TV Shows About Moms That Get Motherhood Right

‘Sweet Magnolias’

Starring JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Heather Headley and Brooke Elliot, Sweet Magnolias follows three moms as they navigate the ups and downs of motherhood and friendship in their small Southern town. 

The show has three seasons, with the fourth on the way. 

‘The Way Home’

While the premise of the Hallmark series The Way Home might be a little out there – a family in a small town who discovers their pond allows them to time-travel – motherhood is right at the heart of it. In the show, Chyler Leigh’s character Kat balances establishing her relationship with her mom (Andie MacDowell) while taking care of her daughter Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow) in all of the timeframes.

The show’s third season is currently airing.

‘This Is Us’

This Is Us is one of those shows that not only show what motherhood is about, but teaches viewers about love, loss, marriage, brotherhood, and life as a whole. 

The show follows Jack and Rebecca Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore) as they become parents to three kids overnight and go through the trials and tribulations of parenthood together. 

Its last episode aired in 2022 after six seasons. 

‘Ginny & Georgia’

In another show that doesn’t shy away from the reality of motherhood, Ginny & Georgia follows fearless mom of two Georgia (Brianne Howey) as she takes her kids to a picturesque New England town for a fresh start. Soon, however, they realize that the memories and mistakes from the past are still very much around. 

The show has two seasons on Netflix. 

‘Maid’

Starring Margaret Qualley in a breakthrough performance, Netflix’s Maid shows one mother’s fight to take care and protect their kid. The show follows a woman who begins work as a housecleaner in order to flee an abusive relationship. 

The show aired for a limited, one-season run.

‘Never Have I Ever’

After the sudden loss of her dad, Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) has to learn how to live her life without him in addition to already dealing her complicated teen years. Of course, her mom Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan) is always by her side. 

The show ran for four seasons.

‘Dead To Me’

Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini star in this dark comedy about grief, friendship, and family. When Jen loses her husband in a hit-and-run, she makes an unlikely friend in Judy at a grief support group. Jen relies on Judy increasingly as the strain of raising two boys while grieving her husband takes its toll (the show is funny, we swear!).

The show came to a shocking end in 2022 after three seasons. 

‘Workin’ Moms’

Canadian TV series Workin’ Moms is stellar to watch, especially if you’re a mom who is juggling all the new mom feels while trying to maintain your regular work schedule. The show deals with everything from mom guilt to creating a parenting schedule that works for the entire family.

Workin’ Moms was canceled after its seventh season.

‘Motherland’

We all know them: the Alpha moms. A stressed working mom encounters a particularly feral group of high-achieving supermoms — but as she gets to know them, their own struggles emerge. Expect lots of laughs and a renewed sense of permission not to strive for your “best” Pinterest-mom self.

The show was canceled after season 3.

‘One Day At a Time’

This Netflix series features a Cuban-American family of which mom Penelope, a United States Army Nurse Corps veteran, is the heart. After leaving an unsafe home situation with her two kids to go live with her mom, Penelope works on raising her kids as a single mom and piecing her personal life back together at the same time.

One Day at a Time was initially canceled after three seasons by Netflix and picked up by PopTV. With the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Pop TV decided to exit the scripted series business, leaving the show with an incomplete fourth season.

‘Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce’

Being a mother is hard enough. Navigating a divorce at the same time is brutal. Bravo’s first scripted series, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, follows a self-help author whose career plummets when her marriage does, and how she turns to fellow women in their 40s to try and put her life back together.

The show aired for five seasons.

‘Catastrophe’

Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney starred in this comedy about an unlikely set of parents. When Sharon, an Irish teacher, ends up pregnant after a one-night stand with Rob, an American, the two end up deciding to keep the baby and trying to make a go of it — despite cultural differences, pregnancy complications, and more.

The show came to an end after four seasons. 

‘Good Girls’

Three hard-working moms find themselves hard on their luck — one has a husband with a gambling problem, another is struggling to pay her child’s steep medical bills, and a third is wrapped in an ugly custody battle. Together, they hatch a scheme to hold up a grocery store — but of course, the heist doesn’t go as simply as planned.

Good Girls was canceled after the end of season 4.

‘Little Fires Everywhere’

Watch two very opposing styles of motherhood on this Hulu series starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. Based on the novel by Celeste Ng, the series explores what happens when uptight, affluent Elena Richardson (Witherspoon) encounters free-spirited single black mom Mia Warren (Washington) — and when their children find a type of mother they may have been missing.

The show had a limited, one-season run. 

‘Mom’

Anna Faris and Allison Janney starred in this CBS comedy about a complicated relationship between an adult daughter and her mom. Single mom Christy (Faris) has two young kids, a renewed commitment to her sobriety, and an estranged alcoholic mom (Janey) — who’s suddenly back in town and eager to get involved in her daughter’s life.

The show was suddenly canceled after season eight. 

‘Black-ish’

Black-ish has planted its flag in the ground as a game-changing show since it premiered in 2014, but what it does best is unpack modern motherhood as seen through the eyes of biracial working mom Bow Johnson (Tracee Ellis Ross). Bow is a doctor and a mother of five, trying to successfully parent her children aged infant to college sophomore and it’s tough, tough, tough, especially when Bow has to sit down and have serious, necessary conversations with her kids about race relations in America.

The show ended in 2022 after eight seasons. 

‘I’m Sorry’

Actor and comedian Andrea Savage’s I’m Sorry is a brutally honest and hilarious look at just how weird being a mom can get. On the show, Savage plays modern mom Andrea, who lives in Los Angeles with her family and works as a writer. Andrea’s unfiltered, relaxed, no-BS approach to parenting is refreshing, especially because she regularly acknowledges just how weird things like setting up playdates and talking to her daughter in an appropriate way about sex can really be. 

The show was canceled after season 2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Big Little Lies’

Big Little Lies made room in its dramatic narrative to give us a look at a different kind of parenting: one that is rooted in extreme wealth but comes with all of the problems that every mom faces. Sure, these Monterey moms are dealing with the fallout of a murder, but they’re also navigating the cutthroat world of elite public schools, their kids getting birth control without their knowledge and celebrating all of the ways their kids bring joy to their day.

Big Little Lies has two seasons, with season three reportedly already in the works. 

‘The Letdown’

Australian comedy The Letdown looks at all the highs and lows of modern motherhood. The show follows new mom Audrey, who is dealing with the seismic shift motherhood has brought to her personal and professional life. Gone are the days of partying, working late and spontaneous sexy time with her husband. Instead, it’s new mom workshops at the community center, Ferberizing your baby and navigating the perils of breastfeeding in public. 

The show lasted for two seasons. 

‘SMILF’

SMILF stars Frankie Shaw, a 20-something mom called Bridgette who is handling life as a single, working mom the best way she knows how — and it doesn’t always go according to plan. What’s refreshing about this show is that Bridgette is a working-class mom and young woman who has to get by with little resources at her fingertips, allowing for a deeply honest conversation about how real moms (not TV moms with tons of options) actually make it work. 

The show only ran for two seasons following an investigation into Shaw’s misconduct allegations, per The Hollywood Reporter. 

‘Parenthood’

NBC’s Parenthood was a staple on the network for six seasons, giving us a look at the many branches of the Braverman family and all of the unexpected highs and lows life threw their way. The Braverman siblings all have their own kids of varying ages, giving you a look at the trials, tribulations and joys of parenting elementary-age kids, middle schoolers, high schoolers and beyond.

The show ran for six seasons, ending in May 2014. 

‘Single Parents’

ABC comedy Single Parents was a hilarious and honest look at a group of divorced and single parents who banded together and formed their own little support system for their kids, who are also friends. The show was big on depicting how these parents end up co-parenting one another’s kids (it takes a village, after all), but it also makes a point to show that parenting can be one of the most rewarding experiences possible.

Sadly, the show was canceled after two seasons.