Best tv shows like Secret Lives
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Salatut elämät is a Finnish television series that premiered on MTV3 on 25 January 1999. It was the first, and so far only, Finnish daily soap opera. During the series' 14-year run, over 2,500 episodes have been aired. On 17 August 2009, it was announced that Salatut elämät will be on the air until the spring 2015 making the series the second longest-lasting drama series of all time in Finland, only behind Yle TV1's Kotikatu. The series' storylines follow the daily lives of several families who live in the same apartment block in Helsinki. The series primarily centres around the residents of Pihlajakatu and its neighbouring areas. Only three of the original twenty characters Seppo, Ismo and Kalle, still remain in the series, and most of the series' current characters have made their debuts in 2008 or later. MTV3 also airs reruns of the series every weekend. In the summer, the channel airs reruns of the series; in the summer of 2011, episodes from the season 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 were aired. Four web spin-off series have been made; Romeo & Rafael Desperados in 2008, Lillukanvarsia in 2010–2011, Tuuliranta in 2011–2012 and "Young man cash man" in 2013.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Finland
Duration: 21 min
Plot tags: brutal, social, absurd, suspenseful, soap opera, cliffhanger, sexploitation film
Best tv shows and movies like Secret Lives (1999):
Similar in 86%
Hotel Cæsar (1998)
Plot Summary:
Hotel Cæsar is a Norwegian soap opera that has been broadcast Monday to Friday on TV 2 since 1998. It was created by Swedish duo Peter Emanuel Falck and Christian Wikander. The show consists of more than 2,500 episodes, making it the longest running drama in television in Scandinavia.
IMDB Rating: 2.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Norway
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
The Heights (2019)
Plot Summary:
A groundbreaking serial about a community trying to protect its way of life, while under the constant threat of gentrification and the social stratification of its neighbourhood.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 415
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: soap opera
Similar in 84%
The Heart Is Never Wrong (2019)
Plot Summary:
The series centers around the love story between Aristóteles and Temo, who leave Oaxaca to start a new life together in Mexico City.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 97
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration:
Plot tags: captivating, entertaining, telenovela
Similar in 86%
Perdona Nuestros Pecados (2017)
Plot Summary:
The story of a powerful family of the Chilean high aristocracy in the decade of the 50's. A clan led by the fearsome Armando Quiroga, where intrigue, suspense and romance build a story of passion in times of hypocrisy.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 222
Genere: Drama
Country: Chile
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, sexy, touching, suspense, suspenseful, telenovela
Similar in 86%
Life (2020)
Plot Summary:
Follow the lives and woes of the residents of a Manchester house divided into four different flats. Gemma Foster's neighbour, Emma, now goes by the name of Belle, looking to start a new life. Three other interconnected stories tell a tale of love, loss, birth, death, the ordinary, the extraordinary, and everything in between.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 355 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, touching, unusual plot structure, captivating, lyrical, non-linear
Similar in 83%
Breaking Point (2011)
Plot Summary:
BREAKING POINT follows a group of friends dealing with dreams, triumphs, and heartaches as day-to-day transitions and setbacks threaten their relationships and livelihoods.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 30
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 10 min
Plot tags: soap opera
Similar in 79%
Rederiet (1992)
Plot Summary:
Rederiet was a long-running Swedish soap opera that aired on Sveriges Television between 1992 and 2002. The cast featured many popular and renowned Swedish actors, and the show has often been referred to as Sweden's version of Dynasty. The 45-minute episodes were broadcast weekly on Thursday nights on the public-service channel SVT1 and normally had between one and two million viewers. For ten years, Rederiet was the number-one rated show on Swedish television, along with the rival TV4 show Tre Kronor. The competition for viewers can be compared to that between Dynasty and Dallas. Rederiet also gained popularity in Finland on YLE TV2, and the show was a hit in Norway too on TV2. The first season of the show was also sold to Egypt. The later seasons of the series were produced in collaboration with YLE, which led most notably to Finnish actor Åke Lindman appearing in the series. Rapper Ken Ring also appeared as an extra in the show in 1996. On April Fools' Day 1993 SVT News announced that Mel Gibson was to play a lead role in the series. Gibson himself was interviewed and confirmed the information. It was later revealed that the whole event had been a joke.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden, Finland
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: soap opera
Similar in 82%
Passions (1999)
Plot Summary:
Passions is an American television soap opera which aired on NBC from July 5, 1999 to September 7, 2007 and on The 101 Network from September 17, 2007 to August 7, 2008. Passions follows the lives and loves, and various romantic and paranormal adventures of the residents of Harmony. Story-lines center around the interactions among members of its multi-racial core families — the African American Russells, white Cranes and Bennetts, and half-Mexican half-Irish Lopez-Fitzgeralds — as well as the supernatural including town witch Tabitha Lenox. Created by writer James E. Reilly and produced by NBC Studios, the series was subsequently picked up by direct broadcast satellite service DirecTV, which broadcast new episodes airing on its exclusive channel The 101. In December 2007, DirecTV decided not to renew its contract for the series, and the studio was unable to sell the show elsewhere. The final episode aired on DirecTV on August 7, 2008.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: soap opera, tense, humorous, semi serious, campy
Similar in 76%
Promised Land (1996)
Plot Summary:
Promised Land is an American drama series which aired on CBS from 1996 to 1999. It is a spin-off from another series, Touched by an Angel.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 746
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
Love - Distance (2020)
Plot Summary:
It is early summer in 2020 at a time when social interaction is restricted and many people are spending time at home. Six people living in an apartment building meet and find themselves relating to each other. Two of them are a couple who have been married for three years – Takiguchi Miwa, a magazine editor who works from home, and her husband Akira, a video producer. They look forward to each day despite the changes in their lives. Akira’s daily routine is to watch the videos of a popular trio on NewTube. The three members actually live on the same floor of the apartment building. Asano Chiaki, a young photographer who lives next door, lost his job due to the coronavirus. He has been spending his days taking photos from the rooftop or verandah, capturing beauty amid the mundane daily life. One day, when he steps out onto the verandah, he sees Miwa watering her flowers on the verandah next door and is attracted to her.
IMDB Rating:
IMDB Votes:
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 9 min
Plot tags: sentimental, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 80%
Unauthorized Living (2018)
Plot Summary:
When a Galician shipper and drug lord hiding his Alzheimer's disease plans to retire, his second-in-command plots to steal the empire from the heir.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: emotional, inspirational, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, meditative
Similar in 88%
Dynasty (1981)
Plot Summary:
The saga of a wealthy Denver family in the oil business: Blake Carrington, the patriarch; Krystle, his former secretary and wife; his children: Adam, lost in childhood after a kidnapping; Fallon, pampered and spoiled; Steven, openly gay; and Amanda, hidden from him by his ex-wife, the conniving Alexis. Most of the show features the conflict between 2 large corporations, Blake's Denver Carrington and Alexis' ColbyCo.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: soap opera, captivating, realistic, serious, enigmatic, retro, sex comedy, relaxing, saga, telenovela
Similar in 79%
Wicked Wicked Games (2006)
Plot Summary:
Wicked Wicked Games is a telenovela that debuted on December 6, 2006 on the American television network MyNetworkTV. Twentieth Television produced 63 episodes to air weekdays. The limited-run serial was directed by Terry Cunningham, Dennis Dimster, P. David Ebersole, Jeff Hare and Jeremy Stanford. It focuses on a bitter, obsessed woman's vendetta against her former lover. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has not announced plans to release this series on DVD and/or Blu-ray.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 302
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, atmospheric, psychological, serious, saga
Similar in 76%
My Home My Destiny (2019)
Plot Summary:
The house where you were born even decides who you love and who you marry. First the mothers take the pen in his hand and start writing.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Neighbours (1985)
Plot Summary:
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems together. Seven decided to commission the show following the success of Watson's Sons and Daughters, which aired on the network. Although successful in Melbourne, Neighbours underperformed in the Sydney market and struggled for months before Seven cancelled it. The show was immediately bought by rival network Ten. After taking over production of the show, the new network had to build replica sets because Seven destroyed the originals to prevent its rival from obtaining them. Ten began screening Neighbours on 20 January 1986, taking off where the previous series left off and commencing with episode 171. Neighbours has since become the longest running drama series in Australian television and in 2005, it was inducted collectively into the Logie Hall of Fame. On 11 January 2011, Neighbours moved to Ten's new digital channel, Eleven. The show's storylines concern the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in Erinsborough, a fictional suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The series primarily centres around the residents of Ramsay Street, a short cul-de-sac, and its neighbouring areas, the Lassiters complex, which includes a bar, hotel, cafe, news office and park. Neighbours began with three families created by Watson – the Ramsays, the Robinsons and the Clarkes. Watson said that he wanted to show three families who are friends living in a small street. The Robinsons and the Ramsays had a long history and were involved in an ongoing rivalry. Pin Oak Court, in Vermont South, is the real cul-de-sac that has doubled for Ramsay Street since 1985. All of the houses featured are real and the residents allow Neighbours to shoot external scenes in their gardens. The interior scenes are filmed at the Global Television studios in Forest Hill.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sentimental, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 81%
Days of Our Lives (1965)
Plot Summary:
The Horton and Brady broods endure the romantic trials of life in Salem, a Midwestern hamlet filled with evil geniuses, star-crossed lovers and a rich family history.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: soap opera, realistic, sentimental, serious, emotional, campy
Similar in 86%
Home and Away (1988)
Plot Summary:
Home and Away is set in the fictional town of Summer Bay, a coastal town in New South Wales, and follows the personal and professional lives of the people living in the area. The show initially focused on the Fletcher family, Pippa and Tom Fletcher and their five foster children Frank Morgan, Carly Morris, Steven Matheson, Lynn Davenport and Sally Keating, who would go on to become one of the show's longest-running characters. The show also originally and currently focuses on the Stewart family. During the early 2000s, the central storylines focused on the Sutherlands and later, the Hunters. Home and Away had proved popular when it premiered in 1988 and had risen to become a hit in Australia, and after only a few weeks, the show tackled its first major and disturbing storyline, the rape of Carly Morris; it was one of the first shows to feature such storylines during the early timeslot. H&A has tackled many adult-themed and controversial storylines; something rarely found in its restricted timeslot.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sentimental, serious, emotional, realistic, saga, telenovela
Similar in 88%
Greenleaf (2016)
Plot Summary:
The unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family and their sprawling Memphis megachurch, where scandalous secrets and lies are as numerous as the faithful. Born of the church, the Greenleaf family love and care for each other, but beneath the surface lies a den of iniquity—greed, adultery, sibling rivalry and conflicting values—that threatens to tear apart the very core of their faith that holds them together.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: emotional, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing, talky, soap opera
Similar in 78%
Spyder Games (2001)
Plot Summary:
Spyder Games is a television series that was broadcast on MTV from June 18, 2001 through September 20, 2001. MTV's second foray into the soap opera format following the run of the anthology series Undressed, the series was originally called Spyder Web in development. Originally intended for a 3 pm time slot, Spyder Games ultimately debuted at 7 pm because of its racy content. The final episodes, originally scheduled to air during the week of 10 September 2001, were postponed by a week because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The last episode was written as cliffhanger, but MTV did not pick the series up for a second season.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 165
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, soap opera, captivating, disturbing, sexy, semi serious
Similar in 77%
Dynasty (2017)
Plot Summary:
The reboot follows two of America’s wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children focusing on Fallon Carrington, the daughter of billionaire Blake Carrington, and her soon-to-be stepmother, Cristal, a Hispanic woman marrying into this WASP family and America’s most powerful class.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: artsy, captivating, soap opera, cynical
Similar in 89%
Big Love (2006)
Plot Summary:
The story of Bill Henrickson and his life in suburban Salt Lake City, balancing the needs of his three wives -- Barb, Nicki and Margene-- their seven kids, three new houses and the opening of his newest hardware store. When disturbing news arrives about Bill's father, he is forced to reconnect with his polygamist parents who live on a fundamentalist compound in rural Utah.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: light, entertaining, social, melancholic, epic, grindhouse, offbeat, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 82%
Night and Day (2001)
Plot Summary:
Night and Day is a British soap opera which was produced by Granada Television for LWT and ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. Its theme-song, "Always & Forever", was sung by Kylie Minogue.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 109
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: sitcom, psychological, sincere, captivating, soap opera
Similar in 79%
The Family (2016)
Plot Summary:
This thriller follows the return of a politician’s young son who was presumed dead after disappearing over a decade earlier. As the mysterious young man is welcomed back into his family, suspicions emerge — is he really who he says he is?.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, rough, suspenseful, bleak, melancholic, grindhouse
Similar in 85%
Swingtown (2008)
Plot Summary:
This period and relationship drama takes viewers back to the 1970s for a look at suburban households testing the murky waters of sexual revolution following swingers throughout open marriages, "key parties" and other swingers extravaganzas.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 547 min
Plot tags: sexy, realistic, serious, stylized, contemplative, sexual, period drama
Similar in 83%
Torn Apart (2006)
Plot Summary:
The story of a love relationship between a brother and sister and an eventual breakup that will forever change their lives.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 246
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: erotic, sincere, touching, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 81%
Coming Out (2013)
Plot Summary:
The explosive lives, loves and losses of an intermingled group of Montréalers are explored as they confront the subject of difference. Managing a modern relationship can be a mess. Single? Attached? Married? Divorced? Open? Closed? The most common answer is ‘It’s complicated.’.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 99
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, gay cinema
Similar in 75%
The Colbys (1985)
Plot Summary:
The Colbys is an American prime time soap opera, which originally aired on ABC from November 20, 1985 to March 26, 1987. Produced by Aaron Spelling, it was a spin-off of Dynasty, which had been the highest rated series for the 1984–1985 U.S. television season. The Colbys revolved around another wealthy, upper-class family, who were distant relatives of the Carringtons of Dynasty and who owned a large multi-national corporation. Intended to surpass its predecessor in opulence, the series' producers were handed an immensely high budget for the era and cast a handful of well-known movie stars among its leads, including Charlton Heston, Barbara Stanwyck, Katharine Ross and Ricardo Montalban. However, The Colbys was ultimately a ratings disappointment, and was canceled after two seasons.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: soap opera, exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, saga, campy
Similar in 79%
When We Rise (2017)
Plot Summary:
The personal and political struggles, setbacks and triumphs of a diverse family of LGBT men and women who helped pioneer one of the last legs of the U.S. Civil Rights movement from its turbulent infancy in the 20th century to the once unfathomable successes of today. The period piece tells the history of the gay rights movement, starting with the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 341 min
Plot tags: tense, unusual plot structure, suspense, lgbt cinema, suspenseful, political, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
Patrick Melrose (2018)
Plot Summary:
Based on the Patrick Molrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 302 min
Plot tags: ironic, psychological, suspense, captivating, surreal, entertaining, dark, anime, therapeutic, interesting
Similar in 84%
Queen of Hearts (2019)
Plot Summary:
Anne, a brilliant and dedicated advocacy lawyer specialising in society’s most vulnerable, children and young adults, lives what appears to be the picture-perfect life with her doctor-husband, Peter, and their twin daughters. When her estranged teenage stepson, Gustav, moves in with them, Anne’s escalating desire leads her down a dangerous rabbit hole which, once exposed, unleashes a sequence of events destined to destroy her world.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, sexy, emotional, melancholic, disturbing, erotic, absurd, controversial, crying, tragic