There is nothing quite like New York City’s bright lights and buzzing energy, and because of that, it makes sense that TV shows have been trying to replicate it on the small screen for years. While many have attempted it, only the six that we’ve rounded up below have truly succeeded. From Friends to Blue Bloods and even Gossip Girl, here are the six best shows set in New York City and where you can binge them.
‘Blue Bloods’ (2010 to 2024)
There are millions of cop shows set in New York City, but in our opinion, one shines above the rest: Blue Bloods. The plot follows New York Police Commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) and his family of cops as they deal with being in The Big Apple’s crime circle.
Sadly, the show did end in 2024, with Selleck saying “My frustration is the show was always taken for granted because it performed from the get-go.”
“So, how do I feel? It’s going to take a long time to sort all of this out. I remember after the weekend [of the final episode’s shoot], I said, ‘I’ve got to get to bed early tonight because I have to do my dialogue for Monday.’ Well, there was no Monday.”
Blue Bloods is available to stream on Hulu, with the final episode airing on December 13, 2024.
‘The Nanny’ (1993 to 1999)
Everyone recognizes the theme song: “She was working at a bridal shop in Flushing, Queens, till her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes… well, you know the rest. The Nanny ran from 1993 to 1999 and followed Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) after she became the live-in nanny for the rich Sheffield family.
“The global message of the series was it doesn’t matter what you look like and what you sound like, it’s what in your heart that counts and I think that’s a message that works in any decade,” Drescher said.
The Nanny is available to stream on Peacock.
‘Sex and The City’ (1998 to 2004)
The hit late 1990s and early 2000s TV show Sex and the City is so iconic that it earned two follow-up movies, a prequel show and a spin-off series that is currently filming its third season. In it. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) tackles living in New York City as a sex columnist alongside her three best friends.
“I thought the script was really interesting and really exciting, and different and fresh, and I’d never seen anything like that,” Parker said in 2023. “And the only thing I said [was] that I was concerned about was that I just didn’t feel comfortable doing nudity.”
“And I suspected that if it wasn’t in the pilot, it would be part of a series, that it felt like it was legitimately going to be talked about. And he said, ‘Don’t do it, then. I don’t care. Don’t do nudity.’ He said, ‘We’ll have other actors. If they feel comfortable doing it, they’ll do it but you do not have to.’”
Sex and the City is available to stream on Netflix.
‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ (2017 to 2023)
One part of New York City’s charm is its past, and in the Emmy-winning show The Marvelous Mrs.Maisel, viewers get to see it in the 1950s. After discovering she has a hidden talent for standup comedy, Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan, who plays Lois Lane in next year’s Superman) begins to travel around the city, proving that she has talent, which was rumored to be rare for women of that time.
“I did a ton of research, specifically on the comedy scene of this time. The comedy world was unfamiliar to me, so it was fun to dive in,” Brosnahan said. “Midge is based on a lot of comics during that time, a lot of female comics, but also, she’s inspired for me by a few different women that I have known and loved. With all of that kind of mashed together, her voice emerged organically. It doesn’t feel like something that I’m putting on. I’m just hoping that it’s consistent.”
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
‘Gossip Girl’ (2007 to 2012)
It’s no secret that New York City can be quite expensive, but for the wealthy teens of the Upper East Side, money isn’t a problem. In the hit early 2000s teen TV show, an anonymous blogger named Gossip Girl reveals shocking secrets about Manhattan’s most famous socialites, including Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) and Nate Archibald (Chance Crawford.)
“It was a very special time…that was filled with challenges that have nothing to do with [Gossip Girl] and also sometimes things that did have something to do with it,” Meester said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s sort of a time capsule.”
“A lot of the questions that come from it are: ‘Do you miss it?’ ‘Did you love what you wore?’ And I understand that, but—and I say this with nothing but love—it is like saying, ‘High school was an amazing time for you. Do you wish you could go back?’ And the truth is, it was so special and such a unique, amazing experience, but no, I wouldn’t wanna go back to it; I was a kid!”
Gossip Girl is available to stream on Max.
‘Friends’ (1994 to 2004)
Of course, we have to put Friends as the best show set in New York City. With timeless jokes, a loveable ensemble cast and couples you can’t help but root for, the sitcom is truly a classic. In it, six friends deal with being broke, single and young in Manhattan, New York.
“When David [Crane] and I lived in New York, we had a group of six friends. We were all each other’s best friends,” co-creator Marta Kauffman said. “We hung out all the time; we were like a family. So later, when we were thinking of shows that could have an ensemble cast, it occurred to us to look back at that point in our lives. That was the birth of the idea for Friends — that time in your life when your friends are your family.”
Friends is available to stream on Max.
