12+ Shows To Watch Following Hot Strike Summer

TV’s Not Dead Yet!

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We’re nearing September, and the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have yet to reach an agreement with the AMPTP, those greedy overlords who care more about profits than people or creating good art. What this means for Hollywood is that productions have come to a halt, since you can’t very well produce a film or a television show without writers or actors. This has already delayed movies and shows currently in production, and will certainly delay more if the strike continues as the TV season resumes in the fall. 

Viewers have already been bemoaning what this means for us hungry consumers, but reports of the death of television have been greatly exaggerated. There are decades worth of TV shows you can catch up on today, not to mention the thousands of shows produced outside of America. However, if you’re still looking for new shows to fill the upcoming void, I’ve got you covered. Here are twelve (and a few more) shows worth digging into as we celebrate Hot Strike Summer.  

Fringe (2008-2013)

The Gist: If you’re a fan of The X-Files, Fringe is the closest you’ll get to a modern equivalent. The show follows Olivia Dunham (the indomitable Anna Torv), an FBI agent who gets brought into the Fringe Division, a secret department that investigates unexplainable phenomena. The department is led by Broyles (Lance Riddick), and Olivia is joined by mad scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his brilliant son, Peter (Joshua Jackson). Things start to get really freaky from the second season on, but the writers never lose track of the show’s central message. You guessed it – it’s the power of love! The plot of the show is the definition of galaxy brain, but it remains so emotionally grounded throughout that these huge narrative swings never leave the audience – or the characters – behind. 

Is it gay? No, not really, but one of the characters Anna Torv plays is extremely fruity and brings a lot of gay energy to the table. Does Anna Torv flirt with herself? You’ll have to watch and find out. Also, Olivia and Peter have the kind of angsty, slow-burn relationship that led me to previously define them as Exceptional Heterosexuals, a designation also given to Scully and Mulder from The X-Files. 

Watch on Max and Amazon Prime

The Good Wife (2009-2016)

The Gist: Created by TV visionaries Robert and Michelle King, The Good Wife begins with a simple premise and expands wildly from there. The effervescent Julianna Margulies plays Alicia Florrick, the wife of a State’s Attorney who goes to prison following a political scandal. Forced to assume the role of family breadwinner, Alicia returns to work as a lawyer, a career she put on hold to raise her children. What follows is a story of redemption, corruption, and morality. Alicia’s journey over the course of seven seasons is filled with highs and lows as she struggles to decipher what she’s fighting for in a world where achieving true justice seems nearly impossible. Featuring an incredible supporting cast including the likes of Christine Baranski, Josh Charles, Alan Cumming, Archie Panjabi, Carrie Preston, and Stockard Channing, the series contains elements of both a procedural and a high-concept political drama. The Good Wife is also followed by one of the greatest spin-offs in TV history, the amazingly surreal The Good Fight. (If you like spooky stuff, you should also check out their series Evil.)

Is it gay? Kind of! Archie Panjabi’s character, Kalinda Sharma, is the law firm’s investigator, and she also happens to be a mysterious bisexual, embodying a particularly delicious version of that very 2010-era archetype. Kalinda embarks on a fun and sexy relationship with a (woman) FBI agent, and also becomes BFFs with Alicia, despite whatever behind-the-scenes drama happened with Panjabi and Margulies. 

Watch on Paramount+ and Amazon Prime

Person of Interest (2011-2016)

The Gist: I’ve written about Person of Interest before, but there’s no way I can create a list like this without including it. The series follows Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) a computer genius who builds an AI known as The Machine. Harold has kept a segment of his Machine hidden from the government, and uses it to prevent crimes from happening with the help of his loyal team – John (Jim Caveziel), Carter (Taraji P. Henson), Shaw (Sarah Shahi), Root (Amy Acker), Fusco (Kevin Chapman) and a very good dog named Bear. Created by Jonathan Nolan, the series begins like a typical procedural, but slowly transforms into something much bigger and more profound – a search for the meaning of life and a study of the terrifying power of technology. It’s prescient, to say the least. 

Is it gay? Yes! Root and Shaw are very gay for each other, though Shaw rarely acknowledges this fact (apart from one enormous exception). Root is an assassin and a psychopath who constantly flirts with Shaw and gets on her nerves, while Shaw has diagnosed herself with a personality disorder and doesn’t experience emotions like other people do. Somehow, they are the perfect pair, and Shahi and Acker’s chemistry is off the charts from their very first scene together. Also, their inclusion in the show illustrates its overarching message: that only (lesbian) love can save the world. 

Watch on Amazon Prime

Elementary (2012-2019)

The Gist: The CBS series Elementary is the greatest Sherlock Holmes adaptation to date, no matter what the Cumberbitches have to say about it. Johnny Lee Miller plays Sherlock, who moves to New York after completing rehab. His father hires a sober companion, Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), a former surgeon who has had her license revoked. Sherlock begins working as a police consultant for the NYPD, and Joan becomes his partner in crime-solving. Their relationship deepens as the show goes on, and it is one of the most profound and nuanced portrayals of a platonic partnership ever seen on television. Miller and Liu are the perfect Holmes and Watson, drawing from the source material but ultimately creating something that is entirely their own. 

Is it gay? Not explicitly, but consider this: Lucy Liu’s wardrobe in the later seasons consists almost entirely of suits, which has got to be one of the greatest gifts to lesbian-kind. To make matters even more enticing, Natalie Dormer appears in several seasons of the show, and while she is initially obsessed with Sherlock, her obsession shifts to Joan, and she does totally normal things like painting life-sized portraits of her. Also, trans actress Candis Cayne plays Sherlock Holmes stalwart Ms. Hudson, though she only appears in a few episodes. 

Watch on Hulu

The Americans (2013-2018)

The Gist: One of the most iconic examples of an on-screen couple who became a real-life couple, Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell play Soviet spies posing as an all-American family. Elizabeth (Russell) is dedicated to the motherland and suffers no fools, even when those fools are her own children. Meanwhile, Phillip (Rhys) is all too comfortable living an American life – driving fast cars and playing squash with his best buddy, who happens to work for the FBI. Margo Martindale is also there as their hardened Soviet handler. There’s so much to love about The Americans – some of the best acting to ever appear on screen (Russell not getting any Emmys for the show is a grave injustice), the greatest needle drops you’ve ever heard, and brutal emotional devastation at every turn. The pilot is perfection, and so is the finale – what more could you ask for?

Is it gay? No, not really, but there are plenty of hotties around to enjoy. And by “plenty” I mainly mean Keri Russell and her gorgeous, gorgeous hair, which truly is a character in and of itself. 

Watch on Hulu

Halt and Catch Fire (2014-2017)

The Gist: Halt and Catch Fire is one of the great unsung TV masterpieces of the 21st century. The show begins in 1983 and follows entrepreneur Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace) as he plots to build an innovative new computer. He joins forces with computer engineer Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy), his wife Donna (Kerry Bishé), and young programmer prodigy Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis). Halt and Catch Fire is a bit of a slow build, and requires some patience to get into. The first season is good, but not great – it feels a bit like Mad Men set in the ‘80s. But as the series goes on, the characters become more fleshed-out and the questions they ask skew more existential, resulting in a visionary piece of television. The soundtrack is also extremely killer. Season 4 is a perfect season of television, and the last few episodes will leave you with your mouth agape. It all comes back to what Cameron told Joe back in Season One: "I want to build something that makes people fall in love.”

Is it gay? Kind of! Lee Pace’s character, Joe, is bisexual. This doesn’t come up super often, but it is obvious that this is a part of his life that has affected him in various consequential ways. It’s also revealed in Season 4 that a character close to the main cast is gay, and her relationship with the internet is an important part of this experience. By the final two seasons, it becomes clear that the two most important relationships in the series are of the homosocial variety – Joe and Gordon, along with Cameron and Donna, are the true OTPs of the show. 

Watch on Sling TV and AMC+

The Leftovers (2014-2017)

The Gist: The cream of the crop when it comes to apocalypse shows, The Leftovers never stops being relevant. The series takes place three years after “The Sudden Departure,” an unexplainable global event wherein 140 million people disappeared without a trace. Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) is the sheriff of Mapletown, New York, and he is one of the lucky few who didn’t lose any loved ones during the Departure. However, his wife, Laurie (Amy Brenneman), has joined a cult called the Guilty Remnant, a group aiming to atone for their survival. Kevin meets Nora Durst (Carie Coon), a woman who lost her husband and kids to the Departure. Together, they muddle through this new reality, trying to make sense of their place in the world. By the end of the series, Kevin and Nora have traversed continents and decades, and we are ultimately left with the age-old question: is love the answer? Yes, of course it is. (For more apocalypse content and more Mackenzie Davis, check out Station Eleven.)

Is it gay? No, not really. In fact, it’s probably one of the least gay HBO shows. But there are plenty of queens for the LGBTs to stan, including Brenneman, Coon, Liv Tyler (who is actually very scary in this show), Regina King, the great Ann Dowd, Margaret Qualley, and Yellowjackets star Jasmin Savoy Brown. 

Watch on Max

Call My Agent! (2015-2020)

The Gist: The premise of Call My Agent! is brilliant, and the execution is just as good. The series follows a group of agents at a French talent agency as they go about their stressful jobs and attempt to have something resembling a personal life. For our purposes, the agent you’ll be most interested in is Andréa Martel, a mean lesbian played by Camille Cottin (who you may recognize from Killing Eve). One of the best parts of the show is the guest stars: each episode focuses on a real-life actor playing themselves (or at least an exaggerated version of themselves). Notable guest stars include Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert, Isabelle Adjani, Monica Bellucci, and Sigourney Weaver, who gets her very own musical number. The show is an ideal mix of comedy and drama, and the high-profile hijinks never get old. 

Is it gay? Yep! Andréa is one of the show’s main characters, and she has some of the best storylines. Plus, it’s delightful to watch her try and change her lothario ways when she falls in love for real and tries to become a family woman. 

Watch on Netflix

The Bold Type (2017-2021)

The Gist: This one is for the giggly girls. Often described as a modern take on Sex and the City, The Bold Type follows three best friends who work at a New York City media company called Scarlett. Kat (Aisha Dee) is a bubbly bisexual social media manager looking for her purpose in life, Jane (Katie Stevens) is a Type-A writer, and Sutton (Meghann Fahy) is a fashion expert working her way up the ladder. Their boss is Jacqueline (Melora Hardin), who initially comes off as a Miranda Priestly type but is really a nurturing super-boss. The millennial feminist utopia the show depicts is fairly synthetic, sure, but the three leads are charming enough that any lack of verisimilitude is easily forgiven. Bold Type fans have known Meghann Fahy is a star long before White Lotus, and she shines so brightly here. Though romantic entanglements and work problems abound, the core focus of the show is the friendship between the three women, which is delightful to behold.

Is it gay? Yep! As previously stated, Kat is bisexual, and her primary romantic relationship on the show is with a woman named Adena El-Amin (Nikohl Boosheri), who is a very cool lesbian photographer. They are the best romantic paring on the show by far, though that’s not saying much considering Jane’s prospects. #Kadena forever. 

Watch on Hulu

Vida (2018-2020)

The Gist: There is truly no other show like Vida. Created by playwright Tanya Saracho, the series follows two sisters who return to their hometown of Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, following the death of their estranged mother. Lyn (Melissa Barrera) is a carefree party girl living in the Bay Area, and her older sister, Emma (Mishel Prada), is a high-powered businesswoman living in Chicago. The two sisters reunite to take care of their mother’s affairs, including her beloved neighborhood bar. While there, they learn some surprising secrets about their mother and get in touch with their roots.

Is it gay? Yes, very! Emma is an iconic power dyke – very mean on the outside, soft on the inside – and has a lot of lesbian sex over the course of the series. In fact, many episodes of the show begin with a queer sex scene. There are also several wonderful butch characters, including Eddy (Ser Anzoategui), and Emma’s love interest, Nico (Roberta Colindrez), who absolutely oozes sex appeal. It’s really the only American show (apart from Los Espookys) that focuses primarily on queer, Latinx characters, and everything about it feels fresh and authentic. 

Watch on Hulu, the Roku Channel, and Starz

9-1-1 (2018-)

The Gist: Hear me out on this one – Ryan Murphy’s 9-1-1 is the best procedural currently airing on television (alongside the Magnum P.I. reboot, which is also excellent). The show is truly bonkers, in the best possible way. Every episode tracks an emergency – or a series of emergencies – faced by a team of first responders in Los Angeles. The main crew are the members of Sation 118, led by the heroic Bobby Nash (Peter Krause). Also part of the squad is adorable himbo Buck (Oliver Stark), goofy paramedic Chimney (Kenneth Choi), and his best friend Hen (Aisha Hinds). Angela Bassett rounds out the crew as a cop, delivering her hilariously soapy dialogue with Shakespearean diction. And we can’t forget about the 911 operators, which include Connie Britton and her beautiful hair in the first season, who is then replaced by the Ghost Whisperer herself, Jennifer Love Hewitt. The first episode depicts a baby who gets stuck in a toilet pipe in the wall, and the emergencies only get more unbelievable – though many of them are actually ripped directly from the headlines – from then on. Like most great procedurals, 9-1-1 is really about the concept of family, and the writers of the show never let us forget this. 

Is it gay? Kind of! One of the main characters on the show, Hen, is a lesbian, and she lives with her wife Karen (Tracie Thoms, also known as Joanne from the Rent movie) and their son Denny. There are occasionally some gay emergencies as well. My favorite character is the straight himbo Buck, who tries his very hardest to be a good man despite his family trauma and loves his found family, including the lesbians. Thanks, Buck!

Watch on Hulu, Fox, YouTube TV

Work in Progress (2019-2021)

The Gist: Work in Progress sadly only got two seasons to spread its wings, but those two seasons were enough to prove its brilliance. Abby McEnany plays Abby, a 45-year-old lesbian who is struggling through life. Abby works at a boring job and lives with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and finds herself having an existential crisis following an unexpected tragedy. The series – which was EPed by Lily Wachowski – asks lots of hard, interesting, and funny questions about sexuality, gender, mental illness, body image, and privilege. It’s a rare show that centers on a lesbian, but it’s not the kind of cookie-cutter “representation” that is often propped up by cultural gatekeepers. It’s messy, complicated, and real, above all else. 

Is it gay? Obviously, yes. Most of the characters on the show are queer or trans, and those that aren’t are usually the butt of the joke. Abby’s (queer) perspective on life is very specific, and that’s exactly what makes the show so interesting. 

Watch on FuboTV

Honorable Mentions

If you’re looking to be flung into space, check out For All Mankind, which features Jodi Balfour as a lesbian astronaut in love with a bartender/poet, among many other amazing spectacles. (The first three seasons are available on Apple TV+, and a fourth season will arrive….sometime!)

If you’re looking for something short but sweet, check out Generation+, which only ran for one season but is an incredibly well-done show about queer teens (Euphoria found dead). 

If you want something anti-capitalist, check out Mr. Robot, which is about hacking and sticking it to the man and also features an unexpected lesbian romance. 

If you want to practice your Spanish, check out Las pelotaris 1926, Sin huellas, and El fin del amor, all of which depict passionate and chaotic women and contain various shades of lesbianism.

If you’re in it for the long run, check out all fifteen seasons of ER, which features one of the hottest couples of the decade in George Clooney and Julianna Margulies, along with lesbian icon Maria Bello as a hot doctor.