Thanks to the coronavirus, Mother’s Day will likely look a little different this year. You might not be seeing your mother in the flesh, and if you are a mother, you probably won’t get the pampering you might otherwise get on this one day of the year.
But we still have streaming TV, and thank all that is holy for that. So if you’re a mom who just wants to feel seen, or you just want to laugh about the bizarre craziness and life-altering happiness that is motherhood (ideally alone without your family), then check out these nine recommendations put together by yours truly.
Read on for the full list, and if you want to stay informed of everything joining Netflix every week, subscribe to the Streamline newsletter.
Season 1 trailer:
Premise: A Canadian comedy about, you guessed it, working moms. Each mom has her own set of often-hysterical challenges as they navigate what it means to be a working mother in the 2010s.
Cast: Catherine Reitman, Dani Kind, Juno Ruddell
Is it an accurate depiction of motherhood? It’s almost too real sometimes.
Will it make you feel good about your parenting? Likely a mix of both. So sit back with a glass of wine and enjoy the fun.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Season 1 trailer:
Premise: A comedian based in LA also happens to be a mother of an elementary school-aged daughter. She’s raunchy and hilarious and, even though she often has the best intentions with her parenting, she often screws up.
Cast: Andrea Savage, Tom Everett Scott
Is it an accurate depiction of motherhood? If you’ve ever had your child derail your perfectly practiced talk about Something Important, then yes you’ll enjoy.
Will it make you feel good about your parenting? You’ll feel a lot less funny, but probably pretty good.
Where to watch: Netflix
Season 1 trailer:
Premise: A raw, hysterical look at the life of a divorced mother and her three daughters.
Is it an accurate depiction of motherhood? I have sons, but I imagine if you have daughters then yes, you will feel seen.
Cast: Pamela Adlon, Mikey Madison, Hannah Alligood, Olivia Edward
Will it make you feel good about your parenting? Toss-up. Pamela Adlon makes you want to be her friend, even though you might want to stay far, far away from her life.
Where to watch: Hulu
Season 1 trailer:
Premise: A comedy set in Australia about becoming a new mother and having a very odd new moms group to turn to.
Cast: Alison Bell, Lucy Durack, Sacha Horler
Is it an accurate depiction of motherhood? It’s for anyone who wandered aimlessly during the first year of your child’s life.
Will it make you feel good about your parenting? Definitely.
Where to watch: Netflix
Season 1 trailer:
Premise: A comedy about a working mom in London and all the bananas things that happen to her.
Cast: Anna Maxwell Martin, Lucy Punch, Paul Ready
Is it an accurate depiction of motherhood? Yes.
Will it make you feel good about your parenting? She’s disorganized and all over the place, so you’ll likely feel pretty good, yes.
Where to watch: Amazon
Season 1 trailer:
Premise: A drama about northern California moms and all their backstabbing, hilarious, immoral behavior.
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz
Is it an accurate depiction of motherhood? Nope, but it’s a damn good watch.
Will it make you feel good about your parenting? Have you ever killed somebody? No? Then yes.
Where to watch: HBO
Season 1 trailer:
Premise: A comedy about a one-night-stand turned pregnancy turned long-term, flailing marriage.
Cast: Sharon Horgan, Rob Delaney
Is it an accurate depiction of motherhood? It takes an honest, though comical, view of intimacy and relationships after parenthood, so likely yes.
Will it make you feel good about your parenting? Yep
Where to watch: Amazon
Trailer:
Premise: Hysterical comedian Ali Wong takes the stage pregnant and gets really real about pregnancy and childbirth and all that fun stuff.
Cast: Ali Wong
Is it an accurate depiction of motherhood? Definitely.
Will it make you feel good about your parenting? Yes? More likely, though, you’ll just feel like you had a large drink with your new best friend Ali.
Where to watch: Netflix
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Honorable mentions: This is a mix of shows I have either not seen or think they are too not-just-about-motherhood to be in this above list:
Deep Water (Amazon); SMILF (Amazon); Breeders (Hulu); Parenthood (Hulu); One Day At A Time (Netflix); Gilmore Girls (Netflix); Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon); black-ish (Hulu); Friday Night Lights (Netflix); Girlfriend’s Guide To Divorce (Netflix)