I love a good TV show especially with ones involving writers as I love to write myself. I’ve seen so many over the years, but here are some picks of shows that I’ve enjoyed and that I continue to watch today. Enjoy!
The show revolves around the day-to-day life of Jessica Fletcher, (formerly MacGill), a widowed and retired English teacher, who becomes a successful mystery writer. Despite fame and fortune, Jessica remains a resident of Cabot Cove, a small coastal community in Maine, and maintains her links with all of her old friends, never letting her success go to her head.
Murder, She Wrote is an absolute classic when it comes to shows about writers with a cozy mystery feeling. It fills me with a lot of nostalgia whenever I watch it. I love watching Jessica play amateur sleuth and tries to nosily get involved in each episode’s case by carefully piecing the clues together and asking astute questions. With all that sleuthing it provides good material for her own books! It’s a notable show that I recommend to any fan of the mystery genre and it’s full of lots of fun appearances from a wide variety of actors too.
Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun
Chiyo Sakura, a high school girl who fell in love with the unrefined boy schoolmate Umetaro Nozaki, decides to be courageous one day and asks him out. Her feelings weren’t conveyed properly, and before she knew it she ends up helping a particular job of his as an assistant… The series is a shojo manga boy comedy which centers around Nozaki, a high school boy that is a popular shojo manga artist, and has a story woven by very individualistic characters.
What a fun show! Nozaki is a short, binge-worthy anime running at twelve episodes total. It follows a high school students working with a student manga-ka (manga writer) and their adventures. I felt this is a bookish anime for they way it explores the process of writing manga. Through watching the show I learned more about the stages of how a manga is put together and I gained further appreciation for the hard-work and dedication put into the art. The show has a lot of laughs especially since Nozaki is the driest character of all and writes romance stories even though he’s clueless when it comes to love.
Because This is My First Life
To save money, two housemates get married but soon face unexpected complications, such as demanding in-laws and having to face their own growing bond.
I was absolutely blown away by this drama. The writing is very good, and I feel that this show is severely underrated. The main character Ji-ho is an assistant screenwriter and struggles to find her place in a field that she has been undervalued. She struggles through writer’s block and wonders if this is a career she wants to pursue throughout the course of the show. It follows the “marriage contract” trope, but the show is so much more than that. It talks about relationships (platonic/romantic), careers, issues in the workplace, gender equality, and growing up. It’s very realistic but is also full of many heart-warming and comedic moments. This show is becoming one of my favorites.
Ugly Betty
The series is based on Fernando Gaitán’s Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea, which has had many other international adaptations. It revolves around the character Betty Suarez, who – despite her lack of style – lands a job at a prestigious fashion magazine.
I loved this series to pieces because of the writing and the characters. It followed a woman of color’s perspective of traversing through the journalism field and trying to navigate her way through the fashion world. It’s a show that is incredibly heartfelt and though at many times comedic it’s balanced out which more serious moments. Its cast of characters is memorable and I would love to do a re-watch of this show. I enjoyed how it gave viewers a realistic glimpse of the inner workings of a fashion magazine and the not so glamorous view of last-minute article changes, tedious deadlines, and downside of high fashion.
What shows do enjoy/recommend watching with writers as the main characters? Comment below!
Rachel Moulden 