41 Comments

I'm a broken record everywhere on this one, but Ted Lasso on Apple TV+. It's new, it's delightful, it's been described as "an exploration of non-toxic masculinity," Ten episodes, really finds its feet in the second ep but the first is fine, paced incredibly well--problems get SOLVED!

Expand full comment

I highly recommend “I’m Sorry” on Netflix. It’s like if Larry David were a mom. Also, “Workin’ Moms” and “The Let Down” are very funny woman-centric comedies.

Expand full comment

The Babysitters Club on Netflix hits the sweet spot of both being everything I remember those books being as a kid while also being perfectly updated to the present. It is so great!!! But also happy sobbing. But so great.

Expand full comment

I recently discovered "Teenage Bounty Hunters" on Netflix - sounds like a trashy reality show but is in fact a spot-on scripted comedy. Of-the-moment without being a painful reminder; strong 'Veronica Mars'-but-funny vibes. Highly recommended! Unfortunately it's only the one season, and Netflix didn't renew it.

Expand full comment

Derry Girls, baby! and watch with captions b/c they talk fast in a HARD accent.

Also - Call Your Agent. Will suck you in and the funny is sort of spread throughout. PEN15 on Hulu. 30 Rock will always do the trick. Deft. loved the Comeback as noted below. BRILLIANT show is W1A - a BBC sendup of the BBC and media ,now, generally. It stars Lord Downton Abbey Hugh Bonneville and a lot of others you may spot in other Britcoms ... enjoy.

Expand full comment

So this isn’t a “funny” show per se although there are funny moments, but I recently watched every season of Halt and Catch Fire on Netflix. It’s set in the early 80s and follows the characters through the late 90s. I also recommend all three seasons of the Ewan McGregor-driven motorcycle road trip show (Long Way Round, Long Way Down, Long Way Up) on AppleTV. Long Way Up is new and new épisodes drop on Friday. It is travel-based and all filmed pre-COVID obviously.

Expand full comment

OMG if anyone hasn't seen PEN15 on Hulu yet, what a treasure awaits you—I think it might be the best show I've ever seen. It is so tender and yet so hysterically funny. There are only two seasons so far and they're both great, but give yourself at least a couple of episodes to get used to how bizarre it is to watch two 30-something women play themselves as 12-year-olds.

Another contender for best show of all-time is The Comeback on HBO, which was cancelled after its first season in 2005, then brought back for a second season in 2014, and is one of the smartest, cringe-iest, and funniest commentaries on modern media, aging, celebrity, and the dissonance between reality and reality TV.

Expand full comment

Bob's Burgers. *mic drop*

Expand full comment

New Girl! It's on Netflix. I'd start at episode 6 in season 1 if you're not a completist. It's the first Thanksgiving episode, so it's very seasonal for rn. I loved it from the beginning, but it definitely got better as the relationships developed. I did a google, and starting with season 1 episode 20 is also a common rec. How most people seem to feel about Friends is how I feel about New Girl. These people are my bros! I have them on in the background all of the time to just hang.

Expand full comment

Any episode from the the first three seasons of Arrested Development are my go to for feelgood TV.

Expand full comment

The first season of Ted Lasso, which just ran on Apple TV+, is really smart and sweet. A great show about a guy who just wants to help everybody become a better version of themselves, and how he wins over a skeptical world. And if you don’t know much about English soccer, don’t worry. It’s not at all a barrier of entry.

Expand full comment

Parks and Rec (start in Season 2 as they had not found their groove in Season 1) is pretty joyful and low stakes. I read an article that described it as a live-action Simpsons and that's pretty spot on.

I'd also recommend Plebs which you can stream on Amazon-- it's British, takes place in Ancient Rome with Ancient Roman problems, but discussed with modern dialogue. It can be cringey, but it's usually not too painful and I laughed a lot.

Expand full comment

I think the first season of The Good Place is a perfect season of television. DO NOT GOOGLE IT BEFORE YOU START. There’s a companion podcast hosted by Marc Evan Jackson that is also delightful. Following seasons are ambitious and I loved a lot of the episodes, but nothing was great as the first.

Also I’ve started watching Gossip Girl for the first time and I’m weirdly enjoying it? It’s like chewing bubblegum.

Expand full comment

I'm rewatching The Detectorists with my husband, who is watching for the first time. He doesn't like a lot of sitcoms, but this is so gentle and offbeat and he's into it. It's only two seasons and it's English, so there are about 12 episodes total. It used to be on Netflix but we're watching on Amazon Prime now (unfortunately with commercials that cut in awkwardly, but it's not a dealbreaker). For years, Freaks and Geeks was my "comfort" show to rewatch, but it's been a while. I might turn back to that soon, although I'm not sure if it's still on Netflix like it used to be.

Expand full comment

I recently watched Kim’s Convenience on Netflix and really enjoyed the whole thing although the first season was the best, I thought. Very charming and low key.

Expand full comment

First off, Damon Wayans Jr. is AWESOME in Happy Endings and this is the exact scene I send to people to make that argument! Love the whole series and agree, I would start after the pilot (I fell in love with it in s1e7 where Penny accidentally attracts a hipster while wearing her laundry day clothes. For me, my feel good/comfort show is Gilmore Girls, which you can watch on Netflix, and I too would recommend skipping the pilot because the characters were a lot harsher and more unkind to each other than they really were the rest of the series. Also fun for me is that I watched it when it first aired, which is going on 20 years now, and the Gilmore Girl that I empathize with the most has *definitely* changed in the interim

Expand full comment

So happy to see some love for my fave, Happy Endings (I’m still on S3 because I’m parceling it slowly). My big quarantine comfort watch was all 10 seasons of Bob’s Burgers ((on Hulu). I’d seen a few random episodes previously but watched as a whole, it’s so delightful. I also give a strong second to Ted Lasso. A balm in these times.

Expand full comment

Happy Endings. It's been pretty much all I've watched for a year.

Expand full comment

Upload on Amazon is funny but also cute and endearing. I can't believe I'm saying this but Lucifer (Netflix) is actually good, somewhat ranchy humor--not sure if I'd call it feel good but it's definitely TV candy. Already mentioned but worth calling out again is I'm Sorry (Amazon or Netflix, can't remember).

Expand full comment

Moone Boy, based on Chris O’Dowds childhood in Ireland. So funny and cute and silly.

Expand full comment

On Netflix, I recommend "Cinderella and the Four Knights" and "Crash Landing on You" (both K-dramas). I also love Call the Midwife. All of these involve sadness and dark themes but are fundamentally optimistic about reconciliation, love, and of course tiny little babies.

Expand full comment

Ok so my favorites are:

Great British bake-off (Mel and Sue > Noel and Sandi > Noel and new guy (matt?))

Great British bake offs holiday specials

Schitts creek

The office

30 rock

Sugar rush (mindless and great background chatter)

Expand full comment

Glee. It's got sad/emotional parts too, but also a lot of fun & singing & dancing. All 6 seasons are currently on Netflix. I'm on Season 3 right now and it's the best one so far.

Expand full comment

A friend got me onto "Mum," which you can watch with a BritBox sub on Amazon Prime (you can do a free trial!) - it is, as advertised, very British, but I watched it over and over for the bougie types getting angry about shitty bread, the humiliations of middle-class-dom, and ofc the middle-aged mum romance - an absolute slow burn over three seasons, and so funny

Expand full comment