The Drop
The Drop · Guide· 9 min read· by Marty Ralston

The Best Shows to Watch With Your Girlfriend (Without Starting a Fight)

Eleven shows that won't cause a fight, cost you the remote, or end on a cliffhanger before your relationship does.

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In this piece · 16 sections+

Start with Fleabag. Two seasons, twelve half-hour episodes, on Prime Video. It's the rare show where the guy laughs, the girlfriend cries, and nobody checks their phone. If you only take one thing from this page, take that one. Everything else on this list is real too. But if you're standing at the edge of the couch tonight with a bowl of pasta and a partner who's already annoyed that you spent twenty minutes scrolling — pick Fleabag and shut up.

A note on the vibe of this list. "Watching with your girlfriend" is a wide category. She might be sick. You might be sick. One of you might have just moved in and you're negotiating what a Tuesday night looks like now. Maybe it's a new relationship and you're auditioning each other's taste. Maybe it's a seven-year one and you're just trying to find something you both haven't already picked apart. I picked shows that work across most of those. I skipped the played-out ones your college roommate already made you watch. If it's on this list, someone I know has actually put it on with their partner and neither of them left the room.

Must-Watch: Start Here

Fleabag (2016–2019, 2 seasons, Prime Video)

Start with S1E1. It's twenty-two minutes. If you're not in after the first episode, you never will be. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if either of you liked Catastrophe or Sharp Objects, you're in; if she thinks "British" is code for "boring" and needs a car chase in the first five minutes, skip. Time commitment: 12 episodes at 25 minutes. Two nights, easy. Status: ended, and ended on purpose. Phoebe Waller-Bridge said no to a third season, which is why it's perfect and also why we can't have anything nice. The reason Fleabag works for the couch is that it lets both of you feel something without demanding a five-hour investment or a shared trauma journal afterward. Season two is one of the best seasons of anything ever made. The Hot Priest. That's all I'll say.

🏆 DROP EVERYTHING

The Bear (2022–ongoing, 4 seasons, Hulu)

Start with S1E1, but if that stresses you both out too much, bail to S2E6 "Fishes" — that's the Christmas dinner episode with the whole cast, and it'll tell you immediately whether this is your thing. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if she loves cooking shows and prestige drama, yes; if she came home from a bad day and wants to unwind, do not put on The Bear, you monster. Time commitment: roughly 40 half-hours across four seasons. Weeks, not a weekend. Status: ongoing, renewed for a fifth. The reason it earned its spot is that it's the rare show where both of you can point at a different character and say "that's me," then argue about it playfully instead of coldly. Also Jeremy Allen White is on it, which handles about 40% of the pitch.

✅ WORTH IT

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024–ongoing, 1 season, Prime Video)

Start with S1E1. It's a full pilot, all setup, and you'll know within an episode. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you both liked True Lies or the Brad Pitt–Angelina Jolie movie, this is the modern version and it's better than it has any right to be; if she doesn't want to watch anything with guns, obviously not. Time commitment: 8 episodes, about an hour each. A long weekend. Status: renewed for a second season, no premiere date because Donald Glover is running seven other companies. Mr. & Mrs. Smith is the ideal couch show because it's literally about a couple negotiating whether to stay together, wrapped inside a spy show. You will pause it to talk. That's the point. Glover and Maya Erskine have chemistry that Amazon didn't algorithmically generate for once. Start a Prime Video free trial if you haven't already.

✅ WORTH IT

Worth Your Time

Beef (2023, 1 season, Netflix)

Start with S1E1. It moves. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you both like dark comedy and hate other drivers, this is a documentary about your marriage; if she needs a happy ending, note that this one has a mixed one. Time commitment: 10 episodes, half-hour to 40 minutes. A weekend. Status: the original story is done. There's a Season 2 with a new cast coming, which nobody asked for. Ali Wong and Steven Yeun turn a parking-lot road-rage incident into a full-body descent, and the show earns every escalation. This is the one where you both keep saying "one more" and it's three hours later.

✅ WORTH IT

Only Murders in the Building (2021–ongoing, 4 seasons, Hulu)

Start with S1E1. It's a pilot pilot. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if she likes cozy mysteries and Steve Martin, this is layup city; if either of you actively dislikes Selena Gomez as a performer, that's a real deal-breaker and I respect it. Time commitment: ~40 half-hour episodes. Comfortable pacing across a couple weeks. Status: renewed for a fifth season, no plans to stop, which is fine because the format is a self-cleaning oven. This is the exact right level of show for two people who want to guess the killer, split a bag of popcorn, and be in bed by ten thirty. Not going to change your life. Not trying to.

✅ WORTH IT

The White Lotus (2021–ongoing, 3 seasons, HBO Max)

Start with S1E1, or jump to S2E1 if you want the Sicily season, which is the best one. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you both like watching rich people be miserable in beautiful places, huge yes; if she thinks Mike White is a smug scold, that's a valid position and this is not the ticket. Time commitment: 8-episode seasons, hour each. One season per weekend. Status: ongoing, season 4 filming in France. The couch case for this show is that every episode gives you and your girlfriend ten new things to talk about — the marriage falling apart in the villa next door, Jennifer Coolidge saying anything at all, the theme song that sounds like a monkey being murdered in a good way.

✅ WORTH IT

Shrinking (2023–ongoing, 2 seasons, Apple TV+)

Start with S1E1. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if she liked Ted Lasso, this is the exact same emotional frequency by the same team; if either of you finds Jason Segel exhausting, this won't fix that. Time commitment: 22 half-hours across two seasons. A week of nights. Status: ongoing, renewed for a third season. It's a therapy comedy that's actually funny, mostly because Harrison Ford is in it, apparently having the time of his life, and every scene he's in feels like a man who spent 40 years being professionally grumpy finally getting to smile on camera. Warm without being saccharine. Sad without wallowing.

✅ WORTH IT

Off the Beaten Path

Slow Horses (2022–ongoing, 4 seasons, Apple TV+)

Start with S1E1. Six episodes. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if she liked Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or any Le Carré adaptation, this is the modern peak of that; if she wants likable protagonists, note that Gary Oldman plays a man who has not showered on purpose in fifteen years. Time commitment: 6-episode seasons, hour each. One season per weekend and you're done in a month. Status: ongoing, seasons 5 and 6 already in the can, which is the correct way to run a spy show. This is the sleeper pick of the list. Nobody's boyfriend recommended it yet, which means you get to be the boyfriend who did. British intelligence rejects, low stakes made high, Kristin Scott Thomas being cruel in a beige office. It's short, it's tight, it's funny.

✅ WORTH IT

Reservation Dogs (2021–2023, 3 seasons, Hulu)

Start with S1E1. Twenty-two minutes. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you both liked Atlanta or PEN15, immediate yes; if she needs plot-forward television with clear stakes, this is more vibe than plot, especially season three. Time commitment: 28 half-hours across three seasons. Ten nights, roughly. Status: ended cleanly, three seasons and out, which is why it's a masterpiece. Sterlin Harjo made a show about teenagers on a reservation in Oklahoma that is funnier and more heartbreaking than 90% of what the streamers pump out with ten times the budget. Season three has an episode with Ethan Hawke that will ruin you in the best way. Almost nobody has seen this. Fix that.

🏆 DROP EVERYTHING

Better Things (2016–2022, 5 seasons, Hulu)

Start with S1E1, and if you're not sure, S2E10 "Graduation" is the audition episode. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if her mother is complicated, this is the show; if you both want a driving plot, keep moving, this one drifts on purpose. Time commitment: 52 half-hours across five seasons. A long project. Status: ended, cleanly, on Pamela Adlon's own terms. Adlon plays a working actress raising three daughters in LA, and the show is basically a series of small perfect scenes about parenting, aging, dating after divorce, and how boys are dumb. Your girlfriend will love this. You will pretend to be watching your phone and then get quietly hooked by episode four. That's the trap. Enjoy it.

✅ WORTH IT

Actual Skip

Emily in Paris (2020–ongoing, 4 seasons, Netflix)

Start with S1E1, then don't. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if she wants to hate-watch and you want to be a good sport, sure; if either of you needs the writing to make sense, no. Time commitment: 40 half-hours and counting. Status: ongoing, because of course it is. Look. I'm not going to be a hero here. If she loves it, put it on and be nice. But do not choose this yourself and then act shocked when the plot is that a marketing executive in Paris has three men in love with her and also somehow the president of France. Every character speaks like they were translated from the original spreadsheet.

🐍 SLOP

FAQ

What's the best short show to watch with my girlfriend if we only have one night?

Fleabag season one. Six episodes, twenty-five minutes each. Three hours flat and you'll both remember it a decade from now. If she's already seen it, go with the first episode of Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Prime Video and let momentum handle the rest.

What if my girlfriend hates violent shows?

Shrinking on Apple TV+ or Only Murders in the Building on Hulu. Both are warm, funny, and the worst thing that happens is a corpse in a bathtub off-screen and Steve Martin looking mildly upset about it. Skip Beef and Slow Horses, and don't even try The Bear on a bad-day night, that show is a panic attack with beautiful lighting.

Is there a show we can put on when one of us is sick on the couch?

Only Murders in the Building is the answer. Half-hour episodes, low stakes, three charming leads, no homework required to follow along. Also acceptable: Better Things, which is short episodes and easy to nap through without losing the plot.

What show works if we usually can't agree on anything?

Mr. & Mrs. Smith or The White Lotus season two. Both give you a spy plot or a soap-plus-murder plot for the person who wants forward motion, and both have real relationship stuff for the person who wants to talk about the couple in the show for forty minutes afterward. Nobody gets everything they want. Everybody gets enough.

Put Fleabag season one, episode one on tonight. Order takeout. Don't check your phone. If she's already seen it twice, put on Mr. & Mrs. Smith episode one instead and thank me later.

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