Dramas like
True Beauty

Goofy and sincere in the same breath. Same pleasure of a heroine allowed to be undignified, a male lead who is worth the trouble, and a show that turns its silliest device into real feeling by the halfway mark, at comfort 4. Difference: a time-crossing premise instead of a secret, and it is about being saved rather than about being looked at.

Hooks early Episode 2, the first jump back. Be warned: the lead's fan-girl register in the first two episodes is a lot to take, and it settles around episode 6.

The same anxiety about being looked at, handled kindly. A campus, a heroine who does not fit the shape she is told to be, friends who behave like friends, and comfort 5 warmth that never turns on her. Difference: no secret and no makeover, the sport is the spine, and nobody in it is cruel for a whole act.

Hooks early Episode 2, once the two leads start colliding on purpose.

The same logline, taken seriously. A campus, beauty standards as the actual subject rather than as an engine, and a heroine whose appearance is a problem the script refuses to play as a joke. Difference: it is uncomfortable on purpose, the comedy is thin, and it puts the change at the start so the story cannot be about the reveal.

Hooks early Episode 1. The surgery and the first day of class are both done inside the hour.

High school, first love, and a fantasy device holding it together. Same warmth and the same teenage social geography, with a lead keeping something from the people closest to him. Difference: time travel and a father-son story at the centre, so the romance shares the screen and the comedy is gentler.

Hooks early Episode 2, once he lands in 1995 and meets his father at eighteen.

The school ensemble, played for nostalgia. Same classroom warmth and the same first love that everybody in the room can see coming, at comfort 4, with jokes that come out of character instead of out of a device. Difference: the 1990s, a group rather than a couple, and nobody has a secret to keep.

Hooks early Episode 1. It moves fast and the fangirl comedy lands immediately.

The first-love reunion version. Same soft romcom register and the same pairing of two people who knew each other before either of them was polished, with the school still in the frame throughout. Difference: they are adults now, the setting is work, and the comedy is quieter and much shorter.

Hooks early Episode 1. The reunion happens inside twenty minutes and the eight episodes are all aftermath.