Television series
SMILF
SMILF is a Boston-set comedy-drama about a young single mother navigating sex, ambition, and relationships with unflinching honesty. Raw and irreverent, it's messy and warm—sometimes within the same scene. For viewers who want their comedy to hurt a little and their drama to make them laugh.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you want a frank, funny look at messy early adulthood, where jokes about bad dates land right beside the raw stuff, and you can live without a tidy finish.
Skip it if the tone keeps shifting between laughs and heartache, so if you want steady comedy or a neat storyline, its restlessness may frustrate you.
What it asks of you: Eighteen half-hour episodes across two seasons, each loose and conversational, so you need to settle into its rhythm rather than skim.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Fleabag2016
Likewise a woman talking directly to you about her chaos, need, and humor. Both find comedy in the gap between who you want to be and who you actually are, with genuine tenderness underneath.
But Fleabag is more polished and its protagonist more self-aware. If you want something that feels safer and more carefully constructed, this has fewer rough edges.
Girls2012
Another portrait of messy, thirtysomething adulthood—sex, friendship, work, self-deception. Lena Dunham's show asks similar questions about entitlement, growth, and what you owe people.
But Girls is more interior and anxiety-driven where SMILF is angrier. Some find it self-indulgent; this one might feel that way too, deliberately.
Transparent2014
Family secrets and fractured relationships told with both comedy and genuine pain. Transparent trusts you to sit with uncomfortable moments and find humanity in people you initially dislike.
But It's slower and more literary. The humor is quieter; if you want your comedy to hit harder, this will feel restrained.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from SMILF
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Never Have I Ever2020
Both center a woman's sexual and emotional life in terms of her own agency and desire, not as an obstacle to overcome or a punishment for being unmarried.
Coming-of-age comedy about a second-generation immigrant navigating sex, friendship, and parental grief. It finds the specificity in messy adolescence without condescension.
But It's lighter and more optimistic; aimed at a younger demographic. If you want something with SMILF's raw edge and darkness, this is sweeter.
More like this (7)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend2015
Another show that weaponizes self-awareness—a woman examining her own delusions while singing about them. Smart, funny, and unflinching about the gap between intention and behavior.
But The musical numbers won't land for everyone. If you're skeptical of that format, the show's biggest weapon becomes an obstacle.
Orange Is the New Black2013
Ensemble cast, women's stories told seriously and comedically in parallel. It finds humor and heartbreak in circumstances without sanitizing either.
But Sprawling and uneven after season two. The ambition sometimes outpaces execution; later seasons prioritize message over character.
Insecure2016
A woman's interior life—doubt, ambition, friendship, sex—rendered in comedy and genuine drama. Issa Rae captures the particular exhaustion of wanting different things at once.
But It's gentler and more aspirational than SMILF. If you want something grittier and less concerned with likability, you might find this too warm.
Love2016
A relationship told honestly, with humor that comes from actual human contradiction. Messy, unglamorous, and very funny about how two people can simultaneously love and resent each other.
But It's deliberately small and repetitive—the show doesn't dramatize. If you want plot momentum, you'll feel like nothing happens.
My Brilliant Friend2018
Two women's friendship across decades, told with both tenderness and ferocity. It's uninterested in flattering anyone and finds epic stakes in intimate relationships.
But It's slower and more formally ambitious. Neapolitan and serious where SMILF is contemporary and comedic; very different registers.
Broad City2014
Two women in their twenties living in chaos, making terrible decisions, and somehow surviving. Absurdist and anarchic, with real affection underneath the mayhem.
But It's more fantastical and less grounded in consequence. If you want your chaos to feel real rather than cartoonish, this leans too hard into comedy.
Scenes from a Marriage2021
Both refuse to separate love from pain or comedy from real consequence. Neither excuses or sentimentalizes; both let people be flawed and deserving of care simultaneously.
Six episodes examining one relationship across decades in surgical detail. Shot like a novel. Unsparing about how people hurt each other while loving each other completely.
But It's glacially slow and almost entirely dialogue. No comfort here, no jokes—Bergman adaptation, not comedy. A very different temperature.
People
Cast
Writing
- Frankie ShawCreator
Production
- Helen PaiAssociate Producer
- Nancy KirhofferAssociate Producer
- Emily BrechtCo-Producer
- Frankie ShawExecutive Producer
- Gene StupnitskyExecutive Producer
- Janice WilliamsExecutive Producer
- Lee EisenbergExecutive Producer
- Michael LondonExecutive Producer
- Salli NewmanProducer