Craving more messy romance after ‘Too Much’? Start here
Craving more messy romance after ‘Too Much’? Start here
If you’re still not over Lena Dunham’s latest, these picks will ease the heartbreak.
Rom-coms are my go-to genre — always have been. There’s just something about falling in love with a show at the same time the characters are falling for each other. And when it ends? Total heartbreak. That’s the vibe with “Too Much,” Lena Dunham’s new series about a heartbroken American and a low-key London musician who find themselves tangled in a love story neither of them planned for. It’s quiet, honest, and a little awkward (in the best way), with the kind of emotional pull that sneaks up on you. So if that ending left you feeling adrift, here are a few more shows that might just fill the gap and get you back in love.
Too Much
When a heartbroken New Yorker moves to London hoping for a love story, she falls for an indie musician who’s anything but the typical romantic hero.
Loved “Too Much”? Watch: “Nobody Wants This”
“Nobody Wants This” is my favorite current rom-com TV show on right now, in part because it’s a romance that actually feels adult. Kristen Bell stars as Joanne, a sharp, unapologetic podcaster who’s built her brand on knowing exactly what she wants… until she meets Noah (Adam Brody), a rabbi who’s just as thoughtful, just as stubborn, and just as unsure about how relationships are supposed to work. Their connection isn’t fireworks right away, though. It’s slower, quieter, and way more charged… in the best way.
I love that this show lets the romance breathe. The chemistry between Bell and Brody is legit, but the show also gives them space to clash, rethink things, and figure out what love looks like when you’ve already been through some stuff. It’s funny, honest, and doesn’t fall into the usual will-they-won’t-they tropes. If “Too Much” left you wanting more awkward, grown-up romance with real stakes, start here.
Nobody Wants This
An agnostic sex podcaster and a newly single rabbi fall in love, but can their relationship survive their wildly different lives and meddling families?
Watch next: “Dollface”
“Dollface” brings a lot of the same emotional honesty as “Too Much,” just turned up a little louder. Kat Dennings plays Jules, a woman who gets dumped and suddenly realizes she’s lost touch with all her friends. The show follows her journey to reconnect with her old crew, but it does it through this wild, surreal lens — like, talking cats and weird fantasy sequences kind of surreal. It’s super stylized but also really relatable if you’ve ever had to rebuild your social life from scratch.
“Dollface” really nails modern friendship (especially female friendship) and all the weird rules, awkward reunions, and unspoken expectations that come with it. It’s funny, it’s chaotic, and it’s packed with a great cast (Brenda Song, Shay Mitchell, and Esther Povitsky absolutely crush it). The romance stuff is there, but it’s the friendships that really drive the show. Check it out.
Dollface
After being dumped by her longtime boyfriend, a young woman must deal with her own imagination in order to literally and metaphorically re-enter the world of women, and rekindle the female friendships she left behind.
Watch next: “The Sex Lives of College Girls”
If you know me, you knew at some point a Mindy Kaling show was going to land on this list… and it has with “The Sex Lives of College Girls.” Created by Kaling and Justin Noble, it follows four freshman roommates at a small liberal arts college as they try (and mostly fail) to figure out who they are. There’s dorm drama, campus hookups, unexpected crushes, and plenty of awkward moments… but at the heart of it all is the growing friendship between Bela, Kimberly, Whitney, and Leighton.
This show is totally hilarious. And in Mindy Kaling’s style, it doesn’t shy away from the messiness of early adulthood, whether that’s bombing a final, getting ghosted, or realizing your roommate might be your only real friend. If you loved the emotional honesty of “Too Much” but want something a little faster-paced and louder, this one’s a no-brainer.
The Sex Lives of College Girls
Follow four college roommates as they arrive at New England’s prestigious Essex College. A bundle of contradictions and hormones, these girls are equal parts lovable and infuriating as they live out their new, free lives on campus.
Watch next: “Girls”
You can always go back to where it all started with “Girls.” This was Lena Dunham’s breakout series, and it laid the groundwork for the kind of messy, self-aware romance and identity struggles she dives into again in “Too Much.” Set in post-college Brooklyn, the show follows Hannah and her group of equally confused friends as they navigate work, love, friendships, and their own worst impulses… often all at the same time.
Like “Too Much,” “Girls” doesn’t sugarcoat anything. The characters can be frustrating (and even unlikable), the relationships are often uncomfortable, and the emotions are always raw. But that’s kind of the point. It’s about being lost in your twenties and trying to convince yourself you’ve got things figured out. Dunham brings the same tone of humor-meets-heartbreak here, but it’s louder, a little grittier, and way more chaotic. If you loved “Too Much,” it’s a natural show to revisit and still holds up more than a decade later.
Girls
The assorted humiliations, disasters and rare triumphs of four very different twenty-something girls: Hannah, an aspiring writer; Marnie, an art gallery assistant and cousins Jessa and Shoshanna.
More to watch after finishing ‘Too Much’:
‘Survival of the Thickest’ | Netflix
Survival of the Thickest
Black, plus-size and newly single, Mavis unexpectedly finds herself having to rebuild her life after putting all her eggs in one man’s basket, but she’s determined to not only survive but thrive with the support of her chosen family.
‘Heartstopper’ | Netflix
Heartstopper
Teens Charlie and Nick discover their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love.
‘Normal People’ | Hulu
Normal People
Marianne and Connell weave in and out of each other’s lives in this exploration of sex, power and the desire to love and be loved.
‘Bridgerton’ | Netflix
Bridgerton
Wealth, lust, and betrayal set in the backdrop of Regency era England, seen through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family.