Hooked on Ryan Murphy’s ‘Love Story’? Here Are 6 Shows to Stream Next
If Ryan Murphy’s Love Story has pulled you into a 90s aesthetic spiral, you’re not alone. The series, starring Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly, revisits the relationship between Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr., tracing their early 1990s meetings, their 1996 wedding and its cultural impact. And the show’s visual style is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Production designer Alex DiGerlando told Curbed that “a note that Ryan gave very early on was that he wanted the show to kind of be a showcase for ’90s minimalism.” Clean lines, understated glamour, a specific slice of New York City culture — it’s the kind of thing that makes you want to keep that vibe going after the credits roll.
The real-life story carries weight, too. The couple married in 1996. They both died on July 16, 1999, from fatal injuries sustained in a plane crash piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr., after crashing into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The crash was caused by pilot spatial disorientation in hazy, dark conditions. Her sister, Lauren Bessette, also died in the crash.
But if the series has you craving more 90s New York energy, more fashion-forward storytelling, or semi-historical dramatizations to sink into, here’s what to watch next — organized by where you can actually stream them.
On HBO Max
Friends — Nothing screams ’90s quite like this one. The show follows six friends living in New York City and ran for 10 seasons. There’s a connection worth knowing: if you’re interested in Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s workplace, Calvin Klein, that’s also where Friends character Rachel Green works in later seasons.
It goes deeper than a shared employer. While not officially confirmed by Friends creators, Green’s iconic ’90s fashion transformation is widely considered to be inspired by Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and her style. If the fashion side of Love Story is what pulled you in, Green might be the reason that aesthetic energy feels familiar.
Sex and the City — Set in ’90s to 2000s Manhattan, the show centers on Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda navigating dating and fashion. Where Love Story delivers high-society minimalism, Sex and the City gives you the chaotic, glamorous dating scene happening in the same city during roughly the same era.
Here’s a fun overlap: Carrie Bradshaw was inspired by author Candace Bushnell, who wrote the Sex and the City book and column that inspired the HBO series. Bushnell also operated in similar high-profile New York City social circles with Carolyn, although it’s unclear if they directly met or were particularly close. If you love the idea of 90s New York as a character unto itself, this show delivers.
On Prime Video
The Nanny — A stylistic curveball, but hear it out. Fran Drescher stars as Fran Fine, who becomes the nanny for a wealthy Manhattan family and develops a relationship with her widowed employer, Maxwell. The six-season show ran from 1993 to 1999 and is peak ’90s fashion, especially Fran’s iconic, colorful and often animal-printed clothing sets.
If you loved the fashion in Love Story for its minimalism, The Nanny works for the complete opposite reason. It’s loud, bold and maximal in every way. Together, the two shows capture the full spectrum of what 90s style actually looked like — from the understated Calvin Klein world of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy to Fran Fine’s head-to-toe prints. It’s a perfect palette cleanser between heavier episodes of Love Story.
Daisy Jones & The Six — This is probably the closest vibe match to what Murphy is doing with Love Story: a fictional-but-inspired-by-real-events narrative built on aesthetics, music and complicated relationships.
It’s based on the novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid and draws inspiration from the band Fleetwood Mac, particularly the relationship between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. The era is different (think 70s rock instead of 90s minimalism), but the DNA is the same: a lush period piece that uses real cultural history as its jumping-off point. If the semi-historical dramatization angle of Love Story grabbed you, this should be next in your queue.
On Netflix
Seinfeld — The iconic ’90s comedy follows four single friends — Jerry Seinfeld, George Costanza, Elaine Benes and Cosmo Kramer — dealing with daily life in New York City. Where Friends gives you the aspirational side of 90s New York living, Seinfeld gives you the cynical, hilariously mundane side. It’s another piece of the cultural puzzle if you’re trying to understand what New York actually felt like during the era Love Story depicts.
On Hulu
Pam & Tommy — If you came to Love Story because you’re into dramatized true stories from the 90s, this one should already be on your list. The Hulu series came out in 2022 and depicts another popular ’90s romance — the tumultuous relationship between Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, portrayed by Lily James and Sebastian Stan, including the scandal involving their stolen honeymoon sex tape and their 1998 divorce.
It follows the same basic formula as Love Story: take a real couple whose relationship became a massive cultural moment, cast compelling leads and recreate the era with obsessive attention to period detail. The tone is wildly different — more chaotic and tabloid-driven compared to Love Story’s polished restraint — but if you’re building a personal syllabus on 90s pop culture through prestige TV, it fits right in.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
