Television series
Being Mary Jane
Being Mary Jane follows a brilliant, driven TV news anchor balancing career ambition with family pressure and the search for romantic fulfilment. It's a character study wrapped in soap-opera momentum—intimate scenes in home kitchens hit as hard as newsroom victories. Gabrielle Union anchors it all with crackling intelligence. Smart, soapy, made for people who believe their own lives deserve the dramatic weight of prestige television.
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Scandal2012
A Black female lead at the centre of high-stakes Washington drama, equally gripping in the boardroom and the bedroom. Fast-paced, gorgeously shot, and Olivia Pope is a character who knows exactly what she wants—even when it's wrong.
But The plot accelerates past logic by season three; it's melodrama in an expensive suit, and that suit eventually tears.

How to Get Away with Murder2014
Another Shonda Rhimes production with a commanding Black female lead, a legal procedural that spirals into character obsession. Viola Davis gives a masterclass in authority and vulnerability, and the twists actually land.
But The complexity can feel exhausting rather than satisfying. By the end, even the show seems unsure what it's investigating.

Insecure2016
Issa Rae as a woman figuring out work, friendship, love and herself in real time. Funny, tender, and genuinely interested in how Black women actually talk and think. It finds humour in disappointment without ever mocking its characters.
But Some people find the pacing slack; it priorities feeling over plot. The humour is very specific and won't land for everyone.

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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
I Will Follow2010
Both centre a Black woman as an intellectual and emotional force, refused the option of being a supporting character in anyone else's life. Both insist on their protagonist's inner life as enough to carry an entire work.
A formally daring, emotionally raw film about a woman processing grief through her apartment, her city, and her own body. It's experimental without being cold—sensual, specific, and quietly devastating. Ava DuVernay made something truly original.
But There's almost no conventional plot. It moves by mood and image rather than narrative momentum; long stretches are wordless. Some will find it pretentious; others will find it liberating.

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The Good Wife2009
A woman rebuilding her life and career after her husband's public scandal. Julianna Margulies is magnificent; the writing is sharp; and it respects the intelligence of people who work and struggle in the real world.
But Procedural episodes can feel like filler between the personal storylines you actually care about. The later seasons lose focus.

Suits2011
Slick legal drama with charisma to spare—fast dialogue, high stakes, and characters you want to root for even when they're being awful. Purely entertaining, and it knows it.
But Character development freezes around season three. After that, it's coasting on charm and will-they-won't-they that goes nowhere.

Private Practice2007
A woman starting over in a new city, building her own practice and life on her own terms. It's a spin-off that genuinely works, with Kate Walsh carrying the show through soap-opera plotting and real emotional stakes.
But The medicine is often nonsense; the pace can feel scattered. It's uneven enough that you'll want to cherry-pick episodes.

Living Single1993
A brilliantly funny ensemble where the women's friendships and careers matter more than men do. Queen Latifah is magnetic; the writing is genuinely witty; and it captures something true about independence and ambition that still plays fresh.
But Some humour is dated. The show's a creature of the nineties sitcom, so it moves quickly toward resolution rather than lingering in complexity.

Pose2018
A sweeping, colourful drama set in 1980s ballroom culture in New York. Visually stunning, emotionally generous, with ensemble storytelling that makes room for everyone. It's joyful and heartbreaking in equal measure.
But The pacing is languid; some storylines feel more developed than others. It demands patience and rewards it, but not everyone has that kind of patience.

Black Box2014
A brilliant, troubled Black female psychiatrist with bipolar disorder navigates her profession and herself. Kelly Larson is compelling; it takes mental illness seriously without making it the entire story.
But It was cancelled after one season, so no resolution. The tone wavers between drama and thriller in ways that don't always cohere.

Barfi!2012
Both are dramas about beautifully drawn characters managing the gap between what society expects of them and who they actually are. Both trust their leads enough to give them agency and complexity.
A romantic thriller—gorgeously romantic, genuinely thrilling—with a deaf-mute lead character who is ingenious, funny, and the solver of his own problems. It's Bollywood at its most visually sumptuous and emotionally unguarded. Pure cinema, unapologetically.
But Subtitled, nearly three hours long, and operates on Bollywood logic that Western audiences find alien. The plot twists are melodramatic; the pacing is patient; neither feels like a bug if you're on its wavelength.

People
Cast
Writing
- Mara Brock AkilCreator
Production
- Laurence AndriesCo-Executive Producer
- Mara Brock AkilExecutive Producer
- Salim AkilExecutive Producer
- Jessica MecklenburgSupervising Producer