The show lives in the small moments between the big ones, where four sisters figure out who they are through arguments over tea and letters to a father they can't reach. This isn't a story about overcoming fate, it's about four completely different people learning to want different things and still choosing each other anyway. The pacing drags in patches, but that's the cost of actually letting you live with these characters instead of watching them from a distance.

Four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, share a home with their kind mother while their father is away fighting in the Civil War. Meg is loyal and tender, Jo is spirited and self-reliant, Beth is reserved and timid, and Amy is friendly and bright for her age. The family lives with energy and cheer as they wait for his return. Leaning on one another, the sisters face what life brings them and mature into fine young women. This 48-episode drama from 1987 offers a slice-of-life look at family and growing up.