Best tv shows like The Wonder Years
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988, following ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII. The show achieved a spot in the Nielsen Top Thirty for four of its six seasons. TV Guide named the show one of the 20 best of the 1980s. After only six episodes aired, The Wonder Years won an Emmy for best comedy series in 1988. In addition, at age 13, Fred Savage became the youngest actor ever nominated as Outstanding Lead Actor for a Comedy Series. The show was also awarded a Peabody Award in 1989, for pushing the boundaries of the sitcom format and using new modes of storytelling. The series won 22 awards and was nominated for 54 more. In 1997, "My Father's Office" was ranked #29 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time, and in the 2009 revised list the pilot episode was ranked #43. The TV show is named after the band, The Wonder Years.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: touching, sitcom, sentimental, feel good, humorous, semi serious, realistic, atmospheric, sweet, sensitive
Best tv shows and movies like The Wonder Years (1988):
Similar in 89%
Switched at Birth (2011)
Plot Summary:
The story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother, while Daphne Vasquez, who lost her hearing at an early age due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a working-class neighborhood. Things come to a dramatic head when both families meet and struggle to learn how to live together for the sake of the girls.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, sentimental, captivating, realistic, teen, light, nostalgic
Similar in 81%
Family Matters (1989)
Plot Summary:
A long-running dramedy centering on the Winslow family, a middle-class African American family living in Chicago, and their pesky next-door neighbor, ultra-nerd Steve Urkel. A spin-off of Perfect Strangers.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, scenic, game show, hilarious, feel good, realistic, witty, semi serious, surprise ending
Similar in 88%
Liv and Maddie (2013)
Plot Summary:
The exploits of identical twins Liv, a former television star back home in Wisconsin and in the process of adding movie star to her credits, as well as beginning to focus on her music career, and Maddie, an outstanding student and basketball phenomenon recovering from an injured knee. The series centers on the unbreakable bond the twins share though they have wildly different personalities. To complicate their teenage lives, both parents work at their high school and their younger brothers are always stirring up trouble.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, sentimental, feel good, not serious, teen, realistic, teen comedy, nostalgic
Similar in 89%
Wizards of Waverly Place (2007)
Plot Summary:
Alex, Justin and Max Russo are not your ordinary kids - they're wizards in training! While their parents run the Waverly Sub Station, the siblings struggle to balance their ordinary lives while learning to master their extraordinary powers.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, stylized, not serious, sitcom, teen, slapstick, parody, urban fantasy, nostalgic
Similar in 87%
Degrassi Junior High (1987)
Plot Summary:
Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian CBC Television teen drama series that was produced from 1987-1989 as part of the Degrassi series. The show followed the lives of a group of students attending the titular fictional school. Many episodes tackled difficult topics such as drug use, child abuse, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, homophobia, racism, and divorce, and the series was acclaimed for its sensitive and realistic portrayal of the challenges of teenage life. The cast comprised mainly non-professional actors, which added to the show's sense of realism. The series featured many of the same actors who had starred on The Kids of Degrassi Street a few years earlier, including Stacie Mistysyn, Neil Hope, Anais Granofsky, Sarah Charlesworth and others. However, their character names and family situations had been changed, so Degrassi Junior High cannot, therefore, be considered a direct spinoff. The legal counsel for all the episodes was Stephen Stohn who later became the executive producer of Degrassi: The Next Generation. The series was filmed at the unused Vincent Massey Public School in Etobicoke, Ontario.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, teen, gloomy, soap opera, telenovela
Similar in 82%
The Brady Bunch (1969)
Plot Summary:
When widower Mike Brady marries a lovely lady widow Carol Ann, their two families become one. These are the misadventures of this new couple, their six children, a dog named Tiger, and quirky housekeeper Alice.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Comedy, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, retro, sentimental, feel good, humorous, realistic, not serious, campy
Similar in 85%
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 78%
The Cosby Show (1984)
Plot Summary:
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on the Huxtable family, an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York. According to TV Guide, the show "was TV's biggest hit in the 1980s, and almost single-handedly revived the sitcom genre and NBC's ratings fortunes". Originally, the show had been pitched to ABC, which rejected it. Entertainment Weekly stated that The Cosby Show helped to make possible a larger variety of shows based on people of African descent, from In Living Color to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The Cosby Show was based on comedy routines in Cosby's standup act, which were based on his family life. Other sitcoms, such as Home Improvement and Everybody Loves Raymond, would later follow that pattern. The show spawned the spin-off A Different World, which ran for six seasons from 1987 to 1993.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Comedy, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, sitcom, feel good, realistic, sentimental, witty, semi serious, hood, telenovela, vintage
Similar in 84%
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 85%
Growing Pains (1985)
Plot Summary:
Growing Pains is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, Long Island, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, sentimental, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, iconic, nostalgic
Similar in 86%
My So-Called Life (1994)
Plot Summary:
The life of a 15 year-old high school student, whose angst-ridden journey through adolescence, friendship, parents, and life teaches her what it means to grow up.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 912 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, talky, teen, romantic, anime, clever
Similar in 82%
Baby Daddy (2012)
Plot Summary:
Baby Daddy follows Ben, a young man in his early 20s living the life of a bachelor in New York City with his buddy, Tucker, and his brother, Danny. Their lives are turned upside down when they come home one day to find a baby girl left on the doorstep by an ex-girlfriend of Ben's. After much deliberation, Ben decides to raise the baby with the help of his friends and his protective and sometimes over-bearing mother, Bonnie, and his close female friend, Riley.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, semi serious, sincere, realistic, touching, light, feel good, funny, captivating
Similar in 90%
Full House (1987)
Plot Summary:
Full House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife Pam, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, sentimental, touching, realistic, feel good, semi serious, captivating, game show, sensitive
Similar in 81%
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 75%
Victorious (2010)
Plot Summary:
Victorious is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon from March 27, 2010 until February 2, 2013. The series revolves around aspiring singer Tori Vega, a teenager who attends a performing arts high school called Hollywood Arts High School, after taking her older sister Trina's place in a showcase while getting into screwball situations on a daily basis. On her first day at Hollywood Arts, she meets Andre Harris, Robbie Shapiro, Rex Powers, Jade West, Cat Valentine, and Beck Oliver. The series premiered on March 27, 2010 after the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards. The first soundtrack for the series, Victorious, was released on August 2, 2011. The series won for Favorite TV Show award at the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards and 2013 Kids' Choice Awards, even beating out iCarly. Victorious has had four Emmy nominations. Its second soundtrack, Victorious 2.0, was released on June 5, 2012. On August 10, 2012, Victoria Justice stated that the series would not be renewed. Justice also said that Victorious was the number one show on Nick and she did not know why it was cancelled. Dan Schneider added in a blog post that Nickelodeon often ends shows after about 60 episodes. Even though he and the cast would have been willing to shoot more episodes, the network decided to end the series. He also denied rumors that Victorious is ending because of its new spin-off show, Sam & Cat. Although the Victorious cast only filmed three seasons, when the series was cancelled, Nickelodeon split the third season in half, making a fourth season. The third and final soundtrack was released on November 6, 2012 and entitled Victorious 3.0. The first single from the new soundtrack is called "L.A. Boyz" and the music video was released on October 18, 2012. The series finale "Victori-Yes" aired on February 2, 2013.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: feel good, sitcom, semi serious, funny, realistic, humorous, black comedy, fun, nostalgic
Similar in 86%
Malcolm in the Middle (2000)
Plot Summary:
A gifted young teen tries to survive life with his dimwitted, dysfunctional family.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 140000
Genere: Comedy, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, witty, realistic, funny, neurotic, light, exciting, psychedelic, anime
Similar in 75%
Sister, Sister (1994)
Plot Summary:
Sister, Sister is an American television sitcom starring identical twins Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry. The premise of the show was that the girls were separated and adopted at birth, one to a single mother, one to a single father, and have met again after 14 years apart. Created by Kim Bass, Gary Gilbert and Fred Shafferman, the series was produced by de Passe Entertainment and Paramount Network Television. The cast, along with Tia and Tamera Mowry, also included Jackee Harry, Marques Houston and Tim Reid, with RonReaco Lee and Deon Richmond joining the cast in the fifth season. The series ran from April 1, 1994 to April 28, 1995 on ABC, and was canceled by the network after two seasons, due to poor ratings. The series was picked up by The WB and aired on that network from September 6, 1995, through May 23, 1999.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious, realistic, sweet, telenovela, teen comedy, nostalgic
Similar in 78%
Moesha (1996)
Plot Summary:
Moesha was an American sitcom series that aired on the UPN network from January 23, 1996 to May 14, 2001. The series stars R&B singer Brandy Norwood as Moesha Mitchell, a high school student living with her family in the Leimert Park neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles. It was originally ordered as a pilot for the CBS network's 1995-1996 television season, who rejected. It was then picked up by UPN, who aired it as a mid-season replacement. It went on to become the biggest success for the nascent network and one of the greatest hits over the course of the network's entire run.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, sweet, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, multicultural, smart, clever, black cinema
Similar in 77%
Saved by the Bell (1989)
Plot Summary:
Saved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The series was a retool of the Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss. The show follows the exploits of a group of friends and their principal, and although the series primarily showcases light-hearted comedic situations, it occasionally touches on serious social issues, such as drug use, driving under the influence, homelessness, divorce, death, and environmental issues. This made Saved by the Bell a precursor to later shows that introduce young audiences to critical moral dilemmas. Saved by the Bell stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies, Dennis Haskins, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Mario Lopez. Saved by the Bell was named one of the "20 Best School Shows of All Time" by AOL TV. The show's popularity spawned two spin-off series to follow: Saved by the Bell: The College Years, a prime time series that follows several of the original characters to college, and Saved by the Bell: The New Class, a Saturday morning series that follows a new group of students at Bayside High School. The series also spawned two TV movies and a short-lived comic book series. Saved by the Bell also aired in Australia on Channel Seven, and from 1990 until 2004 on Nickelodeon. Reruns have aired in local syndication and on MTV2.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Comedy, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, feel good, sweet, humorous, realistic, witty, not serious, iconic, teen comedy, nostalgic
Similar in 88%
Drake & Josh (2004)
Plot Summary:
Drake & Josh is an American television sitcom created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. The series follows the lives of two teenage boys with opposing personalities, Drake Parker and Josh Nichols, who become stepbrothers. Both actors had played previous roles in The Amanda Show along with Nancy Sullivan, who plays Audrey, Drake and Megan's mother of the series. Miranda Cosgrove plays Audrey's daughter, Megan, Drake's mischievous younger sister and Jonathan Goldstein plays Walter, Josh's father. The series' opening theme song I Found a Way is written by Drake Bell and Backhouse Mike and performed by Bell. The series ran for four seasons and 60 episodes from January 11, 2004 to December 5, 2008 and has received critical acclaim. There were also three TV films: Drake & Josh Go Hollywood premiered on Friday, January 6, 2006; Really Big Shrimp premiered on Friday, August 3, 2007; and Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh premiered on Friday, December 5, 2008. Reruns of the series currently air on Nickelodeon and TeenNick.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Comedy, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, feel good, captivating, realistic, anime, hilarious, semi serious, slapstick comedy, slapstick
Similar in 82%
The Goldbergs (2013)
Plot Summary:
Before there were parenting blogs, trophies for showing up, and peanut allergies, there was a simpler time called the '80s. For geeky 11-year old Adam these were his wonder years and he faced them armed with a video camera to capture all the crazy. The Goldbergs are a loving family like any other, just with a lot more yelling.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: retro, humorous, feel good, realistic, sentimental, sitcom, hilarious, light, entertaining, funny
Similar in 76%
That '70s Show (1998)
Plot Summary:
Crank up the 8-track and flash back to a time when platform shoes and puka shells were all the rage in this hilarious retro-sitcom. For Eric, Kelso, Jackie, Hyde, Donna and Fez, a group of high school teens who spend most of their time hanging out in Eric’s basement, life in the ‘70s isn’t always so groovy. But between trying to figure out the meaning of life, avoiding their parents, and dealing with out-of-control hormones, they’ve learned one thing for sure: they’ll always get by with a little help from their friends.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 187000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, sentimental, realistic, not serious, funny, mystical, parody, light, atmospheric
Similar in 77%
Lizzie McGuire (2001)
Plot Summary:
Lizzie McGuire is an American live-action teen sitcom, which features an animated version of the title character performing soliloquy. The animated sequences were interspersed with the show's live-action sequences. It premiered on the Disney Channel on January 12, 2001 following the premiere of Zenon: The Zequel and ended February 14, 2004. A total of 65 episodes were produced and aired. Its target demographic was preteens and adolescents. The series won Favorite TV Show at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in 2002 and 2003.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, feel good, witty, semi serious, realistic, teen comedy, nostalgic
Similar in 85%
Now and Then (1995)
Plot Summary:
Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty in this tender coming-of-age tale, four childhood girlfriends -- Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta -- recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: feel good, emotional, touching, teen, semi serious, humorous, cult classic, sentimental, retro, 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 88%
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 80%
Freaks and Geeks (1999)
Plot Summary:
High school mathlete Lindsay Weir rebels and begins hanging out with a crowd of burnouts (the "freaks"), while her brother Sam Weir navigates a different part of the social universe with his nerdy friends (the "geeks").
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 151000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: humorous, light, semi serious, sitcom, dark comedy, teen, captivating, retro, cliffhanger, funny
Similar in 76%
Happy Days (1974)
Plot Summary:
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that aired first-run from January 15, 1974 to September 24, 1984 on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in the mid-1950s to mid-1960s United States. The series was produced by Miller-Milkis Productions and Henderson Productions in association with Paramount Network Television.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Comedy, Family, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, sentimental, semi serious, retro, cult classic
Similar in 84%
Lucas (1986)
Plot Summary:
A socially inept fourteen year old experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends -- Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love -- fall for each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, epic, entertaining, colorful, semi serious, hilarious, sentimental, realistic, humorous
Similar in 83%
Flipped (2010)
Plot Summary:
When Juli meets Bryce in the second grade, she knows it's true love. After spending six years trying to convince Bryce the same, she's ready to give up - until he starts to reconsider.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 96000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, sweet, feel good, romantic, emotional, sentimental, realistic, romantic comedy, teen, cute