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Some shows are hard to define, but when it comes to shows like Desperate Housewives, there are many definitions. The show has it all: adultery, blackmail, shocking deaths, plot twists, and every kind of dysfunctional relationship imaginable. Fans of it loved the gorgeous style of the series and the main characters, as well as the shocking secrets in this perfect suburban world. It’s no wonder that fans are always looking for shows like Desperate Housewives, and that doesn’t mean reality TV shows like The Real Housewives, which actually came along two years later.
While Desperate Housewives, which took a murder mystery and injected it with sex and sin for eight seasons, is available to stream, fans can also forgo another rewatch in favor of checking out something similar. When looking for shows like Desperate Housewives, there is plenty of romance, scandal, and drama to entertain even the most devout fans, and it is easier than ever to find these shows now on various streaming services. From straight romances to mysteries and intense drama, there is something for every Desperate Housewives fan, no matter why they originally watched the show.
20 Big Little Lies (2017-2019)
With an A-list cast that includes Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and even Meryl Streep, it’s no wonder Big Little Lies became one of HBO’s biggest shows, raking in award nominations and wins after its first season. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name, the series follows a group of moms who get entangled in a murder investigation. Just like shows like Desperate Housewives, Big Little Lies is full of sex, drama, and murder, with great leading ladies at the center. The show wrapped up its run after two seasons, with 16 total Primetime Emmy nominations.
19 Bridgerton (2020- )
Netflix’s Bridgerton is a hit period piece that employs the female gaze and tells a love story from a young woman’s point of view. Those who enjoy the abundance of female protagonists in shows like Desperate Housewives will likely love Bridgerton. This series offers up a ton of drama in the form of developing romances and hidden family secrets in upper-class Regency-era English families, and has a similarly gorgeous style, too. While Desperate Housewives was about mystery and deceit, Bridgerton prefers to go more with the romance and love aspects of the tales.
18 Dead To Me (2019-2022)
A Netflix series, Dead To Me centers on two strangers who meet in a grief support group and quickly bond over the dramatics of their peers and their shared loss. However, the show quickly takes a turn when it’s revealed that Judy isn’t mourning the loss of her boyfriend and instead is the hit-and-run driver who killed Jen’s husband. Though dramatic with tons of plot twists, the show is also downright hilarious as these two less-than-perfect women bond and seek revenge, making it perfect for fans of shows like Desperate Housewives.
17 Devious Maids (2013-2016)
- Stream now on Prime Video & Hulu
Despite airing in the year immediately after Desperate Housewives and following a similar tone, Devious Maids never caught up with fans quite like Desperate Housewives. Set in luxurious Beverly Hills, the series is centered on the housekeepers of wealthy families who bond over their struggles, dreams for a better life, and dramatic and juicy secrets their rich employers are keeping. With sex, murder, and lies a core aspect of the plot, Devious Maids is perfect for fans of shows like Desperate Housewives, but from a slightly different point of view.
16 Good Girls (2018-2021)
Fans of NBC’s Good Girls were heartbroken when the series was canceled on some major cliffhangers, and yet the show is still a great option for fans of shows like Desperate Housewives. After finding themselves financially unstable, two sisters and their best friend decide to rob a local grocery store to get the cash they need to get ahead. It’s an easy job until they discover the money they stole belonged to a gang whom they now must work for to pay off their debts. There are so many twists and turns in this female-led series that it’ll remind any viewer of Desperate Housewives.
15 Gossip Girl (2007-2012)
Like shows like Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girl features women at the center of all sorts of scandals. Similar to the housewives, the main characters of Gossip Girl know how to get messy. Things these “best friends” have done to each other include stealing phones, cheating, sleeping with each other’s significant other(s), blackmail, and bullying, just to name a few. Also, Gabrielle would definitely approve of the fashion. With six seasons streaming on HBO Max, and a reboot available as well, check out Gossip Girl for a very familiar tale.
14 Grey’s Anatomy (2005- )
- Stream now on Netflix & Hulu
Like shows like Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy is a product of the 2000s. As such, it has a distinctive vibe that will feel familiar to Housewives fans. However, Housewives ended its run soon after the turn of the decade, Grey’s kept on going and is one of the longest-running scripted shows in TV history. For fans looking for something to occupy them for the long run, it’s a smart idea to consider investing time in Grey’s Anatomy, one of the most popular medical dramas of all time. While the drama of Housewives is not here, the strong female characters are in abundance.
13 Killing Eve (2018-2022)
Killing Eve, starring Sandra Oh, shares something of the general tone and black comedy of shows like Desperate Housewives. Like Housewives, Killing Eve involves a lot of murder and danger but does so with a wry sense of humor about it all. The series offers two interesting, multifaceted female protagonists, as fans debate if Eve and Villanelle are meant to be together on Killing Eve. Oh’s Eve becomes obsessed with tracking down assassin Villanelle, played by Jodie Comer, and the two develop feelings that complicate their dynamic along the way.
12 One Tree Hill (2003-2012)
- Stream now on HBO Max & Hulu
If the family dynamics and drama are the appeals of shows like Desperate Housewives, One Tree Hill has much of the same. This series follows two teenage half-brothers and the people in their lives. Nathan and Lucas hate each other, but share a father, and said father causes all kinds of trouble for basically everyone in their small town. A lot of the plot deals with the boys and their mothers, telling stories about these dynamics from the sons’ point of view, something of a reversal of how these dynamics are explored on Housewives (think Bree and Andrew).
11 Ozark (2017-Present)
Adultery is a common theme in both Desperate Housewives and the Netflix original drama series Ozark. As Housewives fans know, two out of the four main housewives were unfaithful to their husbands at one point or another, and everyone but Lynette knew what it was like to be cheated on. The family drama in Ozark begins when Marty finds proof that his wife has been having an affair. They have to stay together for the sake of their family’s safety, as the series centers on the trouble they get into when Marty takes a job laundering money for a drug cartel, and his wife and kids get involved.
10 Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017)
- Stream now on HBO Max & Hulu
The memorable Pretty Little Liars may be one of the few series in existence that can boast more instances of blackmail than shows like Desperate Housewives, which, fans will know, is really saying something. Just as the plot of Housewives kicks off with Mary Alice’s suicide after she finds out she’s being blackmailed, PLL‘s story kicks off with an anonymous text from “A,” who apparently knows all the friends’ secrets in the wake of the supposed death of their friend Alison. Another way that the girls of PLL are like the housewives is their penchant for failed romance, as many PLL relationships are doomed.
9 Scream Queens (2015-2016)
Fans who love the murder mystery element of shows like Desperate Housewives will probably love Scream Queens. This show, which only ran for two seasons, is all about a series of murders that the main characters try to both avoid and solve. Season 1 takes place on a college campus, as a sorority house with a dark history is plagued by grisly murders. Season 2 has the characters working in a learning hospital, where yet another murderer is on the loose. With Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, and Keke Palmer, there are also plenty of strong women involved in this series.
8 The Americans (2013-2018)
FX’s The Americans focuses a lot on the marriage between Philip and Elizabeth, the two main characters. It’s also a full-on, highbrow espionage drama about the Cold War. The Americans had six great seasons, but fans of shows like Desperate Housewives will likely enjoy the relationship drama, danger, and intrigue. Another thing The Americans has in common with Desperate Housewives is the setting: both series take place largely in the suburbs despite nothing mundane happening around them, bringing drama to small town USA.
7 Weeds (2005-2012)
- Stream now on Hulu & Peacock
After finding herself widowed and in an unexpected amount of debt, Nancy Botwin turns her backyard into a marijuana-growing operation to support her family. As the business grows, Nancy pulls more people into her scheme while trying to keep her backyard business a secret from her uptight suburban town. Just like shows like Desperate Housewives, Weeds centers its drama on a less-than-perfect female lead who isn’t afraid to make mistakes for the sake of drama and plot twists. There is also lies, deceit, and growing criminal activity on both shows.
6 You (2018-Present)
There’s no shortage of stalking on shows like Desperate Housewives, nor is there on the Netflix original series You, starring Penn Badgley, who also starred as Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl. You centers on serial stalker and murderer Joe, who sees himself as the romantic hero in his twisted story. He preys on women obsessively, and when he feels they inevitably let him down in some way, he kills them. There’s a lot of murder and romance in this surprisingly fun series. Much like Desperate Housewives, fans are asked to follow a pretty despicable character and mostly can’t look away.
5 Manifest (2018-present)
Manifest is very different from the general concept of shows like Desperate Housewives because it doesn’t focus on a group of friends who live in the same place or the daily lives of wealthy people who hide things. But the TV drama will still work for fans as it focuses on characters who are slowly learning the truth about what happened when their plane crashed. Both Manifest and Desperate Housewives are super dramatic and have well-drawn characters to who viewers grow attached after just a few episodes. They are both just asking to be binge-watched, as they have a fast pace.
4 A Million Little Things (2018-present)
A Million Little Things has a similar premise to shows like Desperate Housewives, as both shows are about a group of characters who grieve the death of one of their friends. A Million Little Things began airing in 2018 and there have been four seasons so far. There is a lot of plot in this show, but the episodes do focus on the friendships and the romantic lives of the main characters. There are secrets that they don’t know about each other and everything comes to the forefront. While Desperate Housewives is about covering up the truth, A Million Little Things is about digging up hidden secrets.
3 Better Things (2016-2022)
Better Things follows a single parent, Samantha Fox, who is doing a great job raising two daughters in her honest, real, and funny way, although she feels a lot of intense pressure all the time. Sam used to be a famous actor, and although she still works steadily, she doesn’t have the attention and money that she once did. Both Better Things and shows like Desperate Housewives are funny but serious, as Sam dates, thinks about her divorce, helps her ailing mom, and tries her best to steer her children through the pains of growing up.
2 The O.C. (2003-2007)
- Stream now on HBO Max & Hulu
Similar to shows like Desperate Housewives, The O.C. tells the story of well-off characters in a beautiful area. Marissa Cooper and Summer Roberts have been best friends for a long time and when Ryan Atwood begins living with the Cohens, everyone comes together, becomes close, and changes each other’s lives. The O.C. still holds up. Fans love the funny and nostalgic storylines of The O.C. along with the teenage and adult characters alike. Watching Summer and Seth Cohen fall in love will always seem sweet, and Ryan’s journey is also compelling.
1 Why Women Kill (2019-2021)
There are many questions remaining after the Why Women Kill season 2 finale, which proves that the show will appeal to fans of shows like Desperate Housewives, as both are juicy and full of episodes with a quick pace. Also created by Marc Cherry, the series focuses on women who are in terrible and painful marriages. The hook is that all three women have resided in the exact same house and they each plot to do something about the situations that they are in. With death and freedom as its basis, this is a show that all fans of shows like Desperate Housewives should fall in love with.
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