25 shows that will make you happy to be single this summer
By Sundi Rose
Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce
This sleeper gem has been on the top of my watch list since it’s debut in 2014. I loved it even when I wasn’t a girlfriend going through a divorce, and now that I’m on the other side of my own split, I love it even more.
Consider it a Sex and the City for a more mature audience, with kids, anxieties, and Botox. The characters are still improbably glamorous and sophisticated, but it takes on a lot more than just “getting a man.”
That’s not to say that these ladies don’t have their fair share of romantic entanglements, some far more salacious than others. This show takes a more holistic look at what it means to be newly divorced, of a certain age, and trying to balance all sorts of life obstacles, while also drinking fancy cocktails and wearing designer clothes.
The main character, Abby, opens the series as a self-help writer of the (real life) Girlfriends’ Guide book series, and she is going through a divorce. At an event, Abby accidentally says it would be easier if her estranged husband would “just die” instead of having to go through the divorce.
It goes viral and she’s thrust into the media cycle as a “psycho” and “angry, difficult woman.” Anyone who has ever gone through a divorce can understand this sentiment. Most of us never would actually wish death on a significant other, but it gets pretty grim in the trenches of a separation and settlement talks.
The tone of the show is hopeful and as cheesy as it sounds, really uplifting. It doesn’t sugar-coat what it means to be single in your 40s. Instead, it offers a cheeky look at how it could be if we didn’t take ourselves (and all our woes) so seriously, even if they feel so grave at the time.
Where to watch: The first four seasons are available on Netflix, and you even get the treat of Retta a series regular in season 3. The fifth, and sadly the last, airs on Bravo this summer.