Most people have felt like a Fish out of Water at some point in their lives, feeling like the one person who was different in some way. While it doesn't feel great to experience this, it is a great catalyst for a TV show. Not only can audiences relate to the main character's experience, but they can also enjoy watching how the character deals with their new environment.

Updated May 27, 2023: This article has been added to by Amanda Minchin to feature even more great Fish out of Water television series.

Since the Fish out of Water trope is very present in media, there are plenty of great examples of the trope. It's been done so often, from a New York Jewish doctor moving to rural Alaska in Northern Exposure to a New Age FBI agent investigating rural Washington in the game-changing Twin Peaks. The Fish out of Water is normally the underdog of the story since they tend to be the odd person out. Considering how many people can relate to the Fish out of Water concept, it's no wonder why the trope is so popular in Hollywood. The shows listed below have been able to entice fans for decades, despite using the same Fsh out of Water screenwriting trope. Here are some of the best TV shows to utilize this as a storytelling device.

9 3rd Rock From the Sun

The Cast of 3rd Rock From the Sun
NBC

Was school a hard place for you to fit in? Imagine being an alien! Welcome to 3rd Rock From the Sun, a show where a family of aliens must assimilate into American life. While the main plot of the show is the Fish out of Water trope, not every episode centers around that. If the viewer didn't already know the family was aliens, it might just seem like a slightly off-kilter family sitcom. However, the inclusion of the Fish out of Water trope makes the show more appealing.

The basic family comedy may be overdone, but throwing in the fact that our main characters aren't human brings a whole new element to an overplayed genre. 3rd Rock From the Sun was able to bring both a common trope and a common genre together and make them into something new, thanks largely, in part, to great performances from John Lithgow, a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt, French Stewart, Jane Curtin, and Kristen Johnston. The series can also be seen as the inspiration for the Disney Channel Original series Phil of the Future.

8 Futurama

The Coworkers of Futurama
20th Century Fox Television

This beloved animated sitcom has been on and off again in too many iterations to count since its inception in 1999. Futurama is a relatable nod to futuristic sci-fi culture that doesn’t bother to get too bogged down by things like ‘science’ or ‘logic.’ Instead, this futuristic comedy relies heavily on relatable (though surprisingly modern) situations. In the series, the main character, Philip J. Fry, a slovenly pizza delivery guy, accidentally meets with a cryogenic tank while delivering a pizza on New Year's Eve.

Related: These are Some of the Funniest Sci-Fi TV Shows and Movies

He wakes up at the end of the next millennium, and he gets a job at a delivery service, where things are about as different as they are the same from his time. As it turns out, some things just never change… even if your coworker only has one eye. Futurama is set to return to Hulu on July 24, 2023.

7 The Beverly Hillbillies

The Cast of the Beverly Hillbillies
CBS

When most people think of a classic Fish out of Water story, they think of The Beverly Hillbillies. Why? The show follows a family who finds oil on their property and then moves to Beverly Hills with their newfound wealth. Everyone wants to find a bunch of money buried in their backyard, a treasure chest in their basement, or oil on their property.

The Beverly Hillbillies addresses the newfound highs and lows of this newfound wealth. Not everything is great all the time, and challenges come with being thrown into a very new, very different environment. While the Hillbillies fit into the Beverly Hills mold money-wise, their personalities don't always click. This led to nine full seasons' worth of hijinks that have proven influential to both comedy and television ever since they aired.

6 The Nanny

Fran Drescher as The Nanny
CBS

The new water for a fish can be a lot of things, but for Fran Fine in The Nanny, it was a new job as a nanny for a wealthy family. While she might not have been exactly qualified for the position, her unique view of things helped to propel her into the role. In spite of the fact that this popular show occurred in and around New York City, as any resident will tell you, the areas that Fran and the Sheffield family inhabited are two very different places. Fran was from Flushing, Queens, before moving in with the Sheffield family on Manhattan's Upper East Side. As anyone who has been to both places can attest, these are in two very different worlds with very different tastes. As a result, this show's take on class consciousness was the crux of its humor.

While this is not inherently bad, it posed a challenge for Fran, played by the endearing Fran Drescher, when she went to live with the family. The society surrounding these locations are opposites, which caused Fran to reevaluate how she sees herself and those around her (and they to her). At the end of the day, while Fran's initial qualifications may have been up for debate, without a doubt, she became an undeniably positive presence in their household... and she looked great doing it.

5 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The Family in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Warner Bros.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is a semi-modern sitcom classic that jump-started Will Smith’s career. What started as a jam sesh between Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff turned into a sitcom about a West Philly boy who is forced to move in with his well-to-do Aunt and Uncle in, you guessed it, Bel-Air, California. To say he was a Fish out of Water next to his barrister uncle, flashy cousins, and a real-life butler was certainly an understatement. Still, Smith’s antics made the show a runaway success in its six years on the air. Its theme song has been nothing short of iconic ever since.

4 Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso season 3
Apple TV+

Nothing is more like a Fish out of Water than literally putting the fish on the other side of the ocean (or, in this case, across the pond). When choosing where to put your "fish" after you take it out of the "water," an easy and logical option is to put them in a foreign country. Ted Lasso is the perfect example of this. Ted was a joyful Division II (American) Football Coach who took on a new Football position in London, coaching a Premier League Soccer team. Not only does Ted know nothing about soccer, but he also knows little to nothing about the country in which he now resides.

Related: Here's What Makes Ted Lasso the Show the World Needs Right Now

While not everyone can relate to moving to a new country, many people can relate to getting a new job or moving with a significant other for their job, or even just leaving the place they've always lived or worked. This experience is applicable to people everywhere, which is a large part of what makes Ted Lass such a success. Ted's exact experience is one that seems scary and fantastical to many, but isn't that what getting out of the water is all about? Ted Lasso's finale episode is set to air on May 30, 2023, and audiences are eager to see if Ted Lasso stays or goes back to his old waters.

3 Outlander

Sam Heughan as Jamie and Caitriona Balfe as Claire in a scene from Outlander
Sony Pictures Television

As a former combat nurse and adopted daughter of a historian/archeologist, Claire Fraser is perhaps the most prepared person on this list with regard to her Fish out of Water experience. The historical period intrigue of Outlander follows her adventures in and out of the 18th century (and back again). Once there, she meets and marries a Scottish man, Jamie Fraser, in order to gain safe passage through the 1700s landscape (despite being married to the also English Frank Randall in the present day). Talk about scandalous!

In spite of this, the show, which is based on the best-selling book series by Diana Gabaldon, will surely whisk you on a whirlwind romance that transcends both continents and decades. Outlander proves that not all Fish out of Water stories need to be comedic in nature and can be used for dramatic as well as romantic purposes.

2 Schitt’s Creek

Noah Reid, Catherine O'Hara, & Dan Levy in Schitt's Creek
CBC

Schitt’s Creek draws its title from a popular idiom that many know means out of luck. What started as the joke purchase of a small town by a wealthy family turned into their only safe haven after losing nearly all of their wealth. Created by the wildly talented father-son duo of Eugene and Daniel Levy, who also starred in the show, the family was evened out by the additions of Catherine O'Hara and Annie Murphy as the two remaining family members.

The series, which was co-broadcast on CBC in Canada and Pop TV in the United States, was heartwarming and ahead of its time. Despite their clear differences from the, at times, equally quirky townsfolk around them, this family still managed to worm their way into audiences' hearts and eventually become a major Prime Time Emmy Award-winning series.

1 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Netflix

It's hard to say if anyone on the planet can relate to Kimmy Schmidt. In Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Kimmy is a "mole woman" who has been trapped in an underground apocalyptic bunker for the last 15 years at the hands of a fundamentalist cult leader, which is sort of hard to relate to. Kimmy and the other women have missed the opportunity to grow up normally. Now, they're forced to live in the modern world. We may not think of the world we live in as confusing and unknown, but for someone who has missed 15 years of it sure is pretty confusing.

While her experience is (hopefully) far from relatable to most, Kimmy makes up for her by being herself, which is often downright hilarious. Viewers can't help but feel for the endlessly optimistic Kimmy and enjoy watching her grow in the world we all already know. Through her, audiences see the world through a different set of eyes. Considering Kimmy is a bit naive, it shocks no one that the cast of characters in this show is a rag-tag bunch and more than a little wacky as well (including a phenomenal turn from Tituss Burgess). Her relationships and confusion are actually what end up making Kimmy relatable. Everyone has some friendships in this wild world that make absolutely no sense to anyone but you. That's what makes Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt great.