12 TV Shows That Can Fill That This Is Us-Shaped Hole in Your Heart

I mean, if somehow you found your way to This Is Us without Gilmore Girls in your past, then get thee to your Netflix account. This is the birthplace of crushes on Milo Ventimiglia, but besides that connection, Gilmore Girls has a lot in common with This Is Us, owing to its strong central relationship between a mother and a daughter.

If your favorite thing about This Is Us is how much that damn family loves each other, then Parenthood is your obvious next stop. The Bravermans could be related to the Pearsons with all their warmth and closeness. But honestly, it's probably the only other show that will make you cry before the opening credits even roll.

Did someone say "I like crying!"? Then why aren't you watching Grey's Anatomy? The melodrama has been making viewers sob for over a decade now, so if it's the emotional release you're going to miss while This Is Us is on hiatus, let me direct you straight to Shondaland.

One of the most affecting TV series of our time, Friday Night Lights isn't just about football. It's about family, first loves, forever loves, heartbreak, grief, and pretty much every human emotion out there. Don't turn this show on if you're not ready to feel.

This show is much darker than This Is Us (the Fisher family runs a funeral home, after all), but there is real love among all of this family's dysfunction. When the Pearsons start to feel a little too squeaky-clean for you, fire this up.

The HBO series, Divorce, is also a look at a family that's going through a lot — and it's not really looking up. But the high dose of reality in a realistic family dynamic is what makes it so engaging.

OK, OK, I've recommended a lot of dark and emotional shows, so let's go to the lighter side of This Is Us. The Pearsons are a set of characters about whom you just go "Damn. These are just good people," and the Parks and Recreation folks will do that to you too. They'll also make you snort-laugh, so binging this show may be the perfect antidote after a season of bawling your eyes out during This Is Us.

There had to be a vintage pick on this list just for the amount of time that This Is Us spends in the past, but The Wonder Years is more than just a novelty choice. The half-hour series is told from the youngest kid's perspective, but it's really the coming of age of the whole Arnold family. If you've never seen this show, treat yourself to it now.

This is the perfect pick if the reason you stuck with This is Us was because it portrays the type of American family you don't usually see on the small screen. The Pfefferman family is a complicated, loving brood with a transgender parent, and like This Is Us, it goes so far beyond that to give you a three-dimensional view of a family.

This underrated HBO series only has two seasons, but it's similar to This Is Us in its frank comedy. Like that show, you get a lot of satisfying, relatable adult problems, like parenting issues, infidelity temptations, and not wanting to grow up.

Also on the lighter side, Black-ish gives you a family just living the dream, all while fighting, joking, and being extremely supportive of each other.

What could a show about the first female baseball player have in common with This Is Us? Well, creator Dan Fogelman is responsible for both shows, which were new to the Fall 2016 slate. Pitch has an obvious sports angle, but the tones are very similar, and the warmth of pitcher Ginny Baker's team is like a family. Give it a shot, even though it was canceled after one season.