Best tv shows like Avonlea
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
After her father is accused of embezzlement, wealthy Sara Stanley is sent to live with her deceased mother's relatives on Prince Edward Island. While there, she must adjust to life in the small rural town of Avonlea, learn to cope with her infamous aunts, Hetty and Olivia, and learn to get along with her jealous cousins who become victims and cohorts in Sara’s antics and misadventures. Everything comes to a head when the adults are called away and her older cousin, Felicity, is left in charge – not knowing what troubles will ensue. Soon Sara must make a heart wrenching decision: whether to stay in Avonlea or return to her father. Through the combination of the episodes “The Journey Begins” and “Proof of the Pudding” this digitally-mastered movie was created as an introduction to the award-winning “Road to Avonlea” series.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family, Mystery, Romance
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, semi serious, soap opera, realistic, saga, period drama, vintage
Best tv shows and movies like Avonlea (1990):
Similar in 84%
Picket Fences (1992)
Plot Summary:
Picket Fences is an American television drama about the residents of the town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS television network in the United States. It sometimes struggled to maintain a stable prime-time audience and had fluctuating ratings, due in part to its Friday night time slot. In its first season on the air it placed 80th in the prime-time Nielsen ratings and in its second season it moved to 66th. The show's exteriors were shot in the L.A. suburb of Monrovia, California, with many of the townspeople appearing in the background of episodes.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Family, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: detective, touching, humorous, gloomy, semi serious, odd
Similar in 78%
Little House on the Prairie (2005)
Plot Summary:
Little House on the Prairieis a TV miniseries based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 653
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 255 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, period piece, epic, period drama
Similar in 87%
The Kids of Degrassi Street (1979)
Plot Summary:
The Kids of Degrassi Street is a Canadian children's TV show that aired from 1979 to 1986, and is the first in the Degrassi series, about the lives of a group of children living on Degrassi Street in Toronto, Canada. It grew out of four short films: Ida Makes a Movie, Cookie Goes to the Hospital, Irene Moves In and Noel Buys a Suit, which originally aired as after-school specials on CBC Television in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982, respectively. The show was acclaimed for its realistic depiction of every day children's lives and tribulations, and remains memorable to many Canadians because of this. Kids of Degrassi Street featured many of the same actors who would later appear on Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, including Stacie Mistysyn, Neil Hope, Anais Granofsky, Sarah Charlesworth and others. However, their character names and families were different, so this series cannot technically be seen as an immediate precursor to the later shows.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 414
Genere: Family, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 89%
When Hope Calls (2019)
Plot Summary:
The story of sisters Lillian and Grace who open an orphanage in the 1916 Western town of Brookfield. Caught between the traditions of cattle ranchers and the ambitions of a growing town, they strive to find romance and happiness while overcoming the challenges of helping the children in their care.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: light, sincere, sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, period drama
Similar in 87%
The Waltons (1972)
Plot Summary:
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show is centered on a family in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot aired as a television movie entitled The Homecoming: A Christmas Story and was broadcast on December 19, 1971. Beginning in September 1972, the series originally aired on CBS for a total of nine seasons. After the series was canceled in 1981, three television movie sequels followed in 1982, with three more in the 1990s. The Waltons was produced by Lorimar Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in syndication.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: absurd, sitcom, juvenile, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, historical drama
Similar in 88%
Emily of New Moon (1998)
Plot Summary:
Emily of New Moon is a Canadian television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2000. The series originally aired in the United States on the Cookie Jar Toons block on This TV and it is currently seen in Canada on the Viva, Bravo! and Vision TV cable channels. The series, produced by Salter Street Films, was based on the Emily of New Moon series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The series consisted of three seasons of thirteen episodes and one season of seven episodes, for a total of forty-six. The executive producers were Micheline Charest, Michael Donovan, and Ronald Weinberg. The series starred Martha MacIsaac as the titular orphan Emily Starr. Susan Clark and Sheila McCarthy played Emily's aunts Elizabeth and Laura, who had taken on the responsibility of raising Emily following her father's death, and Stephen McHattie played her cousin Jimmy. Susan Clark left the series after the first season when her character, Elizabeth, was killed off. Recurring cast included Chip Ciupka as Mr. Carpenter, Peter Donaldson as Ian Bowles, Richard Donat as Dr. Burnley, Kris Lemche as Perry Miller, John Neville as Uncle Malcolm, Jessica Pellerin as Ilse Burnley, Shawn Roberts as Teddy Kent, and Linda Thorson as Cousin Isabel.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 515
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, period drama
Similar in 76%
War of the Buttons (2011)
Plot Summary:
1960. The thrilling battles waged by a band of kids from two rival villages in the southern French countryside.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Family
Country: France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, feel good, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 81%
Eloise at Christmastime (2003)
Plot Summary:
Eloise insists on helping with yuletide nuptials.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 79%
Heartland (2007)
Plot Summary:
Life is hard on the Flemings' ranch in the Alberta foothills where abused or neglected horses find refuge with a kind, hard-working family. Debts abound and the bank is about to foreclose. Can they keep the ranch running?.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Canada
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, touching, sentimental, sincere, medical drama, realistic
Similar in 84%
Everwood (2002)
Plot Summary:
After the death of his wife, world-class neurosurgeon Dr. Andrew Brown leaves Manhattan and moves his family to the small town of Everwood, Colorado. There he becomes a small-town doctor and learns parenting on the fly as he raises his talented but resentful 15-year-old son Ephram and his 9-year-old daughter Delia.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, serious, sincere, rough, suspenseful, medical drama, teen, light hearted
Similar in 75%
Family Ties (1982)
Plot Summary:
Former 1960s flower children Steven and Elyse Keaton raise their conservative son Alex, daughters Mallory and Jennifer, and later, youngest child Andrew.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, atmospheric, iconic, vintage
Similar in 80%
Good Luck Charlie (2010)
Plot Summary:
Good Luck Charlie is an American television sitcom, which premiered on April 4, 2010, on Disney Channel. The series was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, who wanted to create a program that would appeal to entire families, as opposed to only children. It focuses on a Denver family, the Duncans, as they try to adjust to the births of their fourth and fifth children, Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan and Toby Duncan. In each episode, Teddy Duncan creates a video diary containing advice for Charlie about their family and life as a teenager. Teddy tries to show Charlie what she might go through when she is older in the video diaries for future reference. Each video diary ends with Teddy saying the eponymous phrase, "Good luck, Charlie". Among other decisions, executives included adult-centric scenes and changed the series title from Oops to Love, Teddy and finally to Good Luck Charlie in order to ensure the series would appeal to all family members. Good Luck Charlie premiered on Disney Channel in the United States on April 4, 2010. It premiered in Canada on April 5, 2010, the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 14, 2010, and in Australia and New Zealand on July 23, 2010. Good Luck Charlie was renewed for a second season, with production beginning in August 2010 with a season premiere on February 20, 2011. A feature-length Christmas Disney Channel Original Movie based on the series entitled Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! began production in March 2011 for a December 2011 premiere.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: sitcom, feel good, humorous, witty, sentimental, realistic, semi serious, funny, fun, nostalgic
Similar in 85%
Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Plot Summary:
Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two African American boys from Harlem who are taken in by a rich white Park Avenue businessman named Phillip Drummond and his daughter Kimberly, for whom their deceased mother previously worked. During the first season and first half of the second season, Charlotte Rae also starred as the Drummonds' housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett. The series made stars out of child actors Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, and Dana Plato, and became known for the "very special episodes" in which serious issues such as racism, illegal drug use and child sexual abuse were dramatically explored. The lives of these stars were later plagued by legal troubles and drug addiction, as the stardom and success they achieved while on the show eluded them after the series was cancelled, with both Plato and Coleman having early deaths.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, sentimental, touching, realistic, humorous, semi serious, feel good, vintage
Similar in 90%
My Sweet Orange Tree (2012)
Plot Summary:
Zezé is an 8 year old boy who, although a naughty boy, has a good heart. He leads a very modest life, due to the fact that his father has been unemployed for a long time, and has the habit of having long conversations with a sweet orange tree which is in his backyard. Until one day he meets Portuga, a man who begins to help him and soon becomes his best friend.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Brazil
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, atmospheric, captivating, serious, realistic
Similar in 78%
The Adventures of Ociee Nash (2002)
Plot Summary:
Skyler Day stars as Ociee Nash, a spirited nine-year-old from rural Mississippi. Ociee's idyllic life is thrown into a tailspin when she's sent to live with her Aunt Mamie to become a "young lady". Ociee's true bravery, character, and spirit are put to the test in this uplifting family drama.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 412
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, semi serious, realistic, gothic, independent film, humorous
Similar in 82%
Heidi (1993)
Plot Summary:
After charming her reclusive grandfather and falling in love with the beautiful mountain he calls home, Heidi is uprooted and sent to Frankfurt where she befriends Klara, a young girl confined to a wheelchair.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA, Italy
Duration: 193 min
Plot tags: costume drama, sad, juvenile, feel good, emotional, semi serious, fairy tale, period drama
Similar in 83%
Eight Is Enough (1977)
Plot Summary:
Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled after syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book with the same name.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sitcom, sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 87%
When Calls The Heart (2014)
Plot Summary:
Elizabeth Thatcher, a young school teacher from a wealthy Eastern family, migrates from the big city to teach school in a small coal mining town in the west.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, serious, soap opera, period piece, light, romantic, captivating, inspirational
Similar in 75%
The Thorn Birds (1983)
Plot Summary:
This mini series covers 60 years in the lives of the Cleary family, brought from New Zealand to Australia to run their aunt Mary Carson's ranch. The story centers on their daughter, Meggie, and her love for the family's priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart. Meggie tries to forget Ralph by marrying dashing stockman Luke O'Neill, but she and Ralph are soon reunited, with tragic consequences for them both.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 460 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, family saga, emotional, captivating, serious, heartbreaking, romantic drama, historical drama, realistic
Similar in 76%
Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Plot Summary:
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, and Karen Grassle, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, feel good, serious, retro, soap opera, juvenile, historical drama, realistic
Similar in 90%
Anne of Avonlea (1987)
Plot Summary:
Anne Shirley, now a schoolteacher, has begun writing stories and collecting rejection slips. She makes the acquaintance of a handsome, rich, bachelor, chases a cow, and wins (to her chagrin) a baking soda company's writing contest. She acts as Diana's maid of honor, and refuses Gilbert Blythe's marriage proposal; which sends her to teach Kingsport Ladies' College, an exclusive girls school, where she meets opposition from one of the teachers, Miss Brooke, and the Pringle clan (one of whom is a rich, handsome bachelor). But while Anne enjoys the battle, and the friends she makes, she returns to Avonlea.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: Canada, USA, UK
Duration: 230 min
Plot tags: touching, period piece, feel good, humorous, sentimental, uplifting, sad, juvenile, romantic drama, realistic
Similar in 78%
Anne of Green Gables (1985)
Plot Summary:
At the turn of the century on Prince Edward Island, Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla decide to take on an orphan boy as help for their farm. But they get an unexpected jolt when they're mistakenly sent a girl instead: Anne Shirley. Anne's a dreamer with an unusual point of view, far removed from Marilla's pragmatic ways, and it's only on trial that Marilla agrees to keep Anne.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Canada, West Germany, USA
Duration: 199 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, period piece, emotional, humorous, feel good, inspirational, uplifting, entertaining, sad
Similar in 81%
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman is an American Western drama series created by Beth Sullivan and starring Jane Seymour who plays Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn, a physician who leaves Boston in search of adventure in the American West and who settles in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The television series ran on CBS for six seasons, from January 1, 1993 to May 16, 1998. In total, 150 episodes were produced, plus two television movies which were made after the series was cancelled. It aired in over 100 countries. Since 1997, reruns have been shown in syndication and on ABC Family, Ion Television, the Hallmark Channel, gmc, Eleven, CBS Drama and INSP.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Family, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, realistic, touching, medical drama, soap opera, juvenile, period drama, telenovela
Similar in 90%
Desperate Housewives (2004)
Plot Summary:
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama-mystery series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired Sundays at 9 P.M. Eastern/8 P.M. Central, on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012. Executive producer Cherry served as showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season included Bob Daily, George W. Perkins, John Pardee, Joey Murphy, David Grossman, and Larry Shaw. The main setting of the show was Wisteria Lane, a street in the fictional American town of 'Fairview' in the fictional 'Eagle State'. The show followed the lives of a group of women as seen through the eyes of a dead neighbor who committed suicide in the very first episode. The storyline covers thirteen years of the women's lives over eight seasons, set between the years 2004–2008, and later 2013–2017. They worked through domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their — at the surface — beautiful and seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood. The show featured an ensemble cast, headed by Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp, and Eva Longoria as Gabrielle Solis. Brenda Strong narrated the show as the deceased Mary Alice Young, appearing sporadically in flashbacks or dream sequences.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 137000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: witty, humorous, sexy, soap opera, sexual, stylized, exciting, cynical, biting, cliffhanger
Similar in 77%
Flicka (2006)
Plot Summary:
A headstrong 16 year old Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. Katy then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: talky, sentimental, touching, realistic, teen, feel good, road movie, sad, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 78%
Lassie (1994)
Plot Summary:
An update of the Lassie legend stars Thomas Guiry as a troubled city kid whose family retreats to the country, where he befriends the famous collie and changes for the better. Conflict develops when a ruthless sheep rancher causes trouble for everyone.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Family, Adventure
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, feel good, sweet, light, emotional, melancholic, semi serious, tear jerker, epic
Similar in 83%
Gilmore Girls (2000)
Plot Summary:
Set in the charming town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, the series follows the captivating lives of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, a mother/daughter pair who have a relationship most people only dream of.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 143000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: realistic, feel good, humorous, witty, talky, semi serious, light, satirical, deep, comedy drama
Similar in 89%
Boy Meets World (1993)
Plot Summary:
Boy Meets World is an American television sitcom that chronicles the coming of age events and everyday life-lessons of Cory Matthews, a Philadelphian who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the network's TGIF lineup. The entire series has been released on DVD, as well as on iTunes.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, feel good, semi serious, touching, sweet, teen comedy, nostalgic
Similar in 76%
Pollyanna (2003)
Plot Summary:
Pollyanna Whittier goes to live with her wealthy but bitter aunt after the tragic death of her father. Pollyanna shares a game her father taught her -- the 'Glad Game' -- in which everyone can find a silver lining in even the darkest cloud, and her sunny nature, good humor and determination to look on the bright side of life prove to have an astonishing effect on those around her. With the help of her orphaned friend, Jimmy Bean, she casts her spell on the grumpiest townsfolk of Beldingsville -- including the cynical shut-in Mrs. Snow, the morose millionaire Mr. Pendleton and the enigmatic Dr. Chilton. And Pollyanna masterminds the romance between her Aunt's maid, Nancy, and the handyman, Tim. It is only Aunt Polly, who cannot bring herself to embrace Pollyanna's innocence and joy. But all is not straightforward in Pollyanna's war against pessimism, since she must overcome a personal tragedy that threatens to banish "glad" from her vocabulary forever.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, uplifting, sentimental, realistic, semi serious, humorous, tear jerker, period drama, tearjerker
Similar in 87%
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008)
Plot Summary:
The Great Depression hits home for nine year old Kit Kittredge when her dad loses his business and leaves to find work. Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin stars as Kit, leading a splendid cast in the first ever "American Girl" theatrical movie. In order to keep their home, Kit and her mother must take in boarders - paying house - guests who turn out to be full of fascinating stories. When mother's lockbox containing all their money is stolen, Kit's new hobo friend Will is the prime suspect. Kit refuses to believe that Will would steal, and her efforts to sniff out the real story get her and friends into big trouble. The police say the robbery was an inside job, committed by someone they know. So if it wasn't Will, then who did it.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sentimental, melancholic, inspirational, stylized, feel good, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, crying