10 melodrama series that will melt your hearts

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Characters from Jane Austen's unfinished novel, timid teenagers and heroes of an unusual love triangle await you.

1. Bridgertons

• USA, 2020 - present.
• Drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

London, early 19th century. Young Daphne Bridgerton becomes a victim of offensive rumors spread by the gossip lady Whistledown. To save her reputation, the heroine colludes with the Duke of Hastings. Together they come up with a cunning plan for how they can mutually equip their personal life.

Instead of meticulously recreating the era of the Regency on screen, the authors took a risk and did not adhere to historical conventions. The result was a multinational cast, as well as outfits with a lot of Asian influences and clear influences from modern fashion. But not everyone understood and accepted the idea.

2. Love, Victor

• USA, 2020 - present.
• Drama, melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

High school student Victor Salazar moves to a new city. There, the hero is faced with new living conditions, family conflicts and awareness of his own sexuality. A new friend Simon helps him cope with problems.

The spin-off of the teenage drama "With Love, Simon" was originally planned to be shown on the Disney + platform. However, the family-oriented company was afraid of relatively adult topics, so the series moved to Hulu. Nonetheless, it made a great addition to the film, albeit with a slightly more serious tone.

3. Dash and Lily

• USA, 2020 - present.
• Melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Cynical high schooler Dash hates Christmas. Just before the holidays, the hero finds a red notebook with tips for anyone who finds the thing. Soon, the guy finds out that the notebook belongs to his same age, named Lily. She is a romantic eccentric who wholeheartedly believes in a Christmas miracle. Correspondence is struck between the guys, they share secrets about themselves and arrange comic tests for each other.

This romantic, but not at all corny series will help you get into the spirit of winter holidays, even if you have not felt it for a long time. Although the history of young New Yorkers is quite possible to watch without reference to the New Year's celebrations.

4. Crimson petal and white

• UK, 2011.
• Drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

The action takes place in Victorian London. Not too skillful and not particularly successful heir to the perfume business, William falls in love with a young prostitute, nicknamed Sweetie. Soon, the hero transports the precocious girl to his home. There he hides from the outside world his wife, who has gone mad after the birth of a child.

This series perfectly captures the dark atmosphere of Michel Faber's book, stylized as a Victorian novel. The heroes were very successfully played by Romola Garay and Chris O'Dowd, and Gillian Anderson flashed in one of the episodic roles.

5. Love

• USA, 2016–2018.
• Drama, melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Gus, 30, is a typical loser nerd who dreams of getting into screenwriting. By chance, in a supermarket, he meets his same age Mickey, who suffers from problems in her personal life. The characters develop an acquaintance, they have a great time, and then the friendship imperceptibly develops into a deeper feeling.

Love was invented by Judd Apatow, author of The Forty-Year-Old Virgin, A Little Pregnant, and Funny People. There is everything for which the audience loves his work: characters slightly lost in life, refusing to recognize themselves as adults, cynical humor and perfectly selected actors of both the first and second plan.

6. Virgin

• USA, 2014–2019.
• Melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 5 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

Jane, an exemplary Catholic woman, was determined to remain celibate until the wedding. But everything is ruined by a regular visit to a gynecologist, where the doctor, instead of just examining the girl, mistakenly artificially fertilizes her. The situation is complicated by the fact that the owner of the hotel where the heroine works has become the donor, and now her unborn child is his last chance to become a father.

The series is based on the project of the same name from Venezuela, but the authors did not make a frame-by-frame remake, but created an ironic rethinking. So, in their skillful hands, an ordinary soap drama has become a positive tragicomedy.

7. Sanditon

• UK, 2019.
• Drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

Young Charlotte Haywood comes to stay in a seaside town called Sanditon. The still inexperienced girl finds herself drawn into the maelstrom of local dramas. In addition, she will soon meet Sidney Parker - a charming but sullen aristocrat who also hates women.

The series "Sanditon" was created by screenwriter Andrew Davis, who made a name for himself on adaptations of the classics: Les Miserables, War and Peace. It was based on the last novel by Jane Austen, which she began writing just a few months before her death. But the book remained unfinished - there are only 10 chapters in it. Therefore, the authors of the film version had to invent most of the plot.

8. Modern love

• USA, 2019 - present.
• Melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

Each episode of the series tells a new story with the participation of different characters who dream of love: parental, friendly, romantic. Among them are a young businessman who broke up with a girl, an adult woman who cannot forget about a romance that never happened, a married couple trying to improve relations with the help of psychotherapy.

The idea of the series was prompted by life itself to John Carney: he came up with the idea of transferring to the screen the stories of readers from the column of the same name of The New York Times - in the format of an anthology. The roles in the film were played by famous actors: Sofia Boutella, Tina Fey, Anne Hathaway and other favorites of the audience.

9. Grace and Frankie

• USA, 2015–2021.
• Comedy, melodrama.
• Duration: 7 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

The conservative Grace and the eccentric Frankie are too different and would never have made friends of their own accord. But women have to endure each other's company, since their husbands Robert and Saul are long-term business partners.

After many years of marriage, the already middle-aged heroines suddenly find out that their spouses are connected not only by business relations, but also by mutual feelings. As a result, husbands leave their wives and begin to build a common life. Dejected Grace moves to live with Frankie, after which the women realize that they have much more in common than they thought.

The witty drama explores the issues of love and friendship, trust and intimacy in a very interesting way. The show also reminds that life does not end after a divorce, and sex is important for many even at a respectable age.

10. Outlander

• USA, UK, 2014 - present.
• Fantasy, drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 5 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

Former nurse Claire Randall is mysteriously transported from 1945 to the mid-18th century. In the courtyard - a civil war between the British and the Scots. The unknown world is fraught with danger, and Claire needs to try to survive.

The heroine is forced to marry the Scottish warrior Jamie Fraser - a young man with a great sense of humor. A spark jumps between them. And all would be fine, but at home Claire is waiting for her real husband.

The series very successfully combined melodrama and fantasy. It is based on the bestselling books by Diana Gabaldon and is showrunner by Ronald D. Moore, creator of Battlestar Galactica and For All Mankind.