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Recognized for its emphasis on the absurd, the exaggerated, and the ironic, camp is an aesthetic that requires a good amount of playfulness. Where this is often seen in the fashion scene, television is no stranger to it. Of course, there are shows that are larger than life (both stylistically and creatively). And where they may not be the most highbrow, they guarantee a ridiculous amount of entertainment.
But it's important to note that being campy isn't something of the past. Yes, the modern era has churned out a ton of over-the-top programming that isn't afraid of being boisterous and fun. Between the many musical shows and young adult soap opera-like dramas, television is just as melodramatic as it was a couple of decades ago—if not more. Sure, some have become the butt of pop-culture jokes, however, that's what's great about the camp genre. Its ridiculousness keeps everything lighthearted and endearing.
10 'Schmigadoon!' (2021–2023)
Developed by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio
Image via AppleTV+
Hoping that a backpacking trip can revive their struggling relationship, Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) somehow find themselves in a magical town where everyone is seemingly trapped in a 1940s musical. Intrigued at first because of her own love for musicals, Melissa plays along with it, unlike Josh. But the couple soon discovers that they can't leave Schmigadoon until they find "true love".
In what can only be described as a wildly entertaining homage to the golden age of musicals, Schmigadoon! was the short-lived beauty that added to the array of AppleTV+'s shows. Filled with vibrant costuming, exaggerated genre archetypes, and (unsurprisingly) tons of outrageous musical numbers, this was a theater kid's dream show as it often embraced the excess and the absurd. And unlike other programs, the corniness was a true stylistic choice — not a fun happenstance.
9 'Dynasty' (2017–2022)
Created by Sallie Patrick, Stephanie Savage, and Josh Schwartz
Image Via The CW
Set in high society Atlanta, Fallon Carrington (Elizabeth Gillies) reunites with her family, expecting to hear the news of her promotion to their lucrative company. Much to her dismay, her billionaire father announces his engagement to an employee quite close to Fallon's age. Assuming the woman is a simple gold digger, Fallon tries her best to separate the couple. But when all efforts fail, she seeks an ally in her father's nemesis.
Bringing the legendary 1980s show to the modern day, Dynasty proved that campy soap operas need not stay as a jewel of the past as they are just as relevant in today's day and age. Between the overly complex romances, the numerous catfights in couture, as well as the dramatic deaths (and fake deaths), this show gave international soap operas a run for their money. Of course, much of Dynasty's campiness is attributed to Gillies' stellar performance. Anchoring the show with the right amount of sass and snark, she—alongside the rest of the cast—set the standards of its dramatic flair.
Dynasty
Release Date 2017 - 2021
Network ABC
Showrunner Esther Shapiro
8 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' (2015–2019)
Created by Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna
Image via The CW
Where Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) seemingly has the perfect life—the upscale Manhattan apartment and a successful partnership at a prestigious law firm—she quickly abandons it all after she has a chance encounter with her ex-boyfriend. Realizing her desire for true love, she impulsively relocates to California to kick-start her quest, even if that means trying to rekindle some old flames.
With a premise that veers so far from reality, no person can expect Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to be anything but camp. So why not take things up a notch and make the show a full-blown musical? Okay, it might not be a complete musical, but this is a program that embraces the theatrics with a litany of over-the-top numbers and comedically dramatic ballads. Filled with satire, music video clichés, and tons of genre-bending parodies—Crazy Ex-Girlfriend quickly became one of the best self-aware shows in the modern era. And even despite its absurdity and melodramatics, especially during the romantic storylines, it was a program that still retained a great amount of heart.
7 'Why Women Kill' (2019–2021)
Created by Marc Cherry
Image via CBS Entertainment
It's hard to imagine how three women across three different decades find common ground. And yet, between a housewife from the '60s, a socialite from the '80s, and a lawyer from the 2010s—all live in the same Pasadena mansion where they all discover their husbands' infidelity.
Everyone loves a good murder mystery, especially when it's mixed into an intelligently written black comedy. So what happens when you throw in some lavish production design, vibrant costumes, and melodramatic dialogue? Well, you get the brilliant anthology known as Why Women Kill. Where it may not be entirely set in the modern era, it is a show that consistently harbors its own modern flair thanks to its masterful balance of soap opera dramatics and biting social commentary. Plus, with its larger-than-life characters and its wicked sense of humor, this is a program that's irresistibly entertaining, and of course, undeniably camp.
Why Women Kill
Release Date 2019 - 2020
Showrunner Marc Cherry
Directors David Warren, David Grossman
6 'What We Do in the Shadows' (2019–2024)
Created by Jemaine Clement
Image via FX
Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and Colin (Mark Proksch) are four vampire roommates who have lived together for hundreds of years on Staten Island. Also rooming with them is Nandor's familiar, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), who happens to be a descendant of a famous vampire hunter. Together, they all attempt to navigate their shared duties and responsibilities, while also struggling to adjust to the modern world.
As a spin-off of the beloved Taika Waititi film, What We Do in the Shadows completely turns its head on what modern audiences expect from the classic vampire genre. No, there is no sexy moody love interest, nor are there any glittery shiny bodies. Instead, there are a bunch of elaborate gothic costumes, wildly absurdist humor, and extremely exaggerated Transylvanian-esque performances. Enhancing the camp spectacle with its mockumentary style, this show is flamboyant nonsense, and we couldn't be more grateful for its crazed antics.
5 'Riverdale' (2017–2023)
Created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
A quaint town is shaken up when a high-school boy is suddenly found dead. But upon discovering his death was a murder, four teenagers, including the victim's sister, decide to take matters into their own hands and investigate the mystery on their own. This leads them to unravel a series of dark secrets lurking within the shadows of their community.
How did a moody YA re-imagining of the Archie Comics spiral into complete maximalist camp? Well, we're not too sure either, but it's pretty exciting that it did. Between its soapy twists, randomly inserted musical numbers, and whiplashing genre changes, Riverdale completely disregarded any ounce of logic and comprehension. But frankly, that's what made the show so fun. It was simply unshakable in its commitment to the ridiculous. Every choice was played seriously—even as the storylines bizarrely found their way to things like underground fight clubs, organ-harvesting cults, supernatural prophecies, and universe time-jumping. Yes, it's utter nonsense and yet so incredibly addictive.
4 'American Horror Story' (2011–)
Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk
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Image via FX
Structured as an anthology, American Horror Story features a series of different worlds and characters—all of which center around their own unique aspect of horror. With only a handful of cast members making a recurring appearance, this show seems to be more wild and terrifying as the seasons go on.
As a melding pot of melodrama and the macabre, this anthology is the modern blueprint of camp storytelling. Between asylums, covens, haunted houses, and hotels, every season of American Horror Story is drenched in theatricality that emphasizes the absurdism of the horror genre. Decked out in lavish production design, and further driven by the many iconic larger-than-life AHS characters, this show makes sure to push its creativity to the absolute limits. This only makes audiences question what else could possibly come next.
3 'Insatiable' (2018–2019)
Created by Lauren Gussis
Image via Netflix
For years, Patty (Debby Ryan) was relentlessly bullied, ignored, and underestimated by everyone around her. But upon a drastic transformation, which included a significant amount of weight loss, Patty is now confident and ready to get her revenge. Using beauty pageants as her gateway, she receives help from a disgraced coach who soon realizes he's in over his head as he grows more aware of how deep-seated Patty's rage really is.
In what could've been an intelligently twisted commentary on societal expectations, Insatiable proved itself to be one of the most chaotic and controversial shows of the modern age. Indeed, this program leaned hard into the absurd by stuffing every episode with outrageous plot twists and insane characters that mostly resembled caricatures. Frankly, there's no other way to describe this show than as a soap opera's fever dream — but with way more violence, murder, and beauty pageant glamour.
Insatiable
Release Date 2018 - 2018
Network Netflix
Directors Andrew Fleming, Brian Dannelly, Lev L. Spiro, Elodie Keene, Maggie Kiley, Nancy Hower, Ryan Shiraki, Steven K. Tsuchida, Suzi Yoonessi
2 'Glee' (2009–2015)
Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan
Image via FOX
Optimistic high-school teacher, Will Schuster (Matthew Morrison), does everything he can to try and revitalize the school's glee club and restore it to its former glory. But with only a group of misfits joining, it's clear that challenges lie ahead as they get closer to the beginning of competitions. Luckily, things take a turn and, as new bonds form, the New Directions may just have a chance to become the sensation Will dreams of.
Where the show started out as a simple ode to the quirky creative outcast, Glee cemented itself in pop culture history as the unhinged high-school drama that wasn't afraid of being a messy, larger-than-life-spectacle. Of course, this shouldn't be surprising given the Glee club's emphasis on show tunes and theatrics. And yet, as every season passed, audiences could never cope with the tonal whiplash. Because where there were some deeply heartfelt moments, many of them were counterbalanced by Glee's absurdly staged song covers, questionable plot devices, and cartoonishly evil villains. Nevertheless, Glee will always be a camp icon, and that's just how Sue sees it.
Glee
Release Date 2009 - 2014
Network FOX
1 'Scream Queens' (2015–2016)
Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan
Image via Fox.
Kappa Kappa Tau of Wallace University is the most sought-after sorority, despite it knowingly being for the so-called elites. But when Dean Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) decrees it opens its doors to all students, all hell breaks loose. Things couldn't be worse for Kappa's tyrant leader, Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts). Well, that is until a devil-clad killer begins to target the members of their sorority.
As yet another stellar Murphy, Falchuk, and Brennan creation, Scream Queens hooked audiences by developing a show that answered: what would happen if Mean Girls were set in the slasher horror genre? Indeed, despite being ridiculously short-lived, this show mastered the concepts of camp with its exaggerated performances, ridiculous levels of gore, absurdly humorous deaths, and overtly dramatic filming and editing styles. Scream Queens truly reveled in the ridiculousness and wasn't afraid to push the plot to questionable limits—all the while maintaining the bubblegum pop glamour aesthetics. Sometimes it pays off when a show doesn't take itself so seriously. Perhaps that's why Scream Queens is still such a cult classic.
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