1. Felicity
Dare you to not fall in love with good-girl Felicity Porter (Keri Russell), who’s on her oft-earnest trip through college in NYC. Her world is a thing of pre-social media beauty where a simple note can fuel an episode plot and big decisions include getting pixie cut (yes, yes,yes!) and choosing between Ben or Noel (just wait and see!).
2. Sex and the City
The glitz — sex and book parties and Sarah Jessica Parker in a tutu, oh my — is the initial draw to this romcom. But Sex truly trades on its foursome: spunky Carrie, sultry Samantha, bookish Miranda, and prim Charlotte, who unspool ever-relevant and ever-ridiculous yarns about love, friendship, and — yep — the ins and outs of giving a blowjob.
3. Scandal
So much fun. Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) leads her crack team of Washington, D.C., pseudo-lawyer “fixers” — all while wearing impeccable fashions and splendidly announcing “It’s handled!” with regularity. Oh, yeah, and there’s a rigged election, a presidential assassination attempt, a White House coup gone wrong, a murdered Supreme Court justice, and so, so much more breakneck crazy likely fueled by a case 5-Hour Energy in the writers’ room.
4. The O.C.
The pilot hooks you with a bevy of beautiful people (exhibits A, B, and C: Benjamin McKenzie, Adam Brody, and Chris Carmack), sudsy SoCal story lines, and one of modern TV’s most memorable lines: “Welcome to the O.C., bitch!” The show’s first season — introducing everything from winky in-show reality series The Valley to the Cohen’s annual Chrismukkah celebration to Seth and Summer’s tortured relationship — is a study in perfectly crafted, endlessly fun television.
5. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Sure, everyone's talking about New Girl these days, but you can get a purer quirky-girl fix here. Mary Tyler Moore triumphed as TV’s first unmarried, independent career woman. Her Mary Richards, a syrupy television producer new to Minneapolis, was the every gal amid a lineup of fringy foils like a grumpy boss and nymphomaniac homemaker. Bonus points for tackling touchy subjects like pay equality, premarital sex, divorce and homosexuality.
6. Veronica Mars
Murder, She Wrote for a younger generation. Revel in Kristen Bell’s private investigating prowess, as she rolls around Neptune, Calif., solving mini-mysteries and trying to determine who murdered her best friend, Lily (Amanda Seyfried), over three seasons. Another good reason to join the party: A Kickstarter-funded, big-screen movie version hits theaters in 2014.
7. My So-Called Life
A painful, undeniable snapshot of adolescence that, blessedly, doesn’t feel like an after-school special and resonates well beyond those angsty years. Claire Danes’ crying-jag-prone Angela Chase plus Jared Leto’s dreamy-eyed Jordan Catalano equals swoon swoon swoon.
8. Homeland
Lots of cable’s most revered dramas are dude-ish (see: Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead). But here’s a show led by a lady in Carrie Mathison (hi again, Ms. Danes!), a CIA operative who grapples with things like tracking down a potential terrorist and then falling for said potential terrorist.
9. Girls
You’ll fall into one of two camps with this divisive, contemporary take on the twentysomething gal plight in NYC: Love it or loathe it. Whichever way you go, it’s worth watching Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna live, love, hate, and party, just to partake in the outsize chatter around it all.
10. The Mindy Project
One of the funniest comedies on TV right now. Mindy Kaling is a wonder to behold, tearing around as a gyno whose brain is fried on romcoms. Her quips are wry, smart, and spot-on. "I figure if I'm gonna be a mess," she says at one turn, "I might as well be a hot mess.” And at another point, to her will-they-won’t-they love interest Danny (the sexy Chris Messina): “If we’re still single in five years and we haven’t found anybody, can we make a pact? That we will kill each other.”
11. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
A coming-of-age fantasy by TV master Joss Whedon that’s told via a vampire slayer Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her extended Scooby Gang. The genius here lies in its smart-but-low-budget execution, the deep literary and pop culture references, and the fact that at one point Buffy interrupts her SAT prep session to stab an enemy with her pencil.
12. Ally McBeal
Calista Flockhart was a revelation as a kooky Bean Town lawyer-heroine in this quirky comedy. Leggy micro-miniskirts in court? Yep. Sexy coffee sipping? Check. A dancing baby? Sure. A tour through McBeal dusts off an idiosyncratic brand of feminism and unpacks a glorious time capsule of the ’90s (see: chunky heeled loafers).
13. The Golden Girls
Sex and the City’s geriatric predecessor traded glamour girls in NYC for an AARP-eligible quartet in Miami who spun out wisdom for the ages. Here's a typical exchange, launched by eldest gal Sophia: "I've got something in this old-lady purse that's going to make you scream, holler, and jump for joy." Replies sexpot Blanche: "Are the batteries included?" The show's biggest lesson — that it's good to laugh — was often wrapped in such sly comebacks. Plus, it taught us that any problem can be solved with a cheesecake at 2 a.m.
14. Pretty Little Liars
Addictive, even while it’s hard to tell what the endgame of the noir-ish tale of four friends dealing with a faceless, digital bully really is. But it’s got snappy-fun dialogue, a billowing drive forward, and modern appeal. Plus, the stars — Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell, and Lucy Hale — collectively have the best hair on television.
15. Orange Is the New Black
What launches as a vignette about the struggle of an ill-prepared woman (Taylor Schilling) sent to prison quickly evolves into a study of hilarious and heartbreaking characters inside a women’s prison, ultimately an allegory for the outside world. A few other selling points: There are characters named Crazy Eyes and Taystee, divine American Pie alum Natasha Lyonne stars as a truth-telling lesbian, and Liev Schreiber’s hot half-brother Pablo appears as a prison guard named George “Pornstache” Mendez because he has awesome facial hair.
16. Game of Thrones
It seems like a nerdfest, sure: Various fur-wearing clans clamor around a Middle Ages-ish fictional world known as Westeros and battle for power. But it’s epic TV, owing largely to its boggling cast of characters, exotic settings, and copious use of dragons, as tamed by the enviable Khaleesi (the beguiling Emilia Clarke), who is just one of the many badass women on this show (see: Lena Headey, Natalie Dormer, Sophie Turner, and more).
17. The Daily Show
The day’s headlines and political missteps, delivered to you with biting humor (and a bent to the left) by the silvery foxy Jon Stewart. This should be as much a part of your pre-bedtime ritual as brushing your teeth.
18. Friends
It’s a gimme, but knowing this comedy behemoth is essential mostly because every life experience you’ll encounter is encapsulated in one of its episodes. Like, say, when you sleep with one of your pal's seven siblings but can't remember which one it is, or when you accidentally put beef in your trifle at Thanksgiving. See? Loaded with life lessons, friends.
19. Orphan Black
At face value, it’s a thriller exploring the moral issues of cloning and, rather thornily, personal identity. But scratch deeper and you’ll find Tatiana Maslany serving up an Emmy-worthy performance of 10 separate, completely distinct roles (and that’s just so far … season 2 is coming in April). Go ahead and schedule your jaw an appointment with the floor right now.
20. Clarissa Explains It All
Melissa Joan Hart’s star-making turn as a know-it-all teen who lived a way cooler life than you is wise beyond its years. Even adults can find solace in her musings. “Let’s face it, Sam,” she tells her best friend in an episode about blind dating, “when you bet on something you can’t see for yourself, you’re asking for disappointment.”
Photo Credit: ABC Productions
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