely experiential and cerebral. If you need character arcs or narrative momentum, this will feel like a museum visit in the worst way.

Russian Ark poster

People

Cast

Writing

Production

Recommended by