6 Shows to Watch After ‘Love Story’ If You Can’t Get Enough ’90s New York
Ryan Murphy’s latest series dropped viewers into a very specific slice of 1990s New York, and the cultural appetite for that era’s aesthetics, relationships and fashion has only grown since. Love Story revisits the relationship between Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr., tracing their early 1990s meetings, their 1996 wedding and its cultural impact. Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly star, and the show zeros in on both the couple’s lives and their influence on 1990s New York style.
The visual language alone is half the draw. “A note that Ryan gave very early on was that he wanted the show to kind of be a showcase for ’90s minimalism,” production designer Alex DiGerlando told Curbed. That design ethos runs through every frame, making the show feel like a time capsule worth revisiting.
The couple married in 1996. 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. Carolyn’s sister, Lauren Bessette, also died in the crash.
If you watched Love Story and want to keep that mood going, here are six series worth queuing up. Each shares DNA with Murphy’s show, whether through its New York setting, its focus on relationships and culture, or its commitment to period-accurate fashion.
The ’90s New York Essentials
Friends is the obvious starting point, and there’s a specific connection to Love Story. The show follows six friends living in New York City and aired for 10 seasons. The detail that links it directly: Calvin Klein, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s workplace, is also where Friends character Rachel Green works in later seasons. While not officially confirmed by Friends creators, Rachel Green’s iconic ’90s fashion transformation is widely considered to be inspired by Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and her style. That makes rewatching Rachel’s wardrobe evolution a different experience after seeing Love Story. Available on HBO Max.
Sex and the City is set in ’90s to 2000s Manhattan and centers on Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda navigating dating and fashion. The show has its own tangential link to Love Story’s world: 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. The overlap between these orbits gives both shows an interesting shared backdrop. Available on HBO Max.
Seinfeld follows four single friends — Jerry Seinfeld, George Costanza, Elaine Benes and Cosmo Kramer — dealing with daily life in New York City. Where Love Story captures the polished, high-fashion side of 1990s Manhattan, Seinfeld captures the texture of everyday life in the same city during the same era. Available on Netflix.
The Fashion Angle
The Nanny stars Fran Drescher 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.
Here’s the contrast that makes it a smart pairing: if you loved the fashion in Love Story for its minimalism, you’ll love The Nanny for the complete opposite. Watching them close together gives you the full spectrum of what ’90s style actually looked like, from Carolyn’s pared-back Calvin Klein to Fran Fine’s maximalist wardrobe. Available on Prime Video.
Period Pieces That Get the Details Right
Pam & Tommy came out on Hulu in 2022 and depicts another popular ’90s romance — the tumultuous relationship between Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, portrayed by Lily James and Sebastian Stan. The series covers the scandal involving their stolen honeymoon sex tape and their 1998 divorce. Where Love Story examines a couple defined by elegance and privacy, Pam & Tommy looks at a couple defined by tabloid exposure. Both shows are interested in the same question: how did fame reshape private relationships in the ’90s? Available on Hulu.
Daisy Jones & The Six takes you further back in time but shares something specific with Love Story: meticulous period production design. 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. If you’re after another semi-historical period piece with incredible set design accuracy and nostalgia, this is your next watch. Available on Prime Video.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
