Why You Should be Watching The Bold Type

Do you remember that ABC Family changed its name to Freeform? Do you remember that ABC Family even made tv shows, and wasn’t just for Christmas movies and Harry Potter marathons? Well, it's alright if you haven't, but you need to hear about their new show, The Bold Type.

The Bold Type is centered around three friends: writer Jane, who is played by Katie Stevens (you might remember her from her run on the 9th season of American Idol, or her starring role in Faking It), social media director Kat, who is played by Aisha Dee (you might know her from I Hate My Teenage Daughter or Chasing Life), and fashion assistant Sutton, who is played by Meghann Fahy (you might know her from the play Next to Normal). All three girls work for the women's magazine, Scarlet.

The show explores all the unexpected twists and turns of their lives in New York City as they simultaneously learn to find their own voices and themselves, all while exploring their sexuality, identity, love, and fashion.

Now, it is a chick flick-esque drama, but only in the best ways. You get all of the relationship drama and conflict that you would expect from a show of this nature, without any of the clichés. It's entertaining and fun, but has a surprising depth.Plus, they've got great fashion sense; it's always important to have great shoes while smashing the patriarchy.

Just wait until you hear these episode Big Issue™ topics: age gap relationships, faking orgasms, internet trolls, racism, sexual exploration, breast cancer awareness, long-distance relationships, immigration reform, and sexual assault. (did I mention there's a Muslim lesbian integral to the plot as well?)

The female friendships alone are so important; they're not catty or trying to tear each other down, their friendship is all support and love while not sugarcoating anything.

The Bold Type isn't your average female feel-good show; it covers complex topics, hard to talk about topics, and even in some ways controversial topics. It's female empowering, uplifting, and most of all, well-written. The writers' have also made the relationships realistic, which is very subtle at first, but the realistic way in which the main characters deal with issues within their group adds to the show in an unexpected way. And on top of it all, the characters are strong and independent, while still remaining feminine which is something not always found in television today.

Like Jane the Virgin and Insecure, The Bold Type is a sensational step forward for the telling of female's stories in television. It might not be getting the attention or hype that many other similar shows might, but that doesn't mean that the work being done or the conversations that are being started any less important and in need of attention. Things like Sutton asking for a raise or Kat becoming comfortable with her sexuality or even Jane dealing with an ignored health issue need to be talked about in the natural, normal way that they are on The Bold Type.

You can watch The Bold Type on the FreeForm website for free (yes, that's right, no dinero necessary); all you need is a laptop or phone and an internet connection to start the binge (and it will be a binge). There's only one season consisting of 10 episodes, so it won't be too hard to catch up and fall in love all at once.

It's also rather imperative that you do and soon; FreeForm is keeping track of how many people are watching and those numbers are going to determine if The Bold Type gets a second season!

Here's the link: freeform.go.com/shows/the-bold-type