- Therapeutic benefits of TV
- Comedy TV series about divorce
- Drama TV series about divorce
- Related resources (books, movies, podcasts, etc.)
Going through the divorce process can be isolating and overwhelming – including the days, months, or years before you’ve made the decision to end your marriage (or are trying to salvage the relationship). Sometimes you just want to unplug your overactive brain or be around people who get what you’re going through. One of the easiest ways to do this is to put on comfy clothes, fix yourself a snack, and sit down to watch some TV.
Therapeutic benefits of TV
Watching TV shows during a divorce can help you cope with the emotional and stress associated with this life transition. Here are some of the key benefits:
- Emotional catharsis: Relatable TV shows can provide a safe space for you to process your emotions. Seeing characters go through similar situations can validate your feelings and help you release difficult emotions.
- Normalization: Watching characters navigate the divorce process can help you feel less isolated. It’s reassuring to see others go through it all.
- Different perspectives: Seeing and hearing different viewpoints on divorce and its aftermath can help you understand your own reality and options better.
- Coping strategies: Viewers can learn and adopt the ways in which the characters deal with divorce, from new ideas for self-care to behavior modification.
- Distraction and fun: TV shows provide a temporary escape from the stress and anxiety of divorce and can help you unwind and laugh.
- Community and connection: Discussing or watching these shows with friends or family can help you bond.
Here is a list of shows you can find on live TV or streaming on apps like Netflix, Peacock, Hulu, Paramount+, and Apple TV+. We’ve broken them down by genre so you can find just what you need. If we missed your favorite, let us know!
Comedy TV series about divorce
Grace and Frankie
Key theme(s): Friendship, career, identity, family, gray divorce, LGBTQ+
This hilarious Netflix comedy series stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterston, and Martin Sheen. It explores same-sex marriage, divorce, aging, friendship, marital conflict, career reinvention, co-parenting, and just about every other daily struggle divorcing individuals go through with heart and lots of humor. Watch the trailer on YouTube.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Key theme(s): Career, motherhood, identity
To embrace the reality that your divorce can be one of the best things to happen to you, watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Mom of two Miriam "Midge" Maisel discovers her true calling (standup comedy) after her husband leaves her in this award-winning show. Watch the first season trailer on YouTube here.
Ted Lasso
Key theme(s): Career, sports, mental health
Optimistic American football coach, Ted Lasso, is unexpectedly hired to manage a struggling English soccer team… the problem is, he doesn’t understand soccer. The series explores themes of teamwork, resilience, and personal growth as Ted navigates the challenges of his new job and also his divorce (midway through the series). Watch the trailer here.
Mom
Key theme(s): Motherhood, sobriety, mental health, parenting
This is a comedy series that centers around strong female characters and deals with sobriety in addition to divorce, single parenting, and complicated mother-daughter dynamics. Watch the trailer here.
Uncoupled
Key theme(s): Break-ups, middle age, friendship, LGBTQ+
Uncoupled is one of the newest TV series about life during and after divorce. Neil Patrick Harris plays the lead, who thinks his life is perfect … and then his partner of 17 years leaves him. This comedy-drama captures the pain of losing your soulmate and starting over (in this case, as a single gay man in your mid-40s). Watch the trailer here.
Related: 6 Mistakes Men, Especially Dads, Make during Divorce
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Key theme(s): Co-parenting, dating, motherhood, career, family
Laugh over those co-parenting and dating-after-divorce struggles with a big glass of wine and The New Adventures of Old Christine. It stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, mom to a smart little boy and sister to a live-in brother who can be childlike, too (along with her ex and his new girlfriend, “New Christine”). She’s just learning as she goes along (aren’t we all?). Watch the trailer here.
Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce
Key theme(s): Middle age, friendship, sex, dating
Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce is a dramedy with divorce in your 40s as the central theme. It’s written with sharp wit and well-developed characters. It lasted five seasons, and it’s up your alley if you wish you had more girlfriends who could relate to what you’re going through. Watch the trailer here.
Happily Divorced
Key theme(s): Middle age, friendship, LGBTQ+
Fran Drescher starred in this short-lived sitcom about a middle-aged couple navigating life after divorce after the husband confesses he is gay. Watch the trailer here.
Frasier
Key theme(s): Fatherhood, co-parenting, psychology, family, dating
If you need to laugh, Frasier is a clever sitcom about self-sabotaging and eccentric psychiatrists and their loveable but quirky family members and friends. This award-winning comedy series ran for 11 seasons, so you can binge on it for a while. Watch the trailer here.
Reba
Key theme(s): Motherhood, co-parenting, suburban/Southern life
Reba McEntire stars in this sitcom about a sassy divorced mom in the suburbs of Houston. You’ll get some laughs over her co-parenting struggles with her ex and his new partner. Watch the trailer here.
Related: How to Tell Family and Friends You're Getting Divorced
One Day at a Time
Key theme(s): Motherhood, teenagers, city life
If you like the formula of classic sitcoms, try One Day at a Time – either the 1970s original or the 2017 reboot on Netflix. It’s about a recently divorced mother of two teenage daughters (teen daughter and tween son in the reboot) and their new life in the city. Watch the trailer here.
Two and a Half Men
Key theme(s): Fatherhood, dating, friendship
Single dads, we have a show for you if you need time with some funny bros: Two and a Half Men. It became popular at the start when Charlie Sheen played the main character (until his downward spiral). Ashton Kutcher took over as the lead alongside the series-long costar Jon Cryer and a slew of A-list guest stars. Watch the trailer here.
Cougar Town
Key theme(s): Friendship, dating, co-parenting
If you loved Courteney Cox as neat-freak Monica on Friends, you’ll love her as bossy, wine-guzzling Jules in Cougar Town. She stars alongside a strong cast of supporting characters who navigate different aspects of life after divorce or other break-ups, dating again, and co-parenting misadventures. The show also spotlights the (lighter-side) perspective of her teenage son. Watch the trailer here.
What Does Life After Divorce Have in Store for You? Start Your Next Chapter Today.
Drama TV series about divorce
Sweet Magnolias
Key theme(s): Southern living, friendship, motherhood, co-parenting
Netflix’s series Sweet Magnolias is based on the book series by Sherryl Woods. Newly divorced mom Maddie Townsend returns to her hometown and reconnects with a diverse group of girlfriends and locals. They meet up for margaritas and dish about their lives. If your ex has put you through hell and back, this show will validate all your feelings. Watch the Netflix trailer for Sweet Magnolias on YouTube here.
Divorce
Key theme(s): Legal, relationships, city life
Stuck in a divorce that seems endless? You’ll sympathize with the couple in the HBO series Divorce (the divorcing couple is Sarah Jessica Parker as Frances and Thomas Haden Church as Robert). It only lasted for three seasons, but the acting is solid, and you’ll enjoy the relatable plotlines. If you were a Sex and the City fan in your single days, you’ll likely enjoy this series. Watch the HBO trailer here.
Related: 5 Ways to Get Your Divorce “Unstuck”
Sex/Life
Key theme(s): Sex, relationships, suburban life
In this newer dramedy series on Netflix, a once wild-child, now suburban mom, must deal with her sexually-risque past. It's one of the edgier options on our list and the plot is inspired by "44 Chapters About 4 Men," a novel by BB Easton. Watch the trailer here.
Empire
Key theme(s): Career, music, health, power struggles, co-parenting
An intense musical drama with a Black cast, Empire is for viewers who want equal ex-husband and ex-wife perspectives. Terrence Howard plays the CEO of a major record label who must decide which one of his three sons will take his place in the company (he’s battling ALS). But it gets even more complicated when his ex-wife (Taraji P. Henson) is released from prison and wants to take charge of the company she co-founded. Watch the trailer here.
Once and Again
Key theme(s): Marriage, relationships, dating, co-parenting
Once and Again was a short-lived series in the late 1990s and early 2000s about a divorced dad who begins dating a newly separated mom. It explores their relationship's impact on their children and ex-spouses as well as their own newly single lives. Watch the trailer here.
Better Things
Key theme(s): Career, motherhood, identity, co-parenting
Better Things is one of the more recent TV series about life after divorce. Actress Pamela Adlon leads the cast as an actress in Hollywood who is juggling her career and raising three daughters. Watch the trailer here.
Mad Men
Key theme(s): Pop culture, career, relationships, sex, feminism
If you don’t want to watch a drama that has divorce as a central theme but enjoy learning from others’ marital blunders, Don Draper (the protagonist) and his colleagues, friends, and exes deliver. Your marriage might not seem so bad after all! This award-winning series follows the advertising world in the 1960s and is full of twists and turns and captivating characters, plus some history lessons. Watch the trailer here.
The Starter Wife
Key theme(s): Remarriage, dating, sex, infidelity
A fun show with strong characters, The Starter Wife captures the experience of being in the first of probably at least two marriages – in keeping with the “stereotypical” lifestyle of the rich and famous. This limited series lasts only 10 episodes, so it’s the perfect weekend binge. Watch the trailer here.
Related: A Post-Divorce To-Do List to Prepare You For Your Next Chapter
Desperate Housewives
Key theme(s): Marriage, suburban life, mystery, parenting
The Stepford-esque Desperate Housewives was an Emmy Award-winning series that centered around housewives’ suburban lives. Chock-full of drama, nosy neighbors, romance, and dark plot twists, it’s packed with A-list actors and campy fun interlaced with more serious storylines, including divorce, illness, natural disasters, and murder. Watch the trailer here.
Real Housewives
Key theme(s): Relationships, friendships, wealth, travel, parenting
Speaking of housewives, perhaps no TV characters have experienced as many divorces as the Real Housewives (the irony of the title is thick). Start with the Beverly Hills, Atlanta, or New York City franchises, all on Bravo or Peacock. The real estate, designer everything, and lavish vacations are entertaining, and you may just feel a kinship with several women, their husbands, and their children. There are also franchises in Dubai, Potomac, Salt Lake City, New Jersey, Miami, and other wealthy locales.
Gilmore Girls
Key theme(s): Motherhood, friendship, coming-of-age, co-parenting
Although it doesn’t focus on divorce as a core theme, this is an addictive show about a young single mom, her teenage daughter (her “mini-me” – they literally have the same name), and their incredible bond. This feel-good series is for you if you’re interested in witty dialogue, small-town life, and the bonds between the members of a complicated family. Netflix also did a rebooted four-part series called Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life that lets us see how the characters evolved a decade after the original series ended. Watch the trailer here.
Melrose Place
Key theme(s): Relationships, sex, career
Want campy good fun? Try Melrose Place. This 90s nighttime soap has a lot of over-the-top drama that will (hopefully) help you feel so much more in control of all your own divorce-related stress. Watch the Season 1 trailer here.
The Split
Key theme(s): Family dynamics, women, legal
This drama series follows a family of female divorce lawyers who must deal with past trauma after their estranged father comes back into their lives after 30 years. Watch the trailer here.
Family Law
Key theme(s): Legal, family dynamics
A dysfunctional, blended family must work together at their father's family law firm. Trigger warning: this series dives into many serious issues such as substance abuse. Watch the trailer here.
This list is for entertainment only, not professional advice.
Related resources:
- Movies about divorce
- Songs about divorce
- Podcasts about divorce
- Books about divorce
- Create a self-care plan with our easy-to-use worksheet.
