Here's a secret that the world appears to be trying to keep quiet: being in your 30s can be just as confusing as being in your 20s. Despite what the movies tell you, there's an excellent chance you won't have it all together by the stroke of midnight on your 30th birthday. Or your 35th. Or even your 39th. You may still be searching for career fulfilment, your love life might still be a hot mess, and you will definitely hear your favourite song from your teen years on the golden oldies station. It's a weird time, and thankfully, it's one that TV has chronicled in beautiful, excruciating detail.
An unexpected divorce at 40 leads Liza to lie about her age in order to secure her dream job at a publishing company. What follows is a story about starting over and living life to the fullest no matter your age. Having Sutton Foster on board as the star is a happy bonus.
Issa and Molly are 30, and no, they don't have it all figured out. Between hook-ups and career drama, these two best friends always keep things real — sometimes painfully so. However, their candid hot takes on adulthood will go a long way in making you feel less alone.
The L World is all about navigating the dating world as a lesbian. The amazing women in the show are looking for love, starting families, and dealing with the emotional drama that comes with relationships. Their journeys feel real in a way that will make your heart ache.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge is one of the most talented people working in television today. Not only does she star in Fleabag, but she also wrote this searing story of loss and self-acceptance. Few shows pack quite the narrative punch of this pitch-black comedy about the things we do to ourselves and the effect those actions have on others.
Is it campy? Absolutely, but anyone who has ever lived in a cul-de-sac will be able to relate to the struggles and strong friendships that exist between Gabrielle, Susan, Bree, and Lynette. The fact that the cast includes Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman, and Marcia Cross doesn't hurt either.
Whether you become a parent in your 30s or not, you'll be able to appreciate this show about how familial relationships change as you grow older. The Bravermans are wonderfully close, but with closeness comes the occasional bout of sibling rivalry, facing hard truths about your parents, and drama-filled family dinners. A superb cast that includes Lauren Graham, Peter Krause, Mae Whitman, and Dax Shephard makes this drama a warm, relatable series that gets that people never really stop growing up.
Mary Jane's confidence is contagious. The boss reporter lives life on her own terms, and she's not shy about expressing what she wants. Her career, love life, and friendships are all examples of adulting at its finest.
Parent-child relationships evolve throughout the course of your life, and Mom gets that. Allison Janney's Bonnie and Anna Faris's Christy are both recovering alcoholics, and their mother-daughter bond has been strained for years. However, they come together to support one another with humour and tough love in this witty sitcom.
The wit, the drive, the total obsession with old-school romantic comedies — Mindy Lahiri is a woman of our times. And she's also one who is driven, but also loves to chill out with trashy magazines and ice cream. Mindy Kaling crafted a heroine who is both a boss and a flawed person, and for that we should be forever grateful.
A one-night stand leaves 40-year-old Sharon pregnant, and when she tells the guy she never thought she would see again, Rob, that she's expecting, they decide to keep the baby and actually get to know one another. The result is a hilarious series about parenting, marriage, addiction, parental loss, and everything in between. It's a warts-and-all look at adulthood that you won't be able to stop yourself from falling for.
The iconic Mad Men gets plenty of praise for its authentic '60s look and style, but its focus on establishing a career is a universal story that is especially poignant in your 30s. Watching Peggy and Joan's rise up the corporate ladder is inspiring, just as watching Don's fall is devastating. In fact, Peggy Olson might just be the champion every 30-something needs in their life.
As the title implies, Jane is a virgin when she's accidentally artificially inseminated at a routine appointment with her doctor. What follows is a story about dealing with life's curveballs, the power of family, and figuring out exactly what you want to do with your life. Watching the amazing Jane's journey will be serious inspiration fuel as you deal with the fact that your life isn't exactly how you imagined it would turn out.
If you're lucky, death probably isn't something that you had to think about much before you turned 30. However, as you and your loved ones get older, it becomes an even more inevitable fact of life. The superb Six Feet Under grapples with mortality in every single episode, even as it's also serving up a healthy dose of living as an adult, whether that means taking on responsibilities at the family business or realising your parent may want to date again after losing their partner. The cast includes Parenthood's Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, and Lauren Ambrose.
Leslie Knope is a career woman for a new generation. She actually believes that she can make the world a better place, so she goes out and does it. Her positive attitude is a constant inspiration, and she also makes an excellent argument for having a work family.
Sometimes in your 30s, you may find yourself wishing that your career was just a tad bit more exciting. Think of Killing Eve as the cautionary tale that will make you appreciate your boring job. Created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (the true MVP of this list), this series finds Sandra Oh's Eve embarking on an obsessive journey to track down a female assassin. Ultimately, she regrets thinking her job was boring before, because once the deadly and fascinating Villanelle enters her life, things get a little bit too interesting.
Mental health issues affect people of all ages, but by the time you're 30, talking about them feels way less taboo than it once did. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend tackles mental heath head on in a funny, honest, and at times devastating way. And there's also singing, which is a definite plus.
It's rare that TV allows viewers to spend more than a decade with the same characters. However, Grey's Anatomy has been on the air for 14 years and counting. During that time, Meredith Grey and her friends have transitioned from interns to doctors, gotten married, gotten divorced, had kids, and experienced profound losses. Basically, they've grown up right in front of TV viewers, and even though their journey is long, it's also rewarding.
The Big Three are in their 30s, and in some way, each one of them is struggling to figure out what they want out of life. Kate's body image issues, Kevin's feeling of being an outsider, and Randall's search for his birth father are just some of the riveting storylines this show has dealt with in its first two seasons. If you haven't checked out This Is Us yet, then believe the hype, because this show portrays modern 30-something life in all of its messy glory.
Dating never gets easier. That's a sad but true fact. Still, if you can find someone who accepts you just as you are, then you can count yourself among the lucky ones. I'm not sure the stars of this jaded rom-com, Gretchen and Jimmy, would agree, but their story is one that will resonate with anyone whose had enough of the dating scene.
Yes, Kimmy spent her formative years in a bunker, while you hopefully spent yours doing literally anything else, but her life lessons still apply. It's OK for things to be messy, and it's OK to eat candy for breakfast sometimes. Kimmy and her best pal Titus are living proof that being an adult doesn't mean having life figured out — or giving up on having fun.
Miriam Maisel has it all — the fancy apartment, the nice husband, and two kids. Then her nice husband reveals he's been having an affair, and Miriam embarks on a journey that's all about figuring out what she truly wants out of life. When that turns out to be a career in stand-up comedy and her independence, things get even more interesting.
By the time you reach your 30s, your friends will be getting married and divorced, and there will likely be discussions about fertility issues and career changes. Life gets complicated, but, if you're lucky, you'll have your equally confused adult siblings to commiserate with, which is where Brothers and Sisters comes in. This underrated ABC series includes star turns from Matthew Rhys, Calista Flockhart, and Rachel Griffiths, but most importantly it illustrates with genuine warmth how different your relationship with your siblings becomes when you get older.
When Tina Fey created Liz Lemon, she gave the world a true gift. She made it acceptable to work on your night cheese and reassured people everywhere that if you live alone and choke on your food, you can probably save yourself. She also made it clear that loving your career way too much is a perfectly valid life choice, but it's also OK to try new things. In short, Liz is the totally flawed role model that the weird decade that is your 30s demands.
There was a time when being 30 meant you were probably married, owned a home, and already had kids. That time is not now. Allow Jess and her loftmates to introduce you to the new normal, and make you laugh along the way.
24 / 35
25The Office
Image Source: Everett Col
If you thought The Office was relatable when you were in college, just wait until you revisit it after being in the workforce for a decade. Suddenly, Michael's desire to make his coworkers feel like a family or Jim cooking up elaborate pranks to make the day go by faster makes so much more sense. If this show has a message, it's that you get out of the 9-to-5 life what you put into it.
Drop Dead Diva has a wacky premise. A shallow beauty queen dies, and wakes up in the body of a plus-size attorney who everyone likes. As she adjusts to her new normal, she learns about body acceptance, and the power of actually thinking about other people. Her story is proof that it's never too late to change, and yes, you can be fabulous at any size.
Going home again can stir up all kinds of feelings, and Queen Sugar gets that better than any other show on TV right now. The Bordelon siblings are living very different lives when they're all called home to Louisiana for a tragic reason. However, once they come together, they begin to realise why they need each other, even when reconnecting is hard.
So, you're 30, and you haven't landed your dream job yet. Join the club, and get excited because the club includes America Ferrera's Amy. Superstore is a comedy that knows dreams don't always pan out immediately, and that in the meantime, you can make the best out of what life throws at you, while still striving for change.
Take a break from reality shows to watch this show about what goes on behind-the-scenes of a Bachelor-like series. The show within a show is run by two women who live for their jobs. They don't always make the best choices, but that's one of the reasons why watching them work is so enjoyable.
Losing a parent is a heartbreaking reality of life. Tig Notaro used her own experiences to inform this series about going home again as an adult, losing a parent, and trying to find common ground with the people who brought you into this world, but who have never quite accepted you as you are. If you have a less-than-perfect relationship with your family, her journey is one that you need to see.
Being sexually confident is something that tends to come with age, as the time-travelling fantasy series Outlander illustrates in steamy detail. Even when she's dropped into the past, Claire maintains her confidence, and is unafraid of expressing her desires. Don't let the period setting fool you, Outlander has a whole lot to say about grown-up relationships, communications, and how to have a satisfying sex life.
Miranda is unmarried, she owns a joke shop, and she's perfectly content with her life choices, even though her mother is not. Miranda Hart's British comedy is a manifesto for loving yourself and not caring about what other people think. Spoiler alert: this is likely the attitude you will adopt in your 30s, so prepare to meet your new TV BFF.
This '90s series is all about the career-life balance, and just how hard it is to get right. Ally's love triangles, weird cases, and end-of-the-day karaoke sessions will never stop being relatable. However, please be aware that this show does include a truly terrifying dancing CGI baby.
Amy Schumer expertly skewers society's expectations for women of all ages — but particularly for those that are 30+. Through a series of sketches, she takes on self-love, body shamers, the weirdness that is online dating, and so much more. Her sketch show is a smart, funny look inside living life as a woman right now.
Is Sex and the City perfect? Absolutely not. But that doesn't mean that Samantha, Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda's cosmo-fuelled talks about sex are any less groundbreaking, or that their friendships are any less important for modern thirtysomethings to experience.
