The representation of Black women on TV has improved drastically since only getting one tv show per decade in the past that celebrates black women friendships to now having multiple options including the recently ended Insecure (which I’m sure many would argue moved our culture).
Check out the 21 tv shows that celebrate Black women friendships + where to stream.
Updated where to stream on Feb 7, 2023
Act Your Age
We’re kicking this list off with Act Your Age because it’s a brand new show on Bounce TV that celebrates the friendship of these three woman as they navigate life after 50.
Stream: Bounce TV
Insecure
Modern-day black women might be described as strong and confident; in other words, just the opposite of Issa and Molly. As the best friends deal with their own real-life flaws, their insecurities come to the fore as together they cope with an endless series of uncomfortable everyday experiences. Created by co-star Issa Rae and writer/comic Larry Wilmore (“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart”), the comedy series looks at the friendship of two black women in a unique, authentic way. It features the music of both indie and established artists of color, and touches on a variety of social and racial issues that relate to the contemporary black experience.
Stream: HBO Max, Hulu, Youtube TV, Prime Video
Single Ladies
Set in Atlanta’s fashion, music and celebrity circles, “Single Ladies” strives to find out what women really want in a relationship. The comedy-drama follows three best friends who don’t hold the same philosophies on sex and relationships: Keisha is a former video dancer who wants a rich man to support her high style; April is finding out that her fairy-tale marriage to her supposedly perfect man isn’t what she thought it would be; and Raquel is trying to break free from her mother’s influence and attempting to stand up for herself and make her own choices.
Stream: Paramount+, Apple TV, Sling TV, BET Plus, Prime Video, YouTube, The Roku Channel
Harlem
From writer Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip), Harlem is a new comedy following a group of stylish and ambitious best girlfriends in Harlem NYC, the mecca of Black culture in America. Camille is a popular young anthropology professor at Columbia with extensive knowledge of the dating norms of many cultures, but has a hard time navigating her own love life; Tye is a successful, queer dating app creator who prefers keeping vulnerability—and romantic partners—at arm’s length; Quinn is a hopeless romantic and trust fund fashion designer who is trying to give back to the world while running a struggling business; Angie is a confident, vibrant, and filter-free singer and actress who also lives rent-free and fabulously with Quinn. Together, they level up from their 20s into the next phase of their careers, relationships, and big city dreams.
Stream: Prime Video
Run the World
A group of women work, live and play in Harlem as they strive for world domination.
Stream: The Roku Channel, Starz, YouTube, Hulu, YouTube TV, Sling TV, Prime Video, Philo
Tyler Perry’s Sistas
Written, directed and executive produced by Tyler Perry, “Sistas” follows a group of single black women as they navigate the ups and downs of modern life, which includes careers, friendships, romances, and even social media. The comedy-drama series features Andi Barnes, an ambitious divorce lawyer, Danni King, a funny and fearless airport employee, Karen Mott, a street-smart hair salon owner, and Sabrina Hollins, a smart and stylish bank teller. The TV show takes viewers on a roller coaster ride of emotions and moments that epitomize “squad goals.”
Stream: BET, BET Plus, Youtube TV, Hulu, Sling TV, fuboTV, Philo, The Roku Channel
Twenties
A semi-autobiographical series created by Lena Waithe, “Twenties” follows Hattie, an aspiring screenwriter and queer Black woman in her 20s, and her two straight best friends, Marie and Nia. The three chase their dreams and try to find their ways in Los Angeles as they struggle to figure out life, love and the professional world. Marie is a television executive, while Nia makes a living as a yoga teacher. With Jonica T. Gibbs, Christina Elmore and Gabrielle Graham starring as the three main characters, the series also features Sophina Brown as Hattie’s boss and Big Sean as Tristan, Nia’s love interest.
Stream: BET Plus, BET, Sling TV, Prime Video, Philo, The Roku Channel
Leimert Park
Things get complicated when three friends share a house in South Los Angeles’s Leimert Park. Set against a vibrant LA backdrop with a fantastic cast of female leads, Leimert Park is an in-your-face comedy built for the modern age.
Stream: BET Plus, Sling TV, The Roku Channel, Prime Video
Queens
Four women in their 40s reunite for a chance to recapture their fame and regain the swagger they had as legends in the 1990s hip-hop world.
Stream: N/A
Living Single
Six black 20-somethings — four women and two men — share their lives and loves in a Brooklyn brownstone. A trio of women share one of the apartments, receiving frequent visits from a fourth pal; meanwhile, two men who’ve been friends for years share an apartment one floor up.
Stream: Hulu, Philo, HBO Max, Prime Video
Bigger
In the Atlanta neighborhood of Little Five Points, Layne Roberts and her friends are spurred to take a deeper look at their stagnant lives and ask themselves if there’s something bigger and better.
Stream: BETplus, Sling TV, Prime Video, The Roku Channel
9-1-1
Athena and Hen’s relationship is bestie goals! Whether their fighting fires, bad guys or fighting with their significant others; these two have always had one another’s backs.
Stream: Hulu, Fox, fuboTV, YouTubeTV
First Wives Club
Ari, Bree, and Hazel band together after their marriages end and discover strength in their sisterhood, as well as a little revenge.
Stream: Sling TV, BET Plus, Amazon
Girlfriends
An ensemble sitcom focusing on a mixed batch of black women who face life’s tests and triumphs together. From dating to divorce and friends to family to relationships, Joan, Maya, Lynn and Toni support each other despite their differing backgrounds, learning about true friendship in the process.
Stream: Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV, Philo
A Different World
Denise Huxtable is in “a different world” — predominantly black Hillman College — in this popular “Cosby Show” spinoff. A sophomore, Denise shares her quarters with divorced freshman Jaleesa and naive Maggie, one of Hillman’s few white students. Other Hillman students include Whitley, a Southern belle full of attitude; Dwayne, a math major, and his best friend, Ron; and Col. Taylor, aka “Dr. War.”
The sitcom focuses on women friendships while in college.
Stream: HBO Max, Philo, Prime Video
Ms. Pat Show
They’re sisters but it’s their friendship that we’re invested in. The two have such great chemistry in this family comedy.
Stream: BET, BETPlus
Sister, Sister
Tia and Tamera are twins who were separated at birth, with each being adopted by a different parent. One day, the teens have a chance encounter while shopping at a clothing store in the mall. After the families meet, Tamera’s adoptive father reluctantly allows Tia and her mother to move into his home so the girls can be together. But just because they’re twins doesn’t mean Tia and Tamera are identical in any way other than looks — Tia is intelligent and from inner-city Detroit while Tamera is the boy-crazy twin from the suburbs.
They may have been twins but they met when they were teens so they push their friendship and sisterhood simultaneously.
Stream: Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, Amazon,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5CNn7aCPj0
Half & Half
They made better friends than they did navigating their moms and worlds as half-sisters
Stream: Pluto TV, Netflix, YouTube, Paramount+, Philo, The Roku Channel, Prime Video
Orange is the New Black
Through thick and thin, Poussey and Taystee’s unbreakable bond in Orange is the New Black is a testament to the power of true friendship, even in the toughest of circumstances.
Stream: Netflix
Reasonable Doubt
While the show specifically focuses on Jax, it makes it a point to shed light on her friends and how despite their ups and downs, they are there for one another.
Stream: Hulu
Martin
Where there was Gina there was Pam….and usually Tommy and Cole and of course Martin. While this show was a great ensemble series its focus on their friendship still stood out.
Stream: Hulu
Dear White People
Whether it was friendly rival rooted in a past of a real friendship or actual best friends, this show highlighted the various friendships among women while being Black in a white space.
Stream: Netflix