10 Of The Best TV Shows Created By Women

Created by: Jenji Kohan
First aired in: 2013
Channel: Netflix

Five seasons in and we're still obsessed. Where else other than OITNB can you watch nuanced stories of so many women? Race, class and sexuality aren’t sidelined or treated with kid gloves. With detailed back stories for all the characters, the women of Litchfield Penitentiary are portrayed as more than inmates; and there’s a smart commentary on the US criminal justice system to boot.

Created by: Jennie Snyder Urman
First aired in: 2014
Channel: E4/Netflix

Written by Jennie Snyder Urman, Gina Rodriguez plays the star of this comedy, which sends up the telenovela in all its outlandish glory (Jane gets pregnant through a mix up at the gynaecologist).

Created by: Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch
First aired in: 2017
Channel: Netflix

A fictionalised account of the female wrestling shows that popped up on 80s television, GLOW, written by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch and produced by the all-female team behind Orange Is The New Black, centres on out-of-work actress Ruth (Alison Brie) and her best friend Debbie (Nurse Jackie’s Betty Gilpin), who end up cast in the same show and sloughing it out in the ring (while bedecked in metallic leotards and some serious 80s eye makeup).

Created by: Amy Sherman-Palladino
First aired in: 2000
Channel: Netflix

A fast-paced battle of wits between three generations of women in well-heeled Connecticut,Gilmore Girls is noted for its zingy scripts, quick-fire pop culture references, and seven seasons of storylines that demolish the Bechdel Test.

Created by: Shonda Rhimes
First aired in: 2005
Channel: Sky Living

Before she gave us Scandal, Shonda Rhimes cemented her role as a screenwriting queen when she wrote Grey's Anatomy. The show is still running in its 17th season - take a bow, Shonda!

Created by: Mindy Kaling
First aired in:
Channel: E4

The brilliant Mindy Kaling is the writer behind the self-titled sitcom in which she also plays protagonist, Mindy Lahiri - a successful and skilled doctor. But her personal life is not as perfect as her career as she's often unlucky in love. Being the persistent woman she is, however, she never gives up.

Created by: Liz Meriwether
First aired in: 2011
Channel: E4

Liz Meriwether created one of the most lovable characters on TV with New Girl's Jess. Played by Zooey Deschanel, Jess' heartbreak is the entry point of the show but it soon centres around her relationships with her hilarious (and slightly wacky) group of friends.

Created by: Shonda Rhimes
First aired: 2012
Channel: ABC/Google Play

Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey’s Anatomy, delivered yet another gem when she introduced the world to Scandal’s Olivia Pope - the most badass lawyer known on TV. A ‘fixer’ who helps Washington’s rich and powerful clean up their messes and plays the PR game to perfection, Pope is the definition of a kickass woman doing it for herself, while helping others.

Created by: Aline Brosh McKenna and Rachel Bloom
First aired in: 2015
Channel: The CW/Netflix

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend sees successful lawyer Rebecca Bunch swap her career-led life in New York for a quest to find romance in a quiet Los Angeles suburb. However, as the title suggests, it doesn’t quite go to plan. The show, which released its third season on Netflix late last year, is co-written by Aline Brosh McKenna (the screenwriter for The Devil Wears Prada) and Rachel Bloom.

Created by: Tina Fey
First aired in: 2006
Channel: NBC/Netflix

Not-so-secretly based on the backstage shenanigans of Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock is a guaranteed laugh. It centres around Liz Lemon, a young woman who is the head writer of a live comedy sketch show in New York. The show, created by comedy queen, Tina Fay, sees Liz juggle the crazy egos of the shows cast while chasing her own dreams.