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| 16 Shows Like Not Suitable for Work You Need to Watch Next If You're Not Ready to Leave Murray Hill Behind. (Credits: Hulu) |
Not Suitable for Work has quickly found its audience thanks to its sharp workplace humour, chaotic friendships, awkward romances, and painfully relatable quarter-life crises. If watching AJ, Abby, Kel, Davis, and Josh stumble through adulthood felt a little too familiar, you're definitely not alone. The series taps into that strange stage of life where everyone is supposedly a grown-up, yet nobody actually knows what they're doing. Naturally, viewers are now hunting for similar shows that capture the same mix of career ambition, friendship drama, romance, and the occasional life disaster disguised as a learning experience.
Whether you loved the Gen Z workplace chaos, the apartment-building friendships, the slow-burn romances, or simply enjoyed watching attractive people make questionable decisions in expensive cities, these series should be next on your watchlist.
Shows Like NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK
Friends
Before there was Not Suitable for Work, there was Friends. The legendary sitcom follows six young adults navigating careers, romance, and everyday disasters in New York City.
The biggest similarity is the ensemble dynamic, where friendship often becomes more important than work, relationships, or common sense. Like AJ and her friends, the characters spend much of their time figuring out adulthood while pretending they've got everything under control.
New Girl
When an eccentric teacher moves into a loft with three strangers, absolute chaos follows. New Girl captures the same "friends-as-family" energy that makes Not Suitable for Work so entertaining.
Both series thrive on quirky humour, romantic tension, and young professionals trying to survive modern life while making things unnecessarily complicated.
The Mindy Project
Since both shows come from Mindy Kaling's creative world, the connection is obvious. The Mindy Project follows an ambitious doctor balancing her career and personal life, often with hilarious results.
Fans who enjoyed the satirical workplace humour and romantic messiness of Not Suitable for Work will feel right at home here.
How I Met Your Mother
This beloved sitcom revolves around a close-knit group of friends navigating careers, relationships, and life's unexpected twists in New York City.
Like Not Suitable for Work, it blends workplace stories with romance and friendship, while reminding viewers that adulthood rarely follows anyone's carefully crafted plans.
Younger
A woman in her forties pretends to be younger in order to restart her publishing career. While the premise differs, the show's focus on workplace politics, career ambition, friendships, and romance feels remarkably similar.
It also shares the same fast-paced New York atmosphere and sharp observations about modern professional life.
The Bold Type
Few shows capture ambitious young professionals quite like The Bold Type. Following three best friends working at a fashion magazine, the series explores careers, relationships, and personal growth with plenty of humour and heart.
If Abby's fashion-industry storyline was your favourite part of Not Suitable for Work, this should be an immediate priority.
Emily in Paris
Love it or roll your eyes at it, Emily in Paris delivers exactly what many viewers enjoy: career chaos, workplace politics, romantic complications, and stunning city life.
Like AJ and Abby, Emily constantly finds herself balancing professional goals with personal distractions she absolutely didn't plan for.
Happy Endings
This underrated comedy follows a group of friends whose lives become hilariously complicated after a breakup within the friend circle. The rapid-fire humour and ensemble chemistry make it one of the closest spiritual cousins to Not Suitable for Work.
Insecure
Created by and starring Issa Rae, Insecure explores friendships, careers, and relationships through the eyes of young adults trying to build successful lives.
The series captures the same uncertainty and ambition that drive many of the characters in Not Suitable for Work, while delivering sharp humour and emotional depth.
Girls
If you enjoy watching twenty-somethings make spectacularly questionable life choices, Girls may be exactly what you're looking for.
Set in New York, it follows a group of friends dealing with careers, relationships, and personal identity. It is often messier, more awkward, and occasionally more brutal than Not Suitable for Work, but that's part of its appeal.
Broad City
While significantly more absurd, Broad City captures the chaos of young adulthood perfectly. Following two best friends trying to survive New York City, it embraces the unpredictable side of life where every simple plan somehow turns into a complete disaster.
Dollface
After a breakup, a young woman reconnects with her female friendships and begins rebuilding her social life. Like Not Suitable for Work, the show explores friendship, romance, career struggles, and the reality that adulthood often requires a lot more improvisation than anyone admits.
Valeria
This Spanish comedy-drama follows four friends navigating careers, relationships, and personal ambitions.
The chemistry between the group feels very similar to the dynamic found in Not Suitable for Work, with plenty of heartfelt moments mixed alongside romantic complications.
Harlem
Set in New York City, Harlem follows four ambitious women balancing careers, friendships, and love lives. The show combines workplace struggles, personal growth, and humour in a way that will immediately appeal to fans of AJ and Abby's journey.
Starstruck
This charming romantic comedy follows a young woman juggling ordinary life after unexpectedly becoming involved with a famous actor.
While romance takes centre stage, the show's humour, career challenges, and relatable adult struggles make it a strong match for viewers seeking the same energy.
Everything's Gonna Be Okay
This coming-of-age comedy-drama focuses on young adults dealing with responsibility, relationships, and personal growth. Like Not Suitable for Work, it captures the uncertainty of adulthood while maintaining a funny and surprisingly heartfelt tone.
Viewer reactions to Not Suitable for Work have been varied but passionate. Many fans praise the show's modern take on post-university life, arguing that its characters feel far more realistic than the perfectly polished young professionals often seen on television.
Others appreciate its willingness to poke fun at corporate culture, social media habits, and the constant pressure to achieve success before turning thirty.
Some viewers have compared it favourably to Friends, while others believe it feels closer to a modern blend of The Bold Type, Girls, and New Girl. There are also viewers who find the characters frustratingly messy, although many would argue that's exactly the point.
Ultimately, the appeal of Not Suitable for Work lies in its understanding that adulthood is rarely neat, organised, or particularly sensible. The best shows on this list embrace that same idea, delivering friendship, romance, workplace chaos, and enough questionable decisions to make viewers feel surprisingly better about their own lives.
Which of these series would make your perfect follow-up watch, and are there any hidden gems that deserve a place alongside them? Let us know your picks and join the conversation.