Those of us with exquisite taste in television (me) are still feeling devastated and empty without any new Tell Me Lies episodes to overanalyze on Reddit and TikTok. The mentally ill, chronically online community really thrived last September and October when new season 2 episodes were coming out each week. The Hulu masterpiece is a rare breed of dramas that feels strikingly realistic and, like, accurately portrays young people emotionally torturing each other. Did it give us stans panic attacks? Several. Real art makes you feel something. It is what it is. While we all go completely insane waiting for Hulu to announce a season 3, we need other elite dramas to distract us and fill in that gaping, Tell Me Lies-sized hole in our hearts. Occasionally, I’m solution-oriented, so here are all my favorite shows that are similar to Tell Me Lies.
TV Shows Similar To Tell Me Lies
What To Watch After Tell Me Lies
UnREAL
A must-watch for my queens who enjoy some quality on-screen manipulation and terrible behavior. UnREAL is about the making of a show that’s essentially The Bachelor and how the producers fuck with the cast members’ heads to create entertaining TV. It’s dark, draining, and completely addictive just like Tell Me Lies.
Cruel Summer
This anthology series only lasted two seasons, but season 1 has lived rent-free in my mind for the past several years. Cruel Summer takes place in the ’90s and follows a popular girl who gets kidnapped and an awkward girl who then takes her place at the top of the social hierarchy and becomes rather unhinged. Every episode is a thrill!
Good Trouble
If you’re just hungry for more young people living drama-filled lives and making bad choices, you gotta get into Good Trouble. (The show is a spinoff of The Fosters, but you don’t need to have watched that series to enjoy this one.) Good Trouble follows a group of twenty-somethings who are residents of a communal living space in Los Angeles and navigate career struggles, chaotic romantic relationships, and politics/activism.
Normal People
First of all, Paul Mescal needs you to know that this is “work” not “content,” which is a filthy word. Now that that’s clarified, I’d imagine most of you have already seen this life-changing piece of Irish art, but if you haven’t, it centers around a complex romantic relationship and follows the individuals throughout their teens and twenties like Tell Me Lies does. Thank you to our lord and savior, Sally Rooney.
One Day
I mean, duh. In One Day, Dex isn’t an evil psychopath like Stephen in Tell Me Lies, but he’s definitely a piece of shit to his love interest, Emma, throughout most of the show. This show is another toxic but enthralling ~they have to be together but they can’t be~ vibe. Like Normal People and Tell Me Lies, we see the characters in college and through young adulthood. Warning: The ending will give you depression if you don’t have that yet.
You
Honestly, I think Joe and Stephen would be besties. If you’re on the hunt for a wacko male villain main character (talk to our therapist), you’re gonna love You. Joe stalks women, love-bombs them, obsesses over them, and then, uh… says goodbye to them usually. The Netflix series will stress you out possibly even more than Tell Me Lies did.
Sex/Life
This show is kind of like if we saw Lucy from Tell Me Lies at 40 years old, married with kids, and Stephen came back into her life. In Sex/Life (iconic name), Billie struggles to choose between her simple life with her kind, normal husband and a wilder life with her ex-boyfriend, a toxic music producer who helps her fulfill all her sexual fantasies.
The Affair
Another juicy drama for the girlies who like stories about human psychology and totally fucked relationships. In The Affair, Noah and Alison have an extramarital relationship, and we see how it deeply affects everyone in their lives. And the best part… there are five glorious seasons for you to binge!
