What To Watch
These Romantic TV Shows Are All About the Slow Burn
It’s called delayed gratification; look it up.
By Ananda Dillon
Jan. 29, 2026
Romance TV Shows Perfect for Valentine's Day - Netflix Tudum
Sure, a romantic movie may satisfy a night’s passing craving for passion, but if you prefer the long game, romance TV shows are for you: even more lingering glances, even more unbearable tension, and the will they, won’t they moments that add up over multiple episodes.
These love stories stretch across seasons, giving them ample time to work their way under your skin. Maybe you want to see the messy, complicated parts of love that require more than two hours to unfold. For all the emotional investors out there craving character growth and patient yearning, here’s a selection of romance series that spread the courtship out — so you can stay in your feels even longer. After all, true love shouldn’t be rushed.
Bridgerton
Set in Regency-era England, this show is based on Julia Quinn’s bestselling romance novels, so you can bet there’s going to be swooning. Each season focuses on a different sibling of the Bridgerton family as they attempt to find love during the highly competitive social season. Season 4 focuses on the second son, Benedict (Luke Thompson), who’s been resistant to settling down — until he meets a captivating Lady in Silver at his mother’s masquerade ball. Little does he know that she’s actually Sophie (Yerin Ha), a maid well below his own social standing, but for whom it may be worth defying society.
Can This Love Be Translated?
If you’ve yet to experience the fun of a Korean romantic drama, welcome to the K-romance world. This rom-com follows a multilingual interpreter, Joo Ho-jin (Kim Seon-ho), who takes a job interpreting for a reality dating show focused on two major actors — one Japanese, one Korean — traveling around the world together. The female participant, Cha Mu-hee (Go Youn-jung), knew Ho-jin briefly before she was famous, and now, as he translates her feelings on the show, he finds he’s developing a few of his own.
Emily in Paris
Is there any city more romantic than Paris? Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) is a fashion-forward, plucky marketer who gets the chance of a lifetime to move to Paris for work when her boss gets pregnant and can’t go. Armed with social-media savvy and a can-do attitude, Emily starts out a bit dizzy from the culture shock, but soon finds friends, career success, and a little amour.
Finding Her Edge
Based on Jennifer Iacopelli’s young adult novel of the same name, this series follows Adriana Russo (Madelyn Keys), a former ice dancer who hung up her skates after a family tragedy. Now, two years later, with her family’s ice rink on the verge of closing, she decides to train for the World Championships. The only problem? When she left ice dancing, she also left her partner and first love, Freddie (Olly Atkins). Despite her misgivings, Adriana agrees to take on a new partner, Brayden (Cale Ambrozic), an ice dancer known for his bad-boy ways. To land a crucial sponsorship and save the rink, Adriana will need to navigate her complicated feelings for the two boys and train to be the best.
FOREVER
First love is such a meaningful rite of passage. Keisha (Lovie Simone) and Justin (Michael Cooper Jr.) were elementary school classmates who find each other years later, on New Year’s Eve of their senior year. Immediately, they connect, and despite a disastrous first date, Keisha’s tumultuous relationship history, and major differences in their social backgrounds, love blooms. Together, they navigate a slew of romantic firsts, learning more about themselves in the process.
The Four Seasons
The early days of a relationship are exciting, but one could argue that real romance is the kind that lingers long into the future. Kate (Tina Fey) and Jack (Will Forte), Nick (Steve Carell) and Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver), and Danny (Colman Domingo) and Claude (Marco Calvani) are three couples and longtime friends who vacation together four times a year. One year, on their spring trip, they learn that Nick plans to leave Anne, completely upending the group’s dynamic and prompting the others to question the longevity of their own relationships. Over their next three trips together, they learn, grow, and find what love means to each of them.
Love on the Spectrum
Everyone is deserving of love, and this reality series about autistic people dating certainly drives that point home. Showcasing the diversity of people on the spectrum, the show introduces us to a variety of singles navigating the world and hoping to find a connection with someone who understands how their mind works. Over three seasons, new participants go on dates, and some return each season to prove they are in it for the long game. Every successful match will have your heart swelling, and each person’s path to love is relatable and rewarding.
Nobody Wants This
She’s an agnostic sex podcaster; he’s a newly single rabbi. On paper, they make no sense, and that may be why Joanne’s (Kristen Bell) and Noah’s (Adam Brody) evolving relationship is especially romantic. The couple meet at a mutual friend’s dinner party where they are quick to exchange banter and set up a first date. Their connection is undeniable, but their religious differences quickly prove a serious barrier to a shared future. With friends and family offering opinions and advice, the two navigate both what they want and how to make their different pieces fit together as a whole.
Outlander
It’s a love that defies the laws of time and space. Based on the book series by Diana Gabaldon, this romance is about Claire (Caitríona Balfe), a World War II nurse on holiday with her husband in Inverness, Scotland. She happens upon a set of stones that seem to hum and, before she knows it, she’s transported to 1740s Scotland. Out of her element, she’s taken in by Clan MacKenzie, where she meets Highlander Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). Through danger, sickness, time travel, and the culture shock of the period, Claire and Jamie forge an unbreakable bond.
Poldark
Captain Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) returns to Cornwall, England, after years fighting in the American Revolution. There, he finds his father has died, the family mining business is failing, and his cousin has proposed to the woman he left behind. He undergoes the difficult task of restoring the family name and, along the way, meets Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson), a fiery miner’s daughter whose strong will matches his own. Despite their class differences, a real love develops.
Victoria
In 1837, at only 18 years old, Alexandrina Victoria (Jenna Coleman) became Queen of England upon the death of her uncle, King William IV. Out of her element and having lived a sheltered life, she leans on the prime minister, Lord Melbourne (Rufus Sewell). Though initially uninterested, Victoria finds herself falling for Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) after they dance at a ball. With Lord Melbourne’s help, she hopes to be a queen who marries for love, kickstarting a great royal romance and the reign of one of Britain’s most influential monarchs.
Virgin River
Big-city girl moves to a small town to start fresh and finds love along the way. It’s a well-known romance formula for a reason: it works. Here we have Melinda “Mel” Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge), a nurse practitioner and midwife who moves from Los Angeles to the remote Northern California town of Virgin River. Despite things not going as smoothly as she’d like right off the bat — her cabin is run-down and her new boss doesn’t want her around — she does find the local bar owner, Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson), to be one temptation that just might convince her to stick around.
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