Recently, the Collider staff shared their list of the best shows of 2021 and there was a significant presence of female-led series and ensembles among the top 20. Gone are the days when viewers were expected to be content with one Strong Female Character™ as the sole representation for half the world’s population. Hollywood has slowly expanded the characters who not only lead projects on screen but are surrounded by people across the gender identity spectrum.
If you’ve enjoyed shows like Girls5Eva and Mare of Easttown, and you’re still waiting for upcoming shows like Gossip Girl that promise a diverse cast, here’s a list of shows that you may have missed but should definitely watch. These shows go beyond having just one major female character in the lineup – no, these ladies have the support of other women. Sometimes they’re friends; other times they’re enemies. We’ve specifically chosen shows with multiple seasons to give you more entertainment to enjoy. Plus, these shows cover various genres, so everyone has something to watch.
In no particular order, here’s our list of great female ensemble shows to watch:
One Day at a Time
There’s a sizable population on this planet who are still bitter about One Day at a Time being cancelled. Twice! This sitcom (which is based on a 1975 sitcom of the same name) gave voice to Latinx viewers, and it deserved so much better. The show centers on the multi-generational Alvarez family, which includes newly-separated U.S. Army Nurse Corps veteran Penelope (Justina Machado), her mother Lydia (Rita Moreno), and her two children, Elena (Isabella Gomez), and Alex (Marcel Ruiz). The family dynamics are the source of the show’s comedy, and much of the drama. Later seasons also included Penelope’s visits to her support group of women veterans – seeing women hang out with other women to talk about life, their fears, and concerns is still not incredibly prevalent in television, but One Day at a Time made it a natural part of the show. The series delved into the struggles of PTSD, being a single mother, and an immigrant family, along with the joys of being proud of one’s heritage and accomplishments.
Jane the Virgin
If you want a good belly laugh and a hearty cry, Jane the Virgin is the show for you. Based on a Venezuelan telenovela, the show follows Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez), an aspiring romance author and devout Catholic who gets accidentally artificially inseminated with someone else’s child. This event changes Jane’s ideas of love and marriage, and impacts her family in ways she never could have imagined. There’s much to love about the show, especially the colorful cast of characters. Jane is funny, bright, optimistic, and sometimes a bit too focused on herself. Jane’s personality is so infectious, even her supposed ‘rival’, Petra (Yael Grobglas), falls into her orbit. Jane’s mother is a child at heart and in life, while Jane’s grandmother is a stickler for rules, even when there’s no need to be. Jane’s love interests have surprising merits that make the audience root for them. And no matter how outrageous the stories get (in true telenovela fashion), they always make sense, and you can’t help but want to tune in to find out what happens next. Before you know it, the week is gone, and you’ve binged the whole show.
Shrill
Before Shrill began streaming on Hulu in 2019, seeing a plus-sized woman leading a show and being content with her body, if not her life, was considered rare. Shrill isn’t the first show to feature a plus-sized woman in the lead – This Is Us exists, and Mike & Molly ran for six seasons on CBS – but there was a celebratory quality to Shrill that we hadn’t seen before. Based on Lindy West's book, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman (a must-read in its own right), the show concluded after its third season. And while the quality of the writing in seasons two and three doesn’t match the heights of season one, there’s a lot to love about main character Annie (Aidy Bryant) navigating her career, love-life, and her own insecurities with the help of her close friend Fran (Lolly Adefope), and her quirky, charming but also antagonistic colleagues. Shrill has a very contained cast, but despite the men who come in and out of Annie’s life, it’s the women who stand by her that leave the biggest impression.
How to Get Away with Murder
When Viola Davis is the star, you don’t need any more reasons to watch the show. The ABC series How to Get Away with Murder isn’t perfect, but it is always compelling. Much of this Shondaland production is unhinged and unbelievable, but it’s addictive because of the performances and shocking storylines. Davis plays Annalise Keating, a university law professor who becomes entwined in a murder plot along with her five star students – The Keating 5. And that’s just the first season! There is murder and mayhem in all six seasons of this show. Davis’ star power is supported by a superb cast of actors, including Alfred Enoch, Jack Falahee, Aja Naomi King, Matt McGorry, Karla Souza, Charlie Weber, and Liza Weil. The show’s main cast of women aren’t the only highlight — many of the major guest stars were also women, particularly women of color. The show put a spotlight on Black women in power and how they’re treated, in addition to showcasing queer romances among the main cast.
Orange Is the New Black
This Netflix series was based on Piper Kerman's memoir about her experiences in a minimum-security prison. The subject-matter may be depressing, but the show added plenty of humor to even the darkest moments, and was one of Netflix’s biggest early hits. Set in an all-women’s prison, Orange Is the New Black is an ensemble show with a capital E. Aside from some of the guards and wardens, everyone else is a woman. And while the show definitely could have introduced more non-binary and genderfluid characters, especially since Asia Kate Dillon and Ruby Rose, were both part of the cast at one point, OITNB was still considered ahead of its time. Partly because of Laverne Cox’s Sophia Burset, a vivacious transgender inmate who stole the show from the first season onward. The prison was a microcosm for the racial and class inequities in the US, and over its seven seasons, there was romance, betrayal, redemption and so much more. Though the show came to a satisfying – although bittersweet – conclusion, it will still leave you feeling like you need more.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
Let’s be honest, it wasn’t that long ago when a female character in a superhero property fell into one of two categories – girlfriend or mom. And that was all there was to their personality. Things have changed, and we have many women in comic book adaptations, either as superheroes or dimensional human characters. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has a part to play in expanding the landscape of superheroes on television. This Arrow spin-off features an openly bisexual female character in the lead, but Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) no longer needs to represent an entire community on her own – she’s too busy leading her band of misfits, I mean Legends, through time to stop anomalies, aliens and… themselves. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is quirky, crazy and extremely fun. The cast has changed over the seasons and now has even more women in lead roles than before. For a mix of action, humor and era-specific costumes, this is the show for you.
GLOW
Netflix’s GLOW has an unforgettable opening scene. Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie) stares straight ahead delivering a short monologue about how she refuses to be bullied, and this sets the tone for the rest of the series. We won’t give away what the scene means, but it is equal parts hilarious and infuriating, which is precisely the point. That this scene kicks off a show about a group of women wrestlers is equally surprising. Ruth ends up joining the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, except she’s soon up against a former BFF turned rival — her ongoing spat with Debbie Eagan (Betty Gilpin) could spell doom for the entire organization. GLOW was one of the many shows prematurely cancelled during the pandemic, but there are still three seasons to watch that prominently feature a group of women tearing each other apart in the ring and supporting each other out of it. And did we mention the costumes? These wrestling matches are more performances than fights, so the ladies need to look good. If you’re a fashion fiend, that’s an additional reason to tune into this series.
Supergirl
Well, the show is called Supergirl, so it makes sense that it’s on a list about female ensembles. Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers/Supergirl leads a team of heroes – with superpowers, and without – to save her city, and sometimes the world. She can always rely on her sister, Chyler Leigh’s Alex Danvers, and her Superfriends, who now include pop-culture enthusiast and the first on-screen transgender superhero, Nia Nal (Nicole Maines), super genius Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath), Alex’s girlfriend and the heart of the team, Kelly Olsen (Azie Tesfai), two Martians (David Harewood and Sharon Leal), and an alien from the future Brainiac-5 (Jesse Rath). The show is coming to an end with Season 6 and we will miss being able to tune in every week to watch a group of women take down formidable enemies and band together during even the most trying times. At one point, Supergirl was an aberration with its female-centric storylines and on-the-nose feminism, but when the series finale airs, it will be one comic book show among others that’s making a political stand through entertainment.
The L Word
The L Word was one of the first shows to feature a sprawling cast of queer women, including lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. This was in the early 2000s, so admittedly, all representation isn’t good representation, and some of the treatment of the characters hasn’t aged well, but this show remains a novelty in its own right. Set in California, the story follows a group of lesbian and queer friends including a couple who want to start a family and several professionals navigating life and love. The characters are compelling, and you’ll hate them and love them all at the same time. The main cast is led by Jennifer Beals as Bette Porter, Mia Kirshner as Jenny Schecter, and Pam Grier as Kit Porter, so we’re talking about some heavy-lifters here. The show’s lasting legacy can also be seen in the sequel, The L Word: Generation Q which premiered in 2019 on Showtime.
POSE
Flamboyant and intriguing – words synonymous with a Ryan Murphy production. When Pose premiered in 2018, it was unlike any other show before it. The series proudly included a large number of transgender and gender non-conforming actors in the lead, including Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore, Hailie Sahar, and Billy Porter, many of whom have become household names ever since. The three-season series is set during the 1980s and 90s showcasing the underground ball culture scene in New York. The show features some heavy subject-matter, especially the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the LGBTQ+ community during that era, but it’s not just about that. Pose is about finding a family when yours has turned its back on you. It’s about believing in yourself. Alongside elaborate costumes and choreographed performances the series also captures the struggles these characters face. All juxtaposed against the many celebratory moments, making Pose more of an experience than a TV show.
Superstore
The trials and tribulations of working in retail were brought to our screens with the NBC sitcom Superstore. The comedy series came to an end in 2021 after six seasons, but it’s left quite a legacy. The majority of the episodes took place exclusively within the confines of one Cloud 9 department store branch, and the showrunners really made it work. The show’s initial seasons coasted on the chemistry between stars America Ferrera, who played lead character Amy, and Ben Feldman as the new floor worker Jonah. Subsequent seasons expanded the roles of the supporting cast, especially the many women who kept the store running. You will laugh and cringe at some of the goings-on at this store, especially the interpersonal relationships and politics among the employees. It goes without saying, the sprawling cast is diverse, and the show occasionally delves into how people from different communities have to navigate life and each other. Along with the laughs, the writers include important conversations about the minimum wage and the lack of benefits for some employees over others. There’s an undercurrent of real-life problems beneath all those guffaws, making this show the ultimate weekend watch.