Warning: There may be spoilers ahead.
Carrie Bradshaw – Sex and The City
Oh where to start with Carrie. She’s needy, spoilt, selfish and a terrible listener. She’s more concerned with her wardrobe than the lives of her best friends. She makes bad decisions all the time – especially when it comes to the men she’s dating – and she’s vapid beyond belief.
Image: Shemazing
Why you should watch it anyway: Sex and the City was groundbreaking when it first aired. It’s about a group of women who really, truly love each other even if they sometimes are dismissive of each other's issues. It encourages open dialogues about sex, is hilariously funny and the fashion. Oh, the fashion.
Rory Gilmore – Gilmore Girls
I still don’t understand how she gets everyone to fall in love with her and I can’t even get a text back. She’s elitist, snooty, aloof, unadventurous, self-obsessed, hypocritical and interfering. She sleeps with a married man, ends his marriage and nearly ruins her relationship with her mother Lorelai because of it.
Image: The Odyssey Online
Why you should watch it anyway: Rory and Lorelai are both a great example of mother-daughter friendship and the trials and tribulations that come with it. The dialogue is priceless and there’s almost always a moment that will make you laugh out loud in every episode. It’s essentially a story about no matter how much you fuck up, there’ll always be someone to welcome you home.
Ross Geller – Friends
Could he BE any more annoying? (yes, I know that was Chandler’s thing not Ross's.) Ross is actually the worst. He’s a manipulative, possessive, jealous, lying asshole who can’t own up to his own mistakes. And don’t even get me started on the whole “we were on a break” thing.
Image: The Odyssey online
Why you should watch it anyway: Simply put, it’s iconic. It’s probably the biggest TV show ever. Although aspects were problematic. But it’s really funny, genuinely sweet, and has six characters who will warm your heart.
Piper Chapman – Orange Is The New Black
Urgh, this woman is so entitled it’s not even funny. She seems to be motivated to exploit the other inmates of the prison not out of necessity to survive, but out of pure boredom. She’s accidentally cruel in a rather naive way and cannot see past her own privilege.
Image: Giphy
Why you should watch it anyway: For every other character on the show, basically. Piper is awful, but her character is made up for by the likes of Taystee, Poussey, Nicky, Suzanne and all the other colourful female inmates. The show goes in depth to show you the stories of each of the characters and makes you see them as much more than just criminals. It’s dark, but witty and very funny. It explores a host of taboo topics and is gutsy, daring and very real. It’s definitely worth a watch for the amazing acting alone.
Meredith Grey – Grey’s Anatomy
She’s so whiny! We get it, you’re dark and twisty, Meredith. Whatevs. She’s insufferably bad at being nice to people and yes we could blame this on all the crap that’s happened to her, but there are other people in this show who have been traumatised too and they still know how to behave like a normal human.
Image: HerCampus
Why you should watch it anyway: Well, there’s the fact that you’ll be learning lots of new medical jargon and about interesting and amazing surgeries while you watch the show, but then there’s also the fact that this is Shonda Rhimes’ masterpiece. It does a great job of showing the other side of medical professionals while they try to deal with work, family, and their own personal problems. It’s done great things for LGBT people in its run and shows that women can have it all while simultaneously feeling like they have no idea how to run their lives.
Hannah Horvath and Marnie Michaels – Girls
It’s not often that you get a show where there’s more than one unlikable character, but with Girls pretty much everyone in the main cast is the worst for different reasons. I’m, however, only choosing to highlight Hannah and Marnie here. Hannah is a self-absorbed, immature, clueless individual who is trying very hard to adult, but also failing miserably in the process. Marnie is even worse. She’s an absolute asshole. She makes everything about her and constantly tries to control all her friends to the point where she gets visibly upset when things don’t go her way.
Image: Bustle
Image: Changing in the city
Why you should watch it anyway: The characters might rub you the wrong way, you might get put off by the sex scenes and nudity, but the show is revolutionary and relatable in several ways (some of them small) and the characters will remind you of someone in your life - it might even be you. It depicts the unglamourous side of your 20s - random hook ups, very bad jobs, lots of mistake making... but it has a sense of humour about it.
Sophia Marlowe - Girlboss
Sophia is, simply put, a bit of a dick. She even admits in one episode that she’s a “garbage person”. She lies, she cheats, she steals. She’s a shit best friend to Annie who is basically her cheerleader while Sophia discounts her in almost every way.
Image: Popbuzz
Why you should watch it anyway: It’s loosely based on the real life of Sophia Amaruso who founded Nasty Gal Vintage and made a fashion empire. It’s pretty interesting to see how one woman turned a passion for vintage clothes into a massive business by the time she was 28. Plus, the clothes are amazing.