‘Polyfamily’ & 6 Other Shows Exploring Polyamory on TV

There’s more to love on TLC with the April 29 premiere of Polyfamily, which the cable network calls “one of television’s first series to document the fascinating life of a real-life quad relationship dynamic.”

Indeed, while series like Big Love and Sister Wives have depicted polygamy and plural marriages for years, polyamory has only recently come to the foreground on TV. Check out poly-centric titles below, including dramas, comedies, and even trashy reality shows.

Polyfamily

Tyler, Alysia, Sean, and Taya make up the quad of this TLC docuseries. Tyler is dating Sean’s wife, Taya, and Sean is dating Tyler’s wife, Alysia. But it’s not all copacetic, especially among the non-romantic partners, and with a sixth child on the way, the stakes are only getting higher.

Couple to Throuple

The Bachelor this ain’t. In this Peacock dating show, couples curious about nonmonogamy open their relationships and invite singles into their rooms at a tropical resort. When the experiment ends, the couples decide whether to leave the resort as a dyad or as a triad. Fair warning: Night-vision cameras are everywhere!

Open House: The Great Sex Experiment

The U.K.’s answer to Couple to Throuple is this reality show, where committed partners take steps toward consensual nonmonogamy — with threesomes, foursomes, and more-somes — while staying at a posh country house. Fair warning: This show is even more NSFW than its American counterpart!

You Me Her

Billed as TV’s “first polyromantic comedy,” this Audience Network series stars Greg Poehler (brother of Amy), Rachel Blanchard, and Priscilla Faia. Poehler and Blanchard play a couple struggling to find their spark, and Faia plays the sex worker they hire for a threesome that turns romantic.

Trigonometry

This British production features a couple who opt to take in a lodger to make ends meet. But they get more than they bargained for when that lodger turns out to be the alluring Ray (Ariane Labed). “You love her, don’t you?” Gemma (Thalissa Teixeira) asks partner Kieran (Gary Carr). “I do, too.”

Easy

The love lives of several Chicagoans intertwine across the three seasons of this Netflix anthology. One of the recurring storylines is that of Elizabeth Reaser’s Andi Michael Chernus’ Kyle, who give polyamory a shot but find that opening up their marriage isn’t as Easy as they may have imagined.

Good Trouble

In later seasons of this Freeform drama, bartender Malika Williams (Zuri Adele) realizes she’s not a one-person person. After meeting poly activist Dyonte (Marcus Emanuel Mitchell), Malika decides she, too, wanted to pursue ethical nonmonogamy with him and coworker Angelica (Yasmine Aker).

Polyfamily, Series Premiere, Tuesday, April 29, 10/9c, TLC