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One of the most popular tropes in TV shows and films is the found family trope. With this trope, characters who are not biologically related to one another consider themselves to be a family.

TV shows that incorporate the found family trope stick out for fans because characters show the ability to overcome challenges and form meaningful emotional bonds together. Here is a look at the best TV shows that show characters who have a family by choice.

Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler
Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson, Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope | Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

‘Friends’ focuses on a group of six friends

Friends ran on NBC from 1994 to 2004. The sitcom is about the lives of six friends: Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), and Ross Geller (David Schwimmer).

The series shows Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross living as 20-somethings together in New York City. While some of the characters’ biological families occasionally make appearances, the bond between the six main characters in Friends is the strongest and they frequently act as a family unit.

‘Parks and Recreation’ is a workplace comedy

Parks of Recreation is both a political satire and a workplace comedy. The NBC sitcom aired from 2009 to 2015 and centered around employees in the Parks Department in a fictional town called Pawnee, Indiana.

Amy Poehler stars as Leslie Knope, Rashida Jones plays Ann Perkins, Aziz Ansari appears as Tom Haverford, Nick Offerman stars as Ron Swanson, Aubrey Plaza stars as April Ludgate, Chris Pratt appears as Andy Dwyer, Adam Scott plays Ben Wyatt, Rob Lowe plays Chris Traeger, Jim O’Heir appears as Garry “Jerry” Gergich, and Retta plays Donna Meagle.

Throughout the show, the characters grow in their careers in Pawnee, and they also grow from co-workers to a family. As the show progresses, the characters find themselves going on separate paths, but they still remain close even after they no longer work at the Parks Department.

Found family is the heart of the ‘The Mandalorian’

Chosen family is a reoccurring theme throughout Star Wars, and this is no exception in The Mandalorian. The series takes place five years after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and premiered on Disney+ in 2019.

The Mandalorian is about Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his journey to reunite a young alien child named Grogu with the Jedi. In the Mandalorians’ culture, abandoned children discovered by Mandalorians cannot be left behind, and children taken in by Mandalorians are known as foundlings.

As a result, Grogu becomes a Mandalorian foundling and Din becomes his surrogate father until he is either reunited with the Jedi or reaches adulthood. The found-family dynamic between Grogu and Din becomes the heart of The Mandalorian.

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‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ features a chosen family

Avatar: The Last Airbender is an animated TV series that aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. While it is geared toward children, the show earned critical acclaim for exploring mature themes like war, imperialism, genocide, death, and sacrifice.

The show also has strong themes of love, friendship, and what it means to be a family. In Avatar: The Last Airbender, a young Avatar named Aang, waterbender Katara, Southern Water Tribe warrior Sokka, earthbender Toph, and Zuko, the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, form their own family and train to defeat Zuko’s father, Fire Lord Ozai.

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