Infidelity in High Def: 10 TV Dramas About Affairs & Their Aftermath
Cheating is almost a cheat code for TV writers: Any time love, sex, and secrets mix, the narrative potential is unbounded. It’s no wonder affairs have been a staple of TV dramas for decades, perhaps no more evidently than on The Affair, which premiered 12 years ago on October 12, starring Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Joshua Jackson, and Maura Tierney.
And though it’s a salacious topic with moralistic implications, many of these productions, that Showtime drama included, show the humanity behind the infidelity. These are messy people navigating messy situations.
Read more about The Affair and other binge-ready series about unfaithful partners below.
The Affair
Maura Tierney and Ruth Wilson both earned Golden Globes for their performances as a spurned wife and a cheating wife in this series, which shows not just the ravages of infidelity but the vagaries of memory, since each character has a different recollection of the events. And later seasons even show how the aftermath affects future generations. Currently streaming on Fubo and Paramount+.
Fatal Attraction
Joshua Jackson went from being cheated on in The Affair to being the cheater in this series adaptation of the 1987 film of the same name. The TV version didn’t receive the same acclaim as its forebear, but we’ll always watch Lizzy Caplan, especially when she’s taking on Glenn Close’s role of a mistress who will not be ignored. Currently available for purchase on Apple TV and Fandango.
The Undoing
Based on the 2014 novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz, this David E. Kelley-produced drama stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant as a couple whose family is undone again and again. Kidman plays a psychologist dealing with the reality that her husband, Grant’s character, might have cheated on her and killed his mistress. Currently streaming on HBO Max.
Anatomy of a Scandal
You Anglophones out there might prefer a different David E. Kelley domestic drama, one based on a Sarah Vaughan novel. Here, Sienna Miller portrays the wife of a member of Parliament, played by Rupert Friend, who confesses to cheating on her… right before the other woman in the equation, played by Naomi Scott, accuses him of sexual assault. Currently streaming on Netflix.
While she’s busy handling other people’s scandals, Washington D.C. fixer Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) is hiding one of her own: She’s been sleeping with the President of the United States, who, as far as the American public knows, is happily married to the First Lady. Like Chekhov’s gun, you know that’s a plot point waiting to explode. Currently streaming on Hulu and Netflix.
Conversations With Friends
If you enjoyed the 2020 adaptation of the Sally Rooney novel Normal People, you’re bound to enjoy this adaptation of an earlier Rooney novel, especially because the same production company is behind both. Here, two friends become tangled with two spouses, and the untangling leaves emotions and nerves raw. Currently available for purchase on Apple TV and Prime Video.
Mad Men
Infidelity is all over this award-winning period drama from the very first episode. That’s when married ad exec Don Draper (Jon Hamm) sparks a connection with client Rachel Menken (Maggie Siff), while his secretary, Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), catches the eye of married accounts exec Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser). Currently streaming on AMC+, HBO Max, Philo, Spectrum, and YouTube TV.
Mistresses
A UK drama that inspired an American remake of the same name, this drama focuses on four women all of whom have been affected by adultery in complicated and narratively creative ways. Sharon Small’s character, for example, is a widow being pestered for money by the lover of her late husband — or so she thinks, at least. Currently streaming on The Roku Channel.
The Good Wife
Inspired by the wives standing by as their politician husbands confess to sex scandals, TV writers Michelle and Robert King centered their narrative lens on the spouse often denied a chance at the mic. That’s where this legal drama starts, with Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) rebuilding her life and career after that kind of public humiliation. Currently streaming on Paramount+ and The Roku Channel.
Doctor Foster
Suranne Jones won a BAFTA TV Award, a National Television Award, and an RTS Television Award for her performance in this thriller drama inspired by the Greek myth of Medea. Jones plays Dr. Gemma Foster, a woman hellbent on investigating her husband’s philandering ways. And now’s the time to get caught up, since a third season is on the way. Currently streaming on BritBox and Hoopla.
