Admit it or not, every one of us wants to binge on some romantic shows once in a while. Whether it is to soothe our broken heart, shed a few tears, or laugh a bit, romantic dramas manage to bring out our hidden emotions. And Netflix has you covered even in this aspect. Ranging from rom-coms to fantasy series, its catalog is filled with some heart-touching titles. So, here’s the list of really good romantic shows on Netflix that are available to stream right now.
18. Friends (1994)
One of the evergreen and most popular rom-coms, ‘Friends’ is now on Netflix! Whether you wish to revisit your favorite characters or just start afresh, you can now binge-watch all its 10 seasons on the platform. When Rachel flees from her wedding and meets her childhood friend Monica, they decide to stay as roommates. Rachel also meets Monica’s group of single 20-something friends — Joey, Chandler, Phoebe, and Ross. Each episode of this witty, funny sitcom is filled with comic events, romantic entanglements, repeat break-ups and patch-ups, and career problems. Watch it for its fun-packed, light, and entertaining moments. You can watch this series here.
17. My First First Love (2019-)
If you are a fan of shows like ‘Friends’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’, this Netflix original series from Korea is a show right up your alley. As the title makes it clear, this series deals with the concept of first love. The central characters of this series are five college students, all of whom live in the house of Yoon Tae-oh. Each of the four people who have left their own homes and shifted to Yoon’s place has her/his own reasons for doing so. Together, these five friends experience love, life, and a sense of freedom all on their own terms. Naturally, if a number of people live together, problems will arise. And this is how the friendships between these characters are tested. They might get into fights, but that never means that their friendship has ceased to exist. The series does offer us a fresh look at the lives of Korean youth, and we understand that no matter how geographically apart countries might be, there are some emotions that always resonate among everyone.
16. When Calls The Heart (2014)
‘When Calls the Heart’, a Canadian-American television drama series, adapted from the book of the same name by Janette Oke aired on January 11, 2014, on the Hallmark Channel. It is about the sophisticated and high-society resident, Elizabeth Thatcher. When she goes on a classroom assignment to the small town of Coal Valley, Western Canada, she witnesses the simple, challenging life there. She also meets Mountie Jack Thornton, with whom she develops an immediate dislike at the first meeting. But gradually, they become friends and get attracted to each other. This show focuses on Elizabeth’s struggles in the town, along with her romantic relationship with Jack: a journey filled with first-time kisses, highs and lows, a wedding, tragedies, and heartbreaks. You can watch this series here.
15. Atypical (2017)
‘Atypical’ is a coming-of-age drama that is centered around the 18-year-old, autistic Sam Gardner. When he announces that he wants to start dating, his father, Doug, is delighted to help out his son with whom he had been struggling to build a proper relationship. However, Sam’s crush is his 26-year-old therapist Julia. Now, as Sam embarks on his journey of independence, we also witness his family making their own self-discoveries. For example, Elsa, his mom, starts an extra-marital affair, his sister Casey develops romantic feelings for another student, and Julia breaks up with her boyfriend. With several moving moments, ‘Atypical’, with its unique storytelling, empathy, and witty format is a family drama that beautifully fits into the ‘atypical’ romance genre. You can watch this series here.
14. Hart of Dixie (2011)
‘Hart of Dixie’ is
centered around Zoe Hart, whose dreams of becoming a heart surgeon are
shattered and she starts working as a general practitioner in the small
town of Bluebell, Alabama. While struggling to attract patients to her
clinic, which proves extremely difficult because of her unpopular city
persona among the local residents. She also develops feelings towards
local attorney George Tucker, her rival, Lemon Breeland’s fiance. When
Lemon becomes aware of it, she makes it her mission to force Zoe out
of Bluebell. Again, there are Wade’s one-sided feelings for Zoe. Thus
begins a love triangle, with Zoe getting increasingly confused regarding
whom to choose between the two. You can watch this series here.13. Love (2016)
‘Love’ is a Netflix Original romantic comedy TV series that first aired on the platform on February 19, 2016, and concluded with its 3rd, final season which premiered on March 9, 2018. The main plot of this show follows the theme, “down-to-earth look at dating”, which involves presenting male and female perspectives about relationships via protagonists Mickey and Gus. You can watch this series here.
12. The L Word (2004)
‘The L Word’, which aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009, revolves around a group of lesbians living in Los Angeles and their relationships, family connections, close friends, and lovers. The leading protagonist, Jenny graduates from the University of Chicago and settles in LA with her boyfriend Tim to start a professional writing career. However, her regular life soon takes a surprising turn when she is invited to a party hosted by their neighbors, a lesbian couple, namely Bette and Tina, who have been in a relationship for 7 years and now want to celebrate their first venture into parenthood.
In the same party, Jenny meets Marina, the owner of the local coffeehouse, and immediately gets attracted to her. This makes her confused about her own sexual orientation and forces her to question her identity. We also meet the shy, professional tennis player Dana, who is waiting for her perfect female lover. Then there is Alice, who has just resurfaced from her short affair with another lesbian man named Shane and Kit, who is an alcohol addict. Filled with relationship complexities, raw sex, and unbridled sexuality, ‘The L Word’ received wide critical acclaim and popularity after its release. You can watch this series here.
11. The End of the F***ing World (2018)
The British dark comedy-drama, ‘The End of the F***ing World’ is an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name penned by Charles Forsman. This 8-episode series premiered internationally on Netflix on January 5, 2018. The show focuses on two teenagers: 17-year-old James who believes that he is a psychopath and his rebellious classmate Alyssa who views James as an option to escape from her turbulent family life. When James gets bored with killing animals, he decides that it is now the perfect time to try murdering a human. And his eyes fall on Alyssa. So when Alyssa proposes that they go on a road trip together, he immediately accepts, planning that along the way, he will find some means to kill her. However, once they embark on this unusual road trip, they start developing feelings for each other, while facing several mishaps on the way. You can watch this series here.
10. Eternal Love (2017)
‘Eternal Love’ is a Chinese TV series, based on the novel of the same name by Tang Qi. When a devastating war threatens the existence of the immortal tribe, they end it by offering the god of war, Mo Yuan as a sacrifice to the ghost lord Qing Cang. The story then takes us to 70,000 years after this, when we meet Bai Qian, who was sent to the earth as a mortal being — without any of her powers and memories — as part of her test to ascend as a High Goddess. There she meets Ye Hua, with the two deities falling in deep love with each other. What follows is an eternal love that spans across three lifetimes; a love ridden with betrayals, heartbreaks, and tragedies. However, their paths keep on crossing, irrespective of time, realms, and worlds. You can watch this series here.
9. The Hookup Plan (2018)
‘The Hookup Plan’ is a French drama that premiered internationally on Netflix on December 7, 2018. The story is about Elsa, who simply cannot get over her ex. In an attempt to help their unlucky friend who is forever single, Elsa’s friends hire a male escort to spur her confidence. Elsa, however, knows him as schoolteacher Julies. They do so in an attempt to revive Elsa’s faith in dating, relationships, and love. But things take a bitter turn when she discovers that her friends have been hiding many things from here. As Elsa’s doubts about Julies increases, long-time friendships are tested in this unconventional story of romance. You can watch this series here.
8. If I Hadn’t Met You (2019)
‘If I Hadn’t Met You’ is a sci-fi Spanish romantic drama that aired on Netflix on March 15, 2019. It explores one of our common fantasies: if someone close to us dies too soon, what if we could go back in time and reverse the past? Well, this 10-episode show does just that. However, it has a little twist. It involves the concept of parallel universes. When Eduard’s wife and children die in a tragic car accident, he is devastated, so much that he considers taking his own life. However, he is stopped by Liz, who explains to him that he can travel to parallel universes and try rewriting the fate of his family. Although this show has several fantasy elements, its main focus is human relationships. It tries to explore the immense love that Eduard and Isabel held for each other and how the former could go to any lengths to bring her back. You can watch this series here.
7. Accidentally in Love (2018)
This Chinese romantic drama is centered around Chen Qing Qing, a rich, young girl who wants to escape an arranged marriage at all costs and wants to fall in love on her own terms. Her parents had earlier died under mysterious circumstances. One day, on the date of her wedding, she runs away from her town and reaches the same college where her parents had studied. She enrolls there with an aim to find out what really had happened to her mom and dad. In order to hide her true identity, she also alters her name and looks. She even tries her best to blend in with the rest of her classmates.
During her classes, she meets her desk-mate, who is a popular singer named Si Tu Feng. They had run into each other multiple times in the past and do not start off at the right foot. What issues is both of them getting into repeat arguments and creating problems for each other. However, with time, they realize that maybe, there could be more to this relationship. And this is when begins Qing’s journey of true love while seeking out answers about her parent’s death. You can watch this series here.
6. Dating Around (2019)
‘Dating Around’ is a reality TV show in which each episode features one single person who goes on five dates with different individuals in order to choose one who can be perfect for him or her. Every date is accompanied with some flirtatious moments, awkward encounters, and sometimes, true connections. After all the blind dates are over, the participant is asked to pick one partner with whom he/she would like to go on a second date. Giving a real-time view into the world of wooing potential partners, this show is a refreshing take on the romance genre. You can watch this show here.
5. Love Alarm (2019-)
This series offers us a fine blend of romance and technology in a way that we have never seen before. The central plot device of ‘Love Alarm’ is a new mobile app which can easily tell anyone if there is anyone in her/his vicinity who has a soft corner for them. Though this app might appear to be helpful, it also has its own drawbacks, which we realize as the story of this series progresses. Here, the central character is a girl who finds herself in the middle of a love triangle because of this app, and the story shows us how she manages to deal with this situation while also taking care of other personal problems. The series offers us a rather sweet romantic tale, but its subtextual content is rather deep and insightful. There are some deep emotions in our hearts which we might not be comfortable in sharing publicly. But technology has such a far-reaching influence in our lives that even our deepest thoughts are not remaining that personal anymore.
4. Easy (2016-2019)
One of the finest Netflix original shows about romantic relationships, ‘Easy’ is an anthology series where each episode is a standalone story. The series is based in the city of Chicago where we follow a number of characters as they go about living their lives, falling in love, going through heartbreaks, and so on. What we actually do here is that we take a glance at the ever-changing equations between human beings and how sometimes the realities of life push us further apart from our loved ones. The series does visit one particular story over the course of its three seasons, which is the story of a married couple Kyle (Michael Chernus) and Andi (Elizabeth Reaser). We are made witnesses of how their relationship changes over a long period of time, and how the decision they take of having an open relationship works out for each of the two characters. The fact that this series does not linger on any one particular story and gives us a wholesome picture of romantic relationships in an urban space like Chicago, makes it stand apart from the other shows on this list.
3. Love Rain (2012)
‘Love Rain’, a 2012 South Korean television series, chronicles a love story over two generations. The story begins in the 1970s when Seo In-ha and Kim Yoon-hee meet in their university and fall in love. However, circumstances soon force them to separate from each other. The plot now shows them in 2012, when an unhappily married In-ha again meets Yoon-hee and both of them, being unable to get over each other, decide to catch up on their lost years. On the other hand, In-ha’s son Seo Joon meets Yoon-hee’s daughter Jung Ha-na and are gradually drawn towards each other. Now when Seo In-ha and Kim Yoon-hee announce that they are getting married, Joon and Ha-na would become step-siblings. However, they decide to sacrifice their love for the sake of their parent’s happiness. You can watch this series here.
2. Love Bird (2013)
‘Love Bird’ aka ‘Çalıkuşu’ is a Turkish romantic drama that is an adaptation of the novel with the same name. The protagonist in this series is Feride aka Çalıkuşu, who after losing her mother is entrusted under the care of her maternal aunt, Besime, and her husband, Seyfettin. Feride starts growing up with the couple and their two children Kamran and Necmiye. As they become adults, Kamran works as a doctor and Necmiye falls in love with Kamran’s friend Selim. However, Selim is attracted to Feride. Again, when Feride discovers that Kamran is secretly dating a middle-aged widow Neriman, she blackmails him to pretend that he is dating her, or else she would inform his parents.
In the subsequent episodes, we see further cases of love rivalry, twisted plots, misunderstandings, and betrayals. However, toward the end, Kamran and Feride fall in love. But again, this is not the conclusion. They face further challenges but ultimately reunite with each other. Packed with several twists and turns, ‘Love Bird’ offers a somewhat grim look into the genre of innocent romance. But still, it definitely deserves a mention on this list. You can watch this series here.
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1. The Vampire Diaries (2009)
‘The Vampire Diaries’ is a popular supernatural teen drama that aired on The CW from September 10, 2009, to March 10, 2017, spanning eight seasons. It is set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls where the young teenager Elena Gilbert loses both her parents in a car accident and falls in love with the 162-year-old vampire Stefan Salvatore. Later, a love triangle begins when Stefan’s brother Damon Salvatore also falls for Elena. Amidst multiple threats to their town, both the brothers seek to protect Elena from various forms of evil. You can watch this series here.
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