NoBadPicks

Anime Like Ugly Betty

If you loved Ugly Betty's Comedy and Drama storytelling, these anime deliver a similar experience — selected for art style, narrative depth, and emotional impact. Each includes where to stream it now.

Top Picks

Just Shoot Me!
6.6

Just Shoot Me!

1997

See the inner workings of a high-style magazine owned by Jack Gallo, who has hired his quick-tempered but talented daughter, Maya, to write for the publication. Challenging her at every turn is Nina, a vain and superficial former model. Then there's photographer Elliot, a man who is very popular with his portrait subjects as well as other women. completing the core staff is her father's assistant, Dennis, a glorified secretary who is generally disrespectful to one and all.

Lipstick Jungle
6.1

Lipstick Jungle

2008

Lipstick Jungle is an American comedy-drama television series created by DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler for NBC Universal Television Studio. The hour-long series was based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Candace Bushnell, who also served as executive producer alongside showrunner/head writer Oliver Goldstick. The pilot was directed by Gary Winick.

30 Rock
7.5

30 Rock

2006

Liz Lemon, the head writer for a late-night TV variety show in New York, tries to juggle all the egos around her while chasing her own dream.

Alice
7.1

Alice

1976

Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to March 19, 1985 on CBS. The series is based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job working at a roadside diner on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the episodes revolve around events at Mel's Diner.

2 Broke Girls
7.2

2 Broke Girls

2011

Comedy about the unlikely friendship that develops between two very different young women who meet waitressing at a diner in trendy Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and form a bond over one day owning their own successful cupcake business. Only one thing stands in their way – they’re broke.

Broad City
7.1

Broad City

2014

Broad City follows two women throughout their daily lives in New York City, making the smallest and mundane events hysterical and disturbing to watch all at the same time.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
8.2

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

2013

A single-camera ensemble comedy following the lives of an eclectic group of detectives in a New York precinct, including one slacker who is forced to shape up when he gets a new boss.

Bosom Buddies
6.4

Bosom Buddies

1980

Kip and Henry, two young studs working for a New York ad agency, must disguise themselves as women to live in the one apartment they can afford.

More Anime Like Ugly Betty

Acapulco
7.3

Acapulco

2021

In 1984, Maximo Gallardo's dream comes true when he gets the job of a lifetime at Acapulco's hottest resort, Las Colinas. But he soon realizes that working there will be far more complicated than he ever imagined.

Night Court
7.3

Night Court

1984

An eccentric fun-loving judge presides over an urban night court and all the silliness going on there.

True Jackson, VP
7.9

True Jackson, VP

2008

A 15-year-old fashionista lands the opportunity of a lifetime when the CEO of Mad Style hires her as the vice president of its youth apparel division.

WKRP in Cincinnati
7.5

WKRP in Cincinnati

1978

When a Cincinnati radio station switches from sedate music to top-40 rock 'n' roll, its staff of oddball characters is forced to switch gears quickly. New programming director Andy Travis brings in a new DJ named Venus Flytrap to work with the station's burned-out veteran, Dr. Johnny Fever. Neurotic newsman Les Nessman, eager beaver Bailey Quarters, sleazy salesman Herb Tarlek, blonde bombshell Jennifer Marlowe, who serves as the station's ultra-capable receptionist, and station manager Arthur Carlson, whose domineering mother owns WKRP, round out the eccentric bunch.

Archie Bunker's Place
6.5

Archie Bunker's Place

1979

Archie Bunker's Place is an American sitcom originally broadcast on the CBS network, conceived in 1979 as a spin-off and continuation of All in the Family. While not as popular as its predecessor, the show maintained a large enough audience to last for four seasons, until its cancellation in 1983. In its first season, the show performed so well that it knocked Mork & Mindy out of its new Sunday night time slot.

Superstore
7.5

Superstore

2015

A hilarious workplace comedy about a unique family of employees at a super-sized mega store. From the bright-eyed newbies and the seen-it-all veterans to the clueless summer hires and the in-it-for-life managers, together they hilariously tackle the day-to-day grind of rabid bargain hunters, riot-causing sales and nap-worthy training sessions.

Maude
6.8

Maude

1972

Well-educated and upper middle class, Maude Findlay is the archetypal feminist of her generation. She lives in suburban Tuckahoe, New York, with her fourth husband, Walter, their divorced daughter, Carol, and grandson Phillip.

The Honeymooners
7.4

The Honeymooners

1955

A bus driver and his sewer worker friend struggle to strike it rich while their wives look on with weary patience. One of the most influential situation comedy television series in American history.

The Jeffersons
7.3

The Jeffersons

1975

Sitcom following a successful African-American couple, George and Louise “Weezyö Jefferson as they “move on up” from working-class Queens to a ritzy Manhattan apartment. A spin-off of All in the Family.

Two Guys and a Girl
7.1

Two Guys and a Girl

1998

Welcome to Beacon Street Pizza, the perfect workplace and hangout for aimless wise-guy Berg, neurotic Pete and campus beauty Sharon. Pete and Berg are roommates and students at a local Boston university, while Sharon struggles with her work and relationships. Together, these three best friends try to navigate life and love in Boston!

Spin City
7.0

Spin City

1996

Workaholic Mike Flaherty is the Deputy Mayor of New York City, serving as Mayor Randall Winston's key strategist and much-needed handler. Mike runs the city with the help of his oddball staff: an anxious and insecure press secretary; a sexist, boorish chief of staff; an impeccably groomed gay activist running minority affairs; a sharp and efficient, man-crazy accountant; and an idealistic young speechwriter. Like Mike, they are all professionally capable but personally challenged.

Less than Perfect
6.8

Less than Perfect

2002

Claude Casey moved up in the secretarial world of television news, from temp to the anchor's desk. After her boss hires her full time, Claude realizes she may be in over her head in this world of assistants fighting to get ahead. But Claude is determined to prove that though she may not be perfect, she's not going down without a fight.

Why These Anime Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Ugly Betty (2006): Comedy and Drama themes, comparable animation style, and similar narrative pacing. NoBadPicks uses TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface anime most likely to resonate with fans of Ugly Betty.

See full details for Ugly Betty (2006)

People Also Search For