TV has long treated female friendships as either comforting background noise or a convenient plot device. But some shows push beyond the expected, offering a deeper look at what it means for women to be each other&rsquo;s chosen family. While many series have been praised for centring female friendships, a closer look reveals how these relationships are portrayed in very different ways.
The Foundations: The Golden Girls 
When The Golden Girls&nbsp;(1985&ndash;1992) first aired, it wasn&rsquo;t just a comedy about four older women sharing a house&mdash;it was a quiet revolution. Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia weren&rsquo;t just supporting characters in someone else&rsquo;s story; their lives, conflicts, and friendships took centre stage.
What made the show stand out was its honesty. The women bickered, disagreed, and had vastly different personalities, but they always showed up for each other. Their home was an alternative family, a reminder that deep friendships could be just as fulfilling as romantic or biological ties&mdash;especially in a culture that often sidelines older women.
Many people remember The Golden Girls for its humour, but its real impact was in normalizing female friendships as a core relationship worth investing in, rather than just a subplot to marriage and family life.
SATC: Cultural Phenomenon or Commercialized Friendship?
Sex and the City&nbsp;(SATC, 1998&ndash;2004) put female friendships front and centre, but how deep did those connections really go? The brunches and heart-to-hearts gave the show its emotional core, but the friendships sometimes felt secondary to the women&rsquo;s romantic relationships.
Carrie, in particular, was often at the receiving end of her friends&rsquo;&nbsp;support while giving very little back. The imbalance was rarely addressed, subtly reinforcing the idea that friendship is there for convenience rather than mutual growth.
That said, the show still broke ground by treating friendships as lifelong commitments rather than placeholders until &ldquo;the one&rdquo;&nbsp;arrived. But its glossy, designer-clad vision of friendship also commodified these bonds, packaging them as just another luxury in a glamorous lifestyle.
Four More Shots Please! and the Challenge of Cultural Adaptation
India&rsquo;s Four More Shots Please!&nbsp;(2019&ndash;) follows a similar formula to SATC&nbsp;but struggles with authenticity. While the show attempts to explore modern urban womanhood in India, it often leans too heavily on Western friendship tropes rather than deeply engaging with the complexities of friendships shaped by Indian cultural expectations.
It touches on themes of class privilege, sexuality, and family pressure, but mostly at a surface level. The glossy aesthetic often overshadows the depth that real friendships demand.&nbsp;In contrast, Made in Heaven&nbsp;grounds its female friendships in reality&mdash;Tara and Faiza&rsquo;s bond, for instance, is shaped by betrayal, privilege, and personal reinvention, rather than a glossy, Instagram-ready version of empowerment.
Teenage Friendship as Political Allegory: Derry Girls
Derry Girls&nbsp;(2018&ndash;2022) takes a different approach, showing how teenage friendships can be both deeply personal and politically relevant. Set during Northern Ireland&rsquo;s Troubles, the show presents friendship as a chaotic, messy, and sometimes ridiculous safe haven amid a turbulent historical backdrop.
The friendships in Derry Girls&nbsp;aren&rsquo;t idealized or perfect&mdash;they&rsquo;re full of betrayals, reconciliations, and moments of deep loyalty. But what makes the show stand out is how these teenage dynamics mirror the larger political landscape. Just like the peace process happening around them, the girls constantly negotiate differences, test boundaries, and find ways to hold onto each other despite their clashes.
Broad City: Friendship as the Primary Relationship
Broad City&nbsp;(2014&ndash;2019) takes female friendship to a new level, refusing to present it as polished or secondary to romance. Abbi and Ilana&rsquo;s relationship is chaotic, gross, and sometimes borderline obsessive&mdash;and that&rsquo;s exactly what makes it feel so real.
Where other shows treat female friendships as a neat, supportive space, Broad City&nbsp;embraces the unfiltered, often unglamorous reality of being deeply intertwined in someone else&rsquo;s life. Bodily functions, money struggles, and embarrassing moments aren&rsquo;t glossed over&mdash;they&rsquo;re celebrated.
Most importantly, Broad City&nbsp;flips the traditional hierarchy that places romance above friendship. Abbi and Ilana aren&rsquo;t waiting for romantic partners to fill a void&mdash;they already have each other, and that bond is just as significant as any love story.
Grey&rsquo;s Anatomy&nbsp;&amp; the &lsquo;Person&rsquo;&nbsp;Paradigm
Grey's Anatomy&nbsp;(2005&ndash;) gave us one of TV's most enduring female friendships: Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang. Their iconic &ldquo;you&rsquo;re my person&rdquo;&nbsp;line captured the essence of a friendship built on professional respect, emotional support, and mutual ambition.
Unlike many shows that relegate work life to the background, Grey&rsquo;s Anatomy&nbsp;integrates career and friendship, showing how women can push each other to be better without diminishing their own success.
Crucially, the show also resists the idea that friendship only matters when people are physically together. Even after Cristina leaves, their connection remains intact, proving that deep friendships don&rsquo;t need proximity to survive.
Moving Beyond Glossy Narratives
The best portrayals of female friendship aren&rsquo;t just about support&mdash;they&rsquo;re about the tensions, sacrifices, and occasional selfishness that real friendships endure. Too often, TV either sanitizes these relationships into a picture-perfect sisterhood or packages them as another aspirational fantasy, neatly tied up in Instagram-ready brunches and designer wardrobes.
Shows like Derry Girls and Broad City have done the work of making female friendships feel chaotic and real, but much of mainstream television still hesitates to show these bonds as anything more than an accessory to romantic or professional storylines. Where are the friendships that drift apart, that demand uncomfortable conversations, that are reshaped by time and circumstance?
If television truly wants to depict female friendship as central rather than incidental, it must embrace the full spectrum&mdash;not just the laughter, but the loneliness; not just the sisterhood, but the silences; not just the love, but the fractures that test it. Because the real question isn&rsquo;t just how friendships thrive, but what happens when they change&mdash;and whether TV is willing to show that, too.

Real friendships aren’t just support—they’re chaos, sacrifice, and love

Messy, loyal, transactional—some shows get it right, some don’t, but every TV friendship tells a bigger story

Beyond Besties: TV’s Female Friendships

Messy, loyal, transactional—some shows get it right, some don’t, but every TV friendship tells a bigger story

March 29, 2025 | 22:52 IST

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