5 Best TV Shows Like Hulu's Love Story

After "Love Story" premiered on FX and Hulu in February 2026, it became an immediate hit — not because the story was new or novel, but because audiences really loved the show's style, cast, and high-stakes drama. Intended as an anthology series, this show — created by Connor Hines and produced by TV powerhouse Ryan Murphy, responsible for other entries in his "American Story" series which includes "American Crime Story" — centers its first season around a real-life love story that ended in unimaginable tragedy in the 1990s: the doomed marriage between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. (In the series, they're portrayed by Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon.) 

Most people know that the two perished in a horrible plane crash — in a small plane that John himself was piloting as he, Carolyn, and Carolyn's sister (Sydney Lemmon in the series) intended to journey from an airfield near New York to Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Tragically, the plane crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, and all three of them died in the crash.

"Love Story" just wrapped up that inaugural season and is a certified critical hit — not to mention that women across the country (and world) have been buying tortoiseshell headbands and tiny sunglasses in bulk so they can copy Carolyn's iconic style. So if you fell in love with the sweeping drama and pathos of "Love Story," what should you watch next? We went with a mix of historical dramas and tragic love stories, so add these shows to your watchlist if you simply loved "Love Story."

The version of "One Day" released on Netflix in 2024 is actually the third version of this tragic love story that centers around Emma Morley and Dexter "Dex" Mayhew, played in this miniseries by Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall (the latter of whom went on to star in the second season of Mike White's sort-of anthology series "The White Lotus"). Emma and Dexter's story was first told in the 2009 novel of the same name written by David Nicholls, and in 2011, it got a big-screen adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess as Emma and Dex (which is mostly only notable for Hathaway's absolutely dreadful British accent, unfortunately). The Netflix miniseries — which follows the same narrative structure as the book and movie and recounts 14 different encounters between the couple every year on July 14 — is the first truly great adaptation of Nicholls' novel, and it'll definitely stand the test of time.

If you don't know the big twist at the end of "One Day," we won't spoil it here ... but suffice to say, Emma and Dex's love story ends in tragedy just like John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in "Love Story." If you're looking for a show with plenty of swooning and yearning but you've already watched and rewatched "Love Story," try "One Day." Just be sure to have a lot of tissues at the ready; "One Day" will almost definitely make you cry.

Based on Irish novelist Sally Rooney's beloved novel of the same name, the BBC and Hulu collaboration "Normal People" took the world by storm when it released on Hulu in 2020, and not just because it happened to drop while the world was locked down due to the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. It's because this deeply emotional, steamy, and heartfelt story is so relatable — and its two lead performers are so outstanding. When Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron (Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal, marking Mescal's television debut) first meet at their secondary school in Ireland, they come from totally different worlds. Marianne is socially awkward and unpopular at school but comes from a wealthy family who employs Connell's mother Lorraine (Sarah Greene) as their house cleaner; Connell is popular, athletic, and very social but grew up without a whole lot of money. Despite their societal differences, Connell and Marianne strike up a secret relationship, which continues on and off for years after they graduate and, as a result, affects relationships they try to form with other potential partners.

Edgar-Jones and Mescal are absolutely stunning on-screen together — and frankly, it's no wonder that Mescal, in particular, became a massive star known for playing brooding characters after this show — and while "Normal People" is yet another "tragic love story," it's also beautiful, moving, and achingly romantic. Get the tissues out again, though! You'll need them for "Normal People."

"Love Story" is rooted in very real (and recent) history, so if you prefer the true-life aspect of the series to the swooning romance part, you may want to try "The Crown," which aired on Netflix for six seasons from 2016 to 2023. Across those six seasons, Queen Elizabeth II — the monarch who ruled Great Britain and its empire for 70 years before her death in 2022 — is played by three formidable actresses at different points in her life, starting with Claire Foy as a younger Elizabeth who ascends to the throne after her father's death. Olivia Colman delivers yet another great performance as Elizabeth in the midpoint of her reign, and finally, Imelda Staunton shows up throughout the two final seasons to close out the series.

Though "The Crown" does take some liberties with the real story of the current British royal family, it's a gripping and fascinating tale ... and if you really want to get into a plotline that might feel like "Love Story," try the fourth season. This is where the show introduces a young Diana Spencer, played by Emma Corrin, as she enters into a romance with Elizabeth's eldest son Prince Charles (Josh O'Connor) — despite Charles' long-standing love affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (Emerald Fennell). On "Love Story," John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy certainly have their ups and downs, and even though Charles and Diana's story has way more of the "downs," you'll definitely see some similarities ... and if you follow their narrative to the end of "The Crown," you'll see Diana portrayed by Elizabeth Debicki and Charles by Dominic West. 

Like "The Crown" and "Love Story," the Showtime original series "The Tudors" tells a real, well, love story from history; in fact, it tells several of them considering that the show centers around the frequently married monarch King Henry VIII (played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers). History buffs know there's rhyme about Henry's six wives — "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived" — and they're all represented in this show, which was created by Michael Hirst and aired from 2007 to 2010 across 4 seasons. Even though Rhys-Meyers doesn't technically have the right physique for Henry in his later years — at which point the monarch gained quite a lot of weight and was frequently ill due to a long-standing jousting injury — he's great as the handsome young prince, who begins the show married to the woman who was once her dead brother's wife: Katherine of Aragon, played by Maria Doyle Kennedy.

She's "divorced," so we also see the lengthy courtship and souring of the relationship post-nuptials between Henry and his headstrong second wife Anne Boleyn (a pre-"Game of Thrones" Natalie Dormer) who gets beheaded, as well as Henry's quick pursuit of Anne's former lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour (Anita Briem and Annabelle Wallis). By that point, Henry's marriages aren't really "love stories" but matters of convenience or lust; the former applies to Anne of Cleves (Joss Stone) and the latter to the too-young Catherine Howard (Tamzin Merchant). By the time Henry marries his sixth and final wife Catherine Parr (Joely Richardson), it's just about time for the aging monarch to kick the bucket — but if you love "Love Story," this show gives you six intense marriages for the price of one.

Amazon Prime's hit 2023 miniseries "Daisy Jones & The Six" isn't based on the story of a real band — bookworms know it's adapted from Taylor Jenkins Reid's hit novel of the same name — but the original music in this series, which is really good, might make some viewers think otherwise. (Seriously, "Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)" and "Regret Me" are legitimately amazing songs.) In any case, this story, clearly inspired by the legendarily drama-plagued band Fleetwood Mac, introduces us to the titular Daisy Jones (Riley Keough, Elvis Presley's granddaughter carrying on her family's rockstar legacy through acting) as she joins up with a band that includes singer, guitarist, and songwriter Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), bass player Eddie Roundtree (Josh Whitehouse), drummer Warren Rojas (Sebastian Chacos), keyboard player Karen Sirko (Suki Waterhouse), co-lead guitar player and Billy's brother Graham (Will Harrison), and Billy's girlfriend and the band's photographer Camila Alvarez (Camilla Morrone). 

The series charts the rise and abrupt split of the title band, in a broad sense ... but more specifically, it tracks the forbidden love story of Daisy and Billy, who hate each other at first but then find themselves drawn to each other time and time again. Keough and Claflin really sell their romance, but honestly, Morrone, watching her boyfriend turned husband fall for another woman in moments she captures on film, is the real standout here.

As for "Love Story," you can watch the first season on Hulu now.