Top 250 Tv Shows Like Desperate Living

It isn't very pretty…

A list of the best tv shows similar to Desperate Living. If you liked Desperate Living then you may also like: Rick and Morty, Euphoria, Shameless, The White Lotus, Game of Thrones and many more great tv shows featured on this list.

A rich housewife enlists her maid's help to murder her husband; they go on the lam and end up in Mortville, a homeless community built into a garbage dump.

Rick and Morty

Rick is a mentally-unbalanced but scientifically gifted old man who has recently reconnected with his family. He spends most of his time involving his young grandson Morty in dangerous, outlandish adventures throughout space and alternate universes. Compounded with Morty's already unstable family life, these events cause Morty much distress at home and school.

Euphoria

A group of high school students navigate love and friendships in a world of drugs, sex, trauma, and social media.

Shameless

Chicagoan Frank Gallagher is the proud single dad of six smart, industrious, independent kids, who without him would be... perhaps better off. When Frank's not at the bar spending what little money they have, he's passed out on the floor. But the kids have found ways to grow up in spite of him. They may not be like any family you know, but they make no apologies for being exactly who they are.

The White Lotus

Follow the exploits of various guests and employees at an exclusive tropical resort over the span of a week as with each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel’s cheerful employees and the idyllic locale itself.

Game of Thrones

Seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the farthest north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night's Watch, is all that stands between the realms of men and icy horrors beyond.

Absolutely Fabulous

Set in the world of fashion and PR, immature fun-loving mother Edina Monsoon and her best friend Patsy drive Eddie's sensible daughter, Saffron, up the wall with their constant drug abuse and outrageous selfishness. Numerous in-jokes and heavy doses of cruel humour have made this series a cult hit in the UK and abroad.

Big Brother Brasil

Brazilian version of the reality game show in which a group of houseguests live together 24 hours a day, isolated from the outside world but under constant surveillance with no privacy. Each week a guest is voted out of the house until only the winner remains.

Big Brother

A British reality television game show in which a number of contestants live in an isolated house for several weeks, trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of winning a large cash prize at the end of the run.

Big Mouth

Teenage friends find their lives upended by the wonders and horrors of puberty in this edgy comedy from real-life pals Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg.

Blood Drive

Set in a near-dystopian future, a former cop is forced to take part in a death race where the cars run on human blood. You lose a leg and you lose your head.

Chocolate News

Chocolate News is a satirical news show hosted and head written by David Alan Grier with an emphasis on African American culture. The show aired on Wednesday nights at 10:30 PM on Comedy Central as a lead-in to their other news satire programs, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. The show also aired in Canada on The Comedy Network. On March 10, 2009 a Comedy Central representative confirmed that Chocolate News would not be renewed for a second season.

Dead to Me

A hotheaded widow searching for the hit-and-run driver who mowed down her husband befriends an eccentric optimist who isn't quite what she seems.

Desperate Housewives

Looking down on her friends and family isn't a way of life for Mary Alice Young... it's a way of death. One day, in her perfect house, in the loveliest of suburbs, Mary Alice ended it all. Now she's taking us into the lives of her family, friends and neighbors, commenting from her elevated P.O.V.

Disenchantment

Set in a ruined medieval city called Dreamland, Disenchantment follows the grubby adventures of a hard-drinking princess, her feisty elf companion and her personal demon.

Everything Sucks!

It's 1996 in a town called Boring, Oregon, where high school misfits in the AV and drama clubs brave the ups and downs of teenage emotions in the VHS era.

Exit 57

Exit 57 was a 30-minute sketch comedy series that aired on the American television channel Comedy Central from 1995 to 1996; its cast was composed of comedians Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello, Stephen Colbert, Jodi Lennon, and Mitch Rouse, all of whom had previously studied improv at The Second City in Chicago. In 1999 Sedaris, Dinello, Colbert and Rouse would also create the Comedy Central show "Strangers with Candy". Humorist David Sedaris also served as an additional writer for the series, sharing a single onscreen credit with his sister as "The Talent Family". The show's producer, Joe Forristal, had also served as executive producer for The Kids in the Hall. All of the sketches in the series are implied to take place in the fictional suburban setting of the Quad Cities. During the show's memorably cryptic opening sequence, the cast members are seen standing next to a broken down car on the highway. Soon they are picked up by a passing driver, who changes the radio station at the mention of a serial killer, and takes Polaroid pictures of his increasingly uncomfortable passengers. Growing suspicious, the cast demands to be let out. The car is then seen pulling off the highway at Exit 57.

F is for Family

Follow the Murphy family back to the 1970s, when kids roamed wild, beer flowed freely and nothing came between a man and his TV.

GLOW

In 1980s LA, a crew of misfits reinvent themselves as the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.

Gossip Girl

Eight years after the original website went dark, a new generation of New York private school teens are introduced to the social surveillance of Gossip Girl.

How to Get Away with Murder

A sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller about a group of ambitious law students and their brilliant, mysterious criminal defense professor. They become entangled in a murder plot and will shake the entire university and change the course of their lives.

Insatiable

A bullied teenager turns to beauty pageants as a way to exact her revenge, with the help of a disgraced coach who soon realizes he's in over his head.

The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town

In the fictional Ontario town of Shuckton, the mayor has been murdered! As the Shuckton residents cope with the loss, a new lawyer moves in to prosecute a suspect – though another resident, unsatisfied with the evidence, tries to find the real killer. At the same time, a character who is a personification of death waits at a motel room for the latest Shuckton residents to die...

Masters of Sex

William Masters and Virginia Johnson are real-life pioneers of the science of human sexuality. Their research touched off the sexual revolution and took them from a midwestern teaching hospital to the cover of Time magazine and multiple appearances on Johnny Carson's couch. He is a brilliant scientist out of touch with his own feelings, and she is a single working mother ahead of her time. The series chronicles their unusual lives, romance, and unlikely pop culture trajectory.

Queer as Folk

Stuart Jones has got it all. He's rich, drop-dead gorgeous and always the centre of attention. He can be forgiven the arrogance because he's pretty close to perfection. His best mate Vince Tyler is funny, adorable and definitely a babe but, unlike his friend, has zero confidence in himself. Since time began, Vince has carried a torch for Stuart but his love remains firmly unrequited. They're both 29, hitting Canal Street every night, stalwarts of the scene but just starting to wonder where else their lives may be going. Then along comes Nathan Maloney. Young, wild and coming out with a vengeance, he crowbars his way into their world and once he arrives, nothing is ever the same again.

Queer As Folk

Brash humor and genuine emotion make up this original series revolving around the lives, loves, ambitions, careers and friendships of a group of gay men and women living on Liberty Avenue in contemporary Pittsburgh, PA. The show offers an unapologetic look at modern, urban gay and lesbian lives while addressing the most critical health and political issues affecting the community. Sometimes racy, sometimes sensitive and always straight to the heart.

Russian Doll

Nadia keeps dying and reliving her 36th birthday party. She's trapped in a surreal time loop -- and staring down the barrel of her own mortality.

Santa Clarita Diet

They're ordinary husband and wife realtors until she undergoes a dramatic change that sends them down a road of death and destruction. In a good way.

Scream Queens

The super-charged comedy-horror series is a modern take on the classic whodunit with a killer cast. 

Sense8

One gunshot, one death, one moment out of time that irrevocably links eight minds in disparate parts of the world, putting them in each other's lives, each other's secrets, and in terrible danger. Ordinary people suddenly reborn as "Sensates."

Tell Me You Love Me

This riveting and provocative drama series explores issues of intimacy within the lives of three couples and the therapist they share.

That's My Bush!

That's My Bush! is an American comedy television series that aired on Comedy Central from April 4 to May 23, 2001. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, best known for also creating South Park, the series centers on the fictitious personal life of President George W. Bush, as played by Timothy Bottoms. Carrie Quinn Dolin played Laura Bush, and Kurt Fuller played Karl Rove. Despite the political overtones, the show itself was actually a broad lampoon of American sitcoms, including lame jokes, a laugh track, and stock characters such as klutzy bimbo secretary Princess, know-it-all maid Maggie, and supposedly helpful "wacky" next-door neighbor Larry.

Ugly Americans

Social worker Mark Lilly helps new citizens—both human and "other"—begin the process of adapting to life in the Big Apple, but his coworkers, demonic bureaucrat Twayne, drunken wizard Leonard Powers, surly law enforcement head Frank Grimes & his girlfriend, Callie, don't make it easy.

Bizarre

A half hour, politically incorrect sketch comedy show that showcased the talents of veteran performers John Byner and Bob Einstein as Super Dave Osbourne.

Big Train

Twisted and original sketch show from the minds of Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, starring Simon Pegg, Kevin Eldon and Mark Heap.

Dante's Cove

A young gay couple must overcome dark, mystical forces conspiring against them, starting with a vengeful 19th century witch and her cheating warlock fiance.

Jam

Jam is a postmodern British dark comedy series created, written and directed by Chris Morris, and was broadcast on Channel 4 during March and April 2000. It was based on the earlier BBC Radio 1 show, Blue Jam, and consisted of a series of unsettling sketches unfolding over an ambient soundtrack.

Superjail!

An eccentric warden and his staff run a bizarre maximum security prison full of dangerous prisoners.

Paradise Falls

Paradise Falls was a weekly soap opera shown nationally on the Showcase channel in Canada, starting in 2001. It is set in a summer cottage community in Central Ontario.

Oz

The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.

The L Word

A group of lesbian friends struggle with romance and careers in Los Angeles.

Viva Variety

Viva Variety is an American sketch comedy series that aired on Comedy Central from April 1997 to December 1999. The series satirizes European variety shows.

Upright Citizens Brigade

The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational comedy and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The most recent incarnation consists of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Besser, Ali Farahnakian, Drew Franklin, Adam McKay, Roberts, Rick Roman, and Horatio Sanz. Other early members included Neil Flynn, Armando Diaz, and Rich Fulcher.

Bliss

Bliss is a Canadian produced, half hour dramatic television series, produced by Montreal-based Galafilm and Toronto-based Back Alley Films, an anthology of women's erotica. The series ran from 2002 to 2004. The format of the show—short, sensual vignettes adapted for television—aired on Oxygen in the United States and Showcase, TMN and Movie Central in Canada. The series is distributed by Oasis International in Toronto.

Comedy Now!

Comedy Now! is a Canadian comedy television series which debuted in 1997 featuring the newest in Canadian comedic talent. The show has won numerous Gemini Awards as well as many international awards. It is broadcast in Canada on The Comedy Network and CTV. In the United States, the program airs on Comedy Central. The show has started the careers of notable Canadian comedians, including Brent Butt, Gavin Crawford, Shaun Majumder, Russell Peters, and Harland Williams and has showcased comedians like Eric Tunney.

The Real L Word

This sexy reality series features a fascinating group of smart, gorgeous, and fiercely successful LA ladies ready to make the scene with their uniquely captivating stories and sizzling drama. From love and lust to family and career, these women know what they want and just how to get it.

Erotic Confessions

Anthology series wherein each episode, Jacqueline Stone reads a letter sent in from women recounting their erotic experiences.

Revenge

When Emily Thorne moves to the Hamptons, everyone wonders about the new girl, but she knows everything about them, including what they did to her family. Years ago, they took everything from her. Now, one by one, she's going to make them pay.

Hannibal

Both a gift and a curse, Graham has the extraordinary ability to think like his prey—he sees what they see, feels what they feel. But while Graham is pursuing an especially troubling, cannibalistic murderer, Special Agent Jack Crawford teams him with a highly respected psychiatrist – a man with a taste for the criminal minded – Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

Lingerie

Lingerie is an erotic drama about a struggling New York City lingerie company, its owner Lacey Summers, and her friends and associates.

The DL Chronicles

The DL Chronicles is a series of short stories about men of color who lead double sex lives. Episode; Wes introduces us to Wes Thomas, an upwardly mobile real estate banker who is overwhelmed by the demands of his marriage, career, and closeted attraction to men. When Wes' sexy but ambivalent brother- in-law stops in for an unexpected stay, he is directly faced with temptation and ultimately falls for the forbidden fruit.

DTLA

The relationships and sex lives of a diverse group of friends who works and lives in the vibrant community of Downtown Los Angeles.

Spartacus

Torn from his homeland and the woman he loves, Spartacus is condemned to the brutal world of the arena where blood and death are primetime entertainment.

Portrait of a Marriage

The remarkable true story of Edwardian writer Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson.

Top of the Lake

A woman haunted by her past, Detective Robin Griffin, investigates complex and unsettling cases.

American Gods

An ex-con becomes the traveling partner of a conman who turns out to be one of the older gods trying to recruit troops to battle the upstart deities. Based on Neil Gaiman's fantasy novel.

Black Sails

The pirate adventures of Captain Flint and his men twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic “Treasure Island.” Flint, the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day, takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver. Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day – a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality.

The Birthday Boys

"The Birthday Boys" is a scripted original sketch comedy, executive produced by Bob Odenkirk ("Breaking Bad", "Mr. Show") and Ben Stiller ("The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", "Zoolander"). The series features the Los Angeles comedy group of the same name (UCB Theatre Los Angeles, Just for Laughs Festival) along with Odenkirk and is in the classic vein of absurd/silly/smart/funny variety shows ("Mr. Show", Monty Python), featuring sketches that twist real-life moments and cultural touchstones.

Hunting Season

Hunting Season is an American LGBT-themed comedy-drama web series created by Jon Marcus. Following the romantic and sexual exploits of Alex and his small group of friends in New York City, the story was inspired by and largely based on the 2005–08 blog The Great Cock Hunt and the 2008 novel of the same name published by Kensington Books.

Quarry

The story of Mac Conway, a Marine who returns home to Memphis from Vietnam in 1972 and finds himself shunned by those he loves and demonized by the public. As he struggles to cope with his experiences at war, Conway is drawn into a network of killing and corruption that spans the length of the Mississippi River.

Lobo

The many adventures of the Main Man Lobo, a galactic bounty hunter.

Sex & Violence

Follows the lives of a social worker, a victims' advocate and four others who provide support to victims of violence.

The Girlfriend Experience

Explore the relationships between exclusive escorts and their clients, for whom they provide far more than just sex. Known as GFEs, they are women who provide “The Girlfriend Experience”—emotional and sexual relationships at a very high price.

The UCB Show

A weekly variety showcase for the best sketch, characters and stand-up homegrown at the UCB Theatres in LA and NYC. Hosted by Upright Citizens Brigade co-founders Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh and filmed with a live audience at UCB Sunset in Hollywood.

Slasher

Thirty years ago, in the sleepy community of Waterbury, a killer known as “The Executioner” murdered Sarah Bennett's parents. Now Sarah and her husband Dylan have returned to town, only to find herself the centerpiece in a series of horrifying murders centered around the seven deadly sins.

Lady Dynamite

A single-camera half-hour comedy based on what Maria Bamford has accepted to be "her life." It's the sometimes surreal story of a woman who loses — and then finds — her s**t.

Submission

Beautiful but unfulfilled Ashley has her eyes opened to the tantalizing possibilities of BDSM when she discovers the popular erotic novel SLAVE by Nolan Keats. But her fascination with the mysterious Mr. Keats leads her into a sexy but dangerous love triangle, and tests the boundaries of her own sexual limitations.

Naked Attraction

The show looks at whether a partner can be found based solely on the naked body and animal magnetism. Two singletons join host Anna Richardson as they seek to choose a date from a selection of six naked people, who will be revealed to them one body part at a time. They then get dressed and head off on a date, to see if there is any chemistry when the clothes come on.

I Love Dick

Adapted from the lauded feminist novel and set in a colorful academic community in Marfa, Texas, this is the story of a struggling married couple, Chris and Sylvere, and their obsession with a charismatic professor named Dick. Told in Rashomon-style shifts of POV, the series charts the unraveling of a marriage, the awakening of an artist and the deification of a reluctant messiah.

The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine

A 1971 comedy and variety sketch show co-produced by ATV in the UK and ABC TV in America, filmed at Elstree Studios. It featured opening and closing credits by Terry Gilliam, guest appearances by Spike Milligan, Bob Todd, John Junkin and Frances de la Tour, and also material written by Barry Levinson and Larry Gelbart.

The Secret Life of Couples

Sexologist and therapist Sofia Prado, director of an institute of alternative therapies, has to deal with her own emotional disorders, which she hides from everyone. From the revelation of one of her patients, the specialist becomes involved in a dangerous network of corruption.

Corporate

A dark, edgy look at life as a Junior-Executive-in-Training at your average, soulless multinational corporation. Matt and Jake are at the mercy of a tyrannical CEO and his top lieutenants while navigating an ever-revolving series of disasters. Their only ally is Human Resources rep Grace.

Vida

Two Mexican-American sisters from the Eastside of Los Angeles who couldn't be more different or distanced from each other are forced to return to their old neighborhood, where they are confronted by the past and surprising truth about their mother’s identity.

Years and Years

As Britain is rocked by unstable political, economic and technological advances, members of the Lyons family converge on one crucial night in 2019. Over the next 15 years, the twists and turns of their everyday lives are explored as we find out if this ordinary family could change the world.

Gentleman Jack

Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, 1832. Anne Lister attempts to revitalize her inherited home, Shibden Hall. Most notably for the time period, a part of her plan is to help the fate of her own family - by taking a wife.

Weird City

Set in the not-too-distant future, this comedy anthology explores the issues of everyday life in the metropolis of Weird — stories that can only be told through the prism of sci-fi and comedy.

Girls from Ipanema

A 1950s housewife goes to Rio de Janeiro to meet up with her husband, only to learn he's deserted her, but decides to stay and open a bossa nova club.

Why Women Kill

Three women living in three different decades: a housewife in the '60s, a socialite in the '80s and a lawyer in 2018, deal with infidelity in their marriages.

The Sandman

After years of imprisonment, Morpheus — the King of Dreams — embarks on a journey across worlds to find what was stolen from him and restore his power.

Mrs. Fletcher

A dual coming-of-age comedy exploring the impact of internet porn and social media, Mrs. Fletcher follows empty nest divorcée Eve Fletcher — as she reinvents her life to find the happiness and sexual fulfillment that’s eluded her, and her college freshman son Brendan.

Tiny Pretty Things

When an attack brings down the star student at an elite ballet school, her replacement enters a world of lies, betrayal -- and cutthroat competition.

Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

This series examines the gruesome and horrific true crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer and the systemic failures that enabled one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade.

The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window

For Anna, every day is the same. She sits with her wine, staring out the window, watching life go by without her. But when a handsome neighbor moves in across the street, Anna starts to see a light at the end of the tunnel. That is until she witnesses a gruesome murder… Or did she?

Irma Vep

Mira is an American movie star disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, who comes to France to star as “Irma Vep” in a remake of the French silent film classic, “Les Vampires.” Set against the backdrop of a lurid crime thriller, Mira struggles as the distinctions between herself and the character she plays begin to blur and merge.

And Just Like That…

This new chapter of “Sex and the City” follows Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s.

Velma

Jinkies! This raucous reimagining of the Scooby-Doo franchise unravels the mysterious origins of Mystery, Inc. – as seen through the eyes of the gang’s beloved bespectacled detective Velma.

The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself

Caught between two warring clans, the son of a notorious witch responsible for a deadly massacre tries to find his place in the world — and his powers.

Maradona, Blessed Dream

The controversial life and history of Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona. From his beginnings in Villa Fiorito, one of the poorest barrios of Buenos Aires, to achieving glory on the international football league. Earning himself a well-deserved place in history. Living a life strewn with drugs, sex and public scrutiny, he played by his own rules regardless of the consequences. Watch the man who took the world by storm and made his way into the hearts of millions.

Further Tales of the City

Residents of 28 Barbary Lane continue to navigate human life, flawed love, and blind hope in 1980's San Francisco.

Brazzers House

Co-hosted by Nikki Benz and Keiran Lee, Brazzers House is home to 10 sexy pornstar contestants, all living under the same roof. The competition heats up when the house guests are divided into two teams and face elimination with a series of mental and physical challenges. Brazzers members have a chance to vote for their favorite team at the end of each episode and when all the votes are counted, one team will be evicted and the other will be crowned the winner of the house challenges. That lucky team of 5 contestants gets to participate in the final live challenge, where each house guest will compete against each other in the hopes of taking home the Grand Prize!

The Fall of the House of Usher

Ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power. But past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth.

Reboot

When Hulu reboots an early 2000s family sitcom, its dysfunctional cast is forced back together and now must deal with their unresolved issues in today’s fast-changing world.

Queer as Folk

The lives of a diverse group of friends in New Orleans are transformed in the aftermath of a tragedy.

Open House: The Great Sex Experiment

Committed couples come to a luxury retreat to explore whether having open relationships and sex with other people can strengthen their bond.

Bad Sisters

The tight-knit Garvey sisters have always looked out for each other. When their brother-in-law winds up dead, his life insurers launch an investigation to prove malicious intent—and set their sights on the sisters, all of whom had ample reason to kill him.

Uncoupled

Michael thought his life was perfect until his husband blindsided him by walking out after 17 years. Michael has to confront two nightmares — losing his soulmate and suddenly finding himself a single gay man in his mid-40s.

Tales of the City

Mary Ann Singleton, a naïve young secretary from the mid-west, tumbles head first into the colorful world of San Francisco, where carefree chaos revolves around the funky old apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane.

Fellow Travelers

Decades-long chronicle of the risky, volatile and steamy relationship between the charismatic and ambitious Hawk and the pious and idealistic Tim, two political staffers who fall in love at the height of the 1950s Lavender Scare. Through the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the drug-fueled disco culture of the 1970s and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, the two men’s fiery affair only intensifies despite the constant threat of being exposed and losing everything.

Glamorous

Aspiring influencer Marco lands a dream job with a makeup mogul and begins a dazzling journey of self-discovery amid work chaos and romantic challenges.

Naked, Alone and Racing to Get Home

Two pairs of complete strangers are stripped bare of all clothes and possessions to race across the English countryside in a bid to be the first to reach a cash prize for charity and their clothes.

Bodies

One victim, found dead on a London street. Four detectives, in four different time periods, must solve the mystery to protect Britain's future.

Sort results by:

X close
Clear filters
...