The second season of And just like that, a very popular show that has been rebooted way too many times has finally come to an end. The original show Sex and the City began with the stories of women above the age of 30 navigating through dating as their careers were set and prospering. It is still the same story a few decades later. Lives may have changed, but friendships still stand tall, and they are the backbone of their existence. The original show was path-breaking because it discussed many taboo subjects and has ever since attained cult status. There have been many shows modeled to look like it, but nothing comes closer to the original one and the second season of the third reboot. So here are the shows you must watch if And just like that is your current favorite.

Gossip Girl (TV Show, 2007)

This cult show, from the outside, is known for fashion, catfights, Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and rich kids acting like brats. But from the inside, the show is more about growing up, falling in and out of love, and moving on with life. One major similarity between Gossip Girl and And just like that would be the emphasis on female friendships. Serena and Blair have had many fallings out, but they find a way to be each other’s pillars of support in times of adversity. They have two different personalities when it comes to handling conflicts and relationships, but they always end up looking out for each other, a trait found in the lead characters of And just like that as well.

Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, Seema, Lisa, and Nya share what we call adult friendships. The two female leads in Gossip Girls have been friends since childhood. The ladies in And just like that go through plenty of ups and downs when it comes to professional or personal relationships. The emphasis on why female friendships are good for overall physical and mental health is projected through these two shows. Fashion and style are important parts as well. The lead characters in both shows are obsessed with high-end luxury clothes, shoes, and accessories and are unapologetic about it. The core of And just like that and its previous reboots remained true to the original show despite a few digressions. Gossip Girl was rebooted in 2021 with a new cast, but it failed to garner enough attention.

Emily In Paris (TV Show, 2020)

Emily in Paris garnered more attention from the audience than from critics. This Netflix Original could very well just be branded as Paris, seen from an American perspective. The stereotypes about the locals are perpetuated in abundance through the show. Commercially, Emily in Paris is loved. The high fashion of Paris, female friendships, and beautiful-looking European men who cook and are fashionable too, are the highlights of Emily in Paris. What makes Emily in Paris and And just like that similar is the American obsession with all things French. In the original show, Carrie had a brief stint in Paris when she followed her artist boyfriend. After a while, she felt homesick and realized she never fit into his world. In Emily in Paris, the high-flying PR executive and influencer fit well into the dynamics of the city because the city gave her a lot of options to grow professionally.

Another common factor is that the dating lives of the lead characters are molded as per the respective cities they live in. Carrie and her friends are true New Yorkers and understand the psyche of a man from this city. Meanwhile, Emily is trying to understand the kind of things men in Paris expect from a woman, and it is an interesting journey. Emily in Paris is a lot less emotional compared to And just like that because the actors are good, and their arcs are believable.

Gilmore Girls (TV Show, 2000)

Gilmore Girls is another cult favorite female-centric show that is about a mother and daughter navigating through life like best friends. Gilmore Girls is the peak of women telling women’s stories. There is so much focus on what the female protagonists do professionally instead of restricting their characters to being housewives or resorting to gossiping. Female friendships are the core of both Gilmore Girls and And just like that because they help us understand that having friends around is essential for your personal growth. The choppy relationship between Lorelai and her mother is also significant to understanding how women from two different generations operate.

And just like that and the original show did not focus on the relationships the leading women had with their parents. It is mentioned in passing that all of them had lukewarm to rough relationships with their parents. It has somehow structured the four women mentally to not be like them. Gilmore Girls stayed true to familial bonding, but And just like that talks a lot about bolder topics, which was the highlight of the original show as well.

Never Have I Ever (TV Show, 2020)

This Netflix original by Mindy Kaling took us through the South Indian family based in America trope rather convincingly. A lot about the show resonated with the diaspora and the first-generation kids born in that family. Apart from talking about immigrant woes, this show managed to understand female friendships in schools and how teenage girls go through their spells thanks to puberty. With the internet, teenagers get to know a lot more things about sexuality and gender identity and are more accommodating toward queer girls and boys.

And just like that and the original show pushed plenty of boundaries when it came to talking about female sexuality and how one should not feel ashamed to chase pleasure. The milieu and target audience of both shows are different, but at their core, they are about girls and women trying to get to know themselves better. Growth is a never-ending process when it comes to friendships and romantic relationships. Never Have I Ever and And just like that encapsulate that well.

The Devil Wears Prada (Movie, 2006)

A cult favorite comedy-drama starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathway is an ode to fashion magazines, and the amount of work that goes into publishing reading material that many women around the world admire and patiently wait for. Apart from the emphasis on knowing fashion, it is also about women pushing each other to be the best version of themselves at work. There is no demonizing of career-oriented women who are supposed to behave a certain way. They are as demanding as their male counterparts, which is a refreshing representation in cinema.

What makes this movie and And just like that similar is the Vogue connection. Carrie briefly worked with Vogue as a contributing writer. The Runway magazine mentioned in The Devil Wears Prada is a take on Vogue, and Miranda Priestley’s character is loosely based on Anna Wintour. New York is another common factor that bridges the film and the show. Andrea joining Runway in pursuit of becoming a writer or journalist is like Carrie’s arc in the show. She began as a small-time writer and eventually went on to become a well-known published author. Do we need to mention how fashion and clothes play a big role in the show as well as the movie?

Dead To Me (TV Show, 2019)

This Netflix original starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini is about women in their mid-forties and the friendship they form over shared trauma. Judy and Jen become fast friends, but this friendship forces them to reveal stories from their lives. Jen is an open book, but it is Judy who has a lot to hide. Despite the thriller element added to the show, Dead to Me explores deeply flawed women. They try to be better people, but their past keeps catching up with them. This is what makes the show similar to And just like that We have Miranda, who chose to walk out on her marriage with Steve to pursue a new relationship. Cheating is not glorified, but it is frowned upon in the show. Carrie was the first one to point out Miranda’s mistakes. And just like that is filled with leading female characters who are inherently flawed and have made errors in the past. Presenting women as wrong and untoward is a welcome change.

Girls (TV Show, 2012)

This flagship HBO show by Lena Dunham is about women coming to New York, just like in Sex and the City, but being hit by reality. Hannah is a writer who is struggling financially and maneuvers through friendship and work to just survive. What makes Girls different from And just like that is the lifestyle of the women. Carrie Bradshaw and her friends had established careers at the beginning of the original show. In Girls, Hannah and her friends are barely getting by in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Both shows talk about the insecurities women feel at many different ages. Girls is path-breaking in its own way, and it allows us to see ourselves in those deeply flawed characters created by Lena Dunham.

Many shows and movies in the past few decades have focused on female-centric stories. This is the writer’s favorite genre as well because many genuine stories represent women with the utmost accuracy. This list above was compiled by the writer. Please feel free to leave a comment mentioning your favorite movie or television show that has strong female characters in the lead.