Shows like 'Never Have I Ever' to keep you busy until season 4 drops

Looking for more sweet rom-coms and teen shows like 'Never Have I Ever'? You've come to the right place

Never Have I Ever. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi in episode 302 of Never Have I Ever. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022
(Image credit: Netflix)

If you're like us and immediately binged your way through Devi's latest batch of adventures, you might just be after other shows like Never Have I Ever to distract you until the next (and final!) season of the Netflix hit drops. 

Yes, Never Have I Ever season 3 had all of the hormonal love triangles (quadrangles?), identity crises, questionable life choices and high-school shenanigans you can want from a teen comedy, with no doubt even more planned for Never Have I Ever season 4

But if you want series that hit similar beats to tide you over until then, we've rounded up some cheery options, from episodic rom-coms on Netflix to a new entry into the canon of best LGBT TV shows. (Hello, Heartstopper!) 

Shows like 'Never Have I Ever' to watch until season 4:

The Summer I Turned Pretty

(Image credit: Peter Taylor/Prime Video)

1. 'The Summer That I Turned Pretty'

Want dreamy free-from-school summer vibes, no matter the season? The Summer I Turned Pretty is another swoon-worthy book series from author Jenny Han (of All the Boys fame). The Prime Video adaptation centers on protagonist Isabel "Belly" Conklin during her family's summer getaway to Cousins Beach, also attended by her mother's best friend Susannah and Susannah's two sons, Jeremiah and Conrad. If you're a fan of the Devi-Paxton-Ben love triangle, you'll no doubt enjoy the romantic push-and-pull between Belly and the brothers.

2. 'Heartstopper'

Another page-to-screen adaptation—this time a graphic novel series from Alice Oseman—coming-of-age British dramedy Heartstopper was such a hit with fans when it debuted back on Netflix in April 2022 that it was quickly and happily renewed for two more seasons. The series focuses on sweet schoolboy Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and his burgeoning relationship with rugby jock Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), as well as their friend group of Tao, Elle, Tara and Darcy.

How to watch the Derry Girls last episode

(Image credit: Netflix)

3. 'The Derry Girls'

One of the best things about Never Have I Ever is how proudly specific the series is about the cultural roots and family traditions of its main character, fifteen-year-old Indian-American Devi Vishwakumar. Similarly, Channel 4's Derry Girls is staunch in its depiction of a Northern Irish family during the final years of the Troubles in the 1990s. Like Devi and her loved ones, Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James deal with their fair share of heartache and hardship but always manage to balance it out with hilarity and hijinks. Just be sure to grab a Kleenex for that Derry Girls last episode. (These sad reactions are more than enough warning.)

4. 'The Sex Lives of College Girls'

Like Never Have I Ever, this HBO Max teen dramedy comes from the mind of actress-comedian Mindy Kaling, who co-created the series alongside Justin Noble. The Sex Lives of College Girls follows four freshman roommates at Vermont's fictional Essex College—Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet), Bela (Amrit Kaur), Leighton (Reneé Rapp) and Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott)—as they navigate everything from casual sex to coming out to college bureaucracy. 

5. 'My Mad Fat Diary'

Never Have I Ever is a teen show that's not afraid to handle deep subject matters, like grieving the loss of a parent, and the same can be said for My Mad Fat Diary, a three-season E4 drama that tackled everything from eating disorders to suicidal thoughts, while still managing to find laughs through all of the teen angst. The '90s-set series is fixed on Rae (Sharon Rooney), an overweight 16-year-old fresh from a four-month stint in a psychiatric hospital whose world is changed when she reconnects with her former best friend Chloe (Jodie Comer) and Chloe's new friends.

Sex Education Season 3

(Image credit: Sam Taylor/Netflix)

6. 'Sex Education'

Never Have I Ever season 3 spent some serious screentime on Devi's quest to lose her virginity, something the bawdy students over at Moordale Secondary School in Sex Education know quite a bit about. The Netflix dramedy is about Otis (Asa Butterfield), a British teen with a sex therapist for a mother (Gillian Anderson), who teams up with the high school bad girl Maeve (Emma Mackey) and his gay best friend Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) to run an underground sex therapy clinic at school.

7. 'Ms. Marvel'

Never Have I Ever has been rightfully praised for its South Asian representation, and if you want to follow another plucky teenanger with ties to the subcontinent, add Pakistani-American Kamala Khan and Disney Plus's Ms. Marvel to the top of your list. (Ironically, Never Have I Ever leading lady Maitreyi Ramakrishnan almost played Kamala!) Marvel's first Muslim superhero, the Jersey-bred high schooler (Iman Vellani) is a Captain Marvel fangirl who realizes that she is developing powers of her own. 

GINNY & GEORGIA (L to R) ANTONIA GENTRY as GINNY in episode 104 of GINNY & GEORGIA Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2020

(Image credit: Netflix)

8. 'Ginny & Georgia'

One of the things about Never Have I Ever that fans love most is the lovingly realistic relationship between Devi and her mom, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan). If it's more mother-daughter dynamics you're after, check out Ginny & Georgia, a Netflix streamer that follows angsty, awkward 15-year-old Ginny Miller (Antonia Gentry) and her flighty, free-spirited 30-year-old mother Georgia (Brianne Howey) as they make a fresh start in a small New England town. 

9. The Mindy Project

Sure, it's not about high school, but it is Mindy Kaling, so if you love the overall vibe and comedic writing of Never Have I Ever, the Fox-slash-Hulu series The Mindy Project will be right up your alley. Kaling stars as Dr. Mindy Lahiri, a rom-com-loving OBGYN trying to navigate the messiness of dating and working in New York City, surrounded by a motley crew of coworkers that add some quirk and enemies-to-lovers tension to her workdays. 

Christina Izzo

Christina Izzo is the Deputy Editor of My Imperfect Life. 

More generally, she is a writer-editor covering food and drink, travel, lifestyle and culture in New York City. She was previously the Features Editor at Rachael Ray In Season and Reveal, as well as the Food & Drink Editor and chief restaurant critic at Time Out New York

When she’s not doing all that, she can probably be found eating cheese somewhere.