This request comes from Juhi, from the comments to my recent recommendation of Midnight Diner on Netflix:
Would you please do an open thread asking for comforting shows on Netflix/Hulu?
I would love to get more recs along GBBO, The Babysitter’a Club lines, shows that feel comforting and fill me with so many good feelings!
We sure can! Strap in, because, whew, do we have recs for you.
Sarah: Crass, funny, but good feelings all over the place: Letterkenny (Hulu).
Elyse: It’s on Apple TV but Ted Lasso will warm your heart and make you laugh.
Sarah: Many a person has suggested signing up for a free trial of Apple + TV and watching it before cancelling.
Elyse: Making It (Hulu) is also really comforting. It’s a crafting show with Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman.
Tara: Seconding Ted Lasso! Also, Schitt’s Creek.
It’s quite old and from the UK, but if they haven’t seen Gavin and Stacey, that’s one of my favourite shows ever. It has so much heart and its hilarious too.
Sarah: I’ll be honest: I tried two episodes of Schitt’s Creek and really struggled. Is there a point at which it starts to turn?
Claudia: I had the same experience and heard/read after first season
Elyse: It took me well into season 2.
Amanda: This is cheating but also seconding Elyse’s suggestion of Ted Lasso on Apple TV. It’s the most comforting show I’ve seen. Most of the time, I’m watching Fargo or some horror movie, which is not the assignment here.
Tara:I had a hard time with Schitt’s Creek at first too, but I stayed with a friend (before quarantimes) and she sat me down and we just powered through and it became wonderful.
Shana: I would second Gavin and Stacey. That show is just adorable, I rewatched it last year.
Black Love (on Hulu) is the sweetest show, I watch it when I need a reminder that love is real, or just to see people caring for one another.
Aarya introduced me to Julie and the Phantoms last year: it’s about a teen who befriends a boy band of ghosts from the 90s. I found it super comforting and cute, but there are some storylines around grief, so it may not work for everyone.
Oh, and how about Kim’s Convenience?
Amanda: Noooo Shana! Too sooooon!
Shana: I know…but I haven’t gotten to the last season so I’m still riding the high.
Amanda: Netflix especially has a lot of low drama wholesome reality competitions.
Tara: The Great Canadian Baking Show is also wonderful and Dan Levy co-hosts the first two seasons.
Claudia: For the laughs and baking, I love Nailed It.
Also Queer Eye, especially the middle seasons.
Maya: On Netflix, comforting cartoons I love include Magic School Bus, One Punch Man, Super Hero Girls, Avatar the Last Airbender.
Netflix has old (1994-1997) and new (Magic School Bus Rids Again) seasons of Magic School Bus and it’s always perfect for adults looking to engage with some low-stress nostalgia edutainment and great for kids who never saw the original run.
One Punch Man is this very funny anime about this guy, Saitama, who is a hero that can defeat anyone with one punch. It’s definitely not as chill as Magic School Bus, but Saitama is very funny as he tries to make a living as a paid hero. Season 1 is amazing, but in Season 2 they changed both the production company and director and the resulting product just wasn’t as wonderful.
Super Hero Girls is perfect for any DC fans who think all the movies are entirely too grimdark. The show stars teen Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Bumblebee, Supergirl, Green Lantern, and Zatanna as they manage their superhero identities, high school, and fighting teen villains (like Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn!). It’s all very upbeat and kind (Batgirl and Harley Quinn’s non-super identities are besties!). The stakes are low and jokes are numerous!
Also, Beyonce’s Homecoming.
And Sister, Sister!!!!!!!
Tara: Oh, my daughter loves the Super Hero Girls graphic novels! I should see if we get the show on Netflix Canada!
Maya: For reality tv, I love Grand Designs and Forged in Fire. Grand Designs follows people as they build homes that tend to be architecturally interesting in some way. It’s perfect as background tv or something that you aren’t paying all your attention to.
I am mildly(?) obsessed with Forged in Fire! It’s a reality tv competition show where people (ok, mostly White men) compete to make edged weapons! The competitors are all very kind to each other, so there is no manufactured by the producers unnecessary drama to roll your eyes at. Just people making pretty sharp things! That the judges try to destroy! The original host’s (Will Willis) very self-conscious performance of masculinity took me a bit to get used to, but the judges are a delight.
It’s on both Netflix and Hulu!
Lara: I endorse Gavin and Stacey whole heartedly. Also, The Detectorists and Partners in Crime on Acorn TV.
Maya: On Hulu, there’s Drunk History, which is basically drunk people telling you stories that are then recreated on screen with famous people acting it out. It is chaotic and hilarious.
Hulu also has Steven Universe and Adventure Time, which are both really special shows that will change your life. Not to oversell or anything. But seriously, they are really complex and kind cartoons that are perfect for any kind of audience.
Tara: Oh yes! We watched through all of Steven Universe with our kids and it’s WONDERFUL.
Maya: And Gravity Falls!! It sometimes get less adoring hype than Steven Universe and Adventure Time, but it tells a really great story about twins spending the summer right before they turn 13 with their great uncle (Grunkle Stan). There’s magic and mythical beasts and twins figuring out how to be two separate people, with different identities and interests.
And finally, Angie Tribeca. It’s this weird sitcom starring Rashida Jones filled with silly puns and sight gags that is very much a throwback to Airplane and Naked Gun. It might take an episode or two to get use the rhythm, but it is very silly and totally stress-free and I’ve watched all four seasons more than once.
(basically, for most of this pandemic, I have not had the attention span for books)
Lara: Another favorite comfort view: Kath & Kim. The Australian one. Watched it multiple times and it’s excellent medicine
Catherine: I’m not sure if The Great British Sewing Bee is on Netflix or if one has to watch it via other methods, but it is very soothing and surprisingly compelling even to someone like me who has absolutely no interest in sewing.
Maya: Oh wow that sounds AMAZING and it’s definitely not on US Netflix (because I would be watching it right now)
Catherine: They have to make garments and remake old garments and it is fabulous.
Maya: WAIT! I forgot that there’s an episode of Angie Tribeca where Maya Rudolph guest stars as a romance author helping Angie solve a case.
Maya is, unsurprisingly, perfection and all I want now is a way better version of Castle starring Maya Rudolph as the very horny, but also very astute judge of human behavior assisting the NYPD while also selling her romance novels.
Shana: Daaaammmmn.
Ellen: HBO max has 12 Dates of Christmas, which is a pretty silly and sweet reality TV dating show about the holidays. There’s some drama but it all feels very low-stakes, plus there are some genuinely sweet romantic connections that form.
Hulu has Sailor Moon (always original, not the remake!), which is a huge comfort watch for me. It’s basically all about teen girls using the power of love to create justice and I am INTO THAT. Plus the animation is beautiful. The background work alone!
What about you? What comforting shows can you recommend for Juhi?
My Octopus Teacher(nature documentary) and Enola Holmes(YA) on Netflix. For food shows, we like Street Food and Man Fire Food on the cooking channel.
I also find it extremely soothing to watch NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts on YouTube. They run about 15 minutes each. The one I most recently watched was Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi(Afro-Pop) and Lizzo’s is so much fun, but they are all great quality music, you can’t go wrong with any of them.
Like Lynn, my comfort shows also include lots of murder mysteries.
On Netflix, I enjoyed the Finnish show Deadwind (Karppi). The lead detectives have really great chemistry and Sofia Karppi’s partner Sakkari Nurmi is very handsome. I’m still waiting for Netflix to pick up season 2 with English subtitles!
McDonald & Dodds (ITV) is a more cosy mystery series set in Bath. The developing friendship between the very capable DCI McDonald and DS Dodds who is kind of a weirdo is a joy to watch.
Van der Valk (PBS in the US I think) is another series I enjoyed last spring, mostly because it’s set in one of my favourites cities in the world, Amsterdam.
And speaking of Amsterdam—my other comfort shows are travel shows! There’s this series on Netflix called Escape to the Continent/Escape to the Country where prospective British homeowners tour houses in very scenic places in Europe/UK and at the end some of them make an offer for one of the houses. Wish fulfillment exercise to those of us who can only dream of owning a home in Provence.
Monty Don’s Gardens series is also another favourite. He visits very beautiful gardens around Europe and talk about their history and construction. You can tell he has a very deep love of plants and gardening.
Netflix:
Julie and the Phantoms. I love it so much!
Alexa and Katie
The Good Place
Star Trek (Primarily TNG and VOY, but you do you)
The Repair Shop
The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes (I prefer this over Grand Designs, because Grand Designs shows the trouble with building, and the stress of it and this one everything is already done)
Stargate SG-1 (The Funny episodes)
Paramount Plus:
Star Trek Lower Decks – It’s so good you guys
Knight Squad (I only watched this because Owen Patrick Joyner and Savannah Lee May from Julie and the Phantoms are in it, but I ended up enjoying it, way more than I thought I would).
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (from the 1990s. Takes me back to TGIF)
One Day at a Time (Originally on Netflix, (First couple of seasons are on Netflix) this got dropped and picked up by a cable channel that was owned by Paramount, and now it’s here)
Hulu:
Miss Marple (The newish ones, I loved them a lot, but the episodes they have change a lot, I like the early seasons better than the last season. The last season is pretty dark).
Bob’s Burgers (One of the best cartoons ever)
Futurama
Mash
The Bob Newhart Show
Amazon Prime:
Farscape (So good, so weird, I enjoy watching it, but I definitely have to be in the mood, because sometimes there is SO MUCH EMOTION and I just can’t handle it, but I love it anyways)
Broadway HD:
She Loves Me
Disney Plus:
Phineas and Ferb – Probably my favorite cartoon show on this streaming site, and there are a LOT of cartoons.
Gravity Falls
The Shorts, watch all the shorts. I love the classic cartoons, and they make me smile and are shorter than 10 minutes
Seconding Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries! Also, I really enjoy House Hunters International. Because what’s not soothing about spoiled Americans being like “wow, this place is really small!”?
@BethSmash:
If we are mentioning classic TV, I must give a shout out to the Dick Van Dyke Show. The Christmas episode where they actually do an episode of the Alan Brady show is one of my favorites.
My dad used to watch MASH when I was a child, so I agree based on my memories of that show.
And the Dick Van Dyke Show can be watched in several places: Prime, Hulu, and Netflix.
James May also did two series called Man Lab and Toy Stories that I believe are on Amazon Prime. The Supersizers Eat with Sue Perkins and Giles Coren is entertaining and informative. Not sure if it’s still on Hulu because I don’t have that anymore but it looks like some episodes are on YouTube.
Lately I have been rewatching Downton Abbey which is somehow comforting in spite of its dark moments, and slowly making my way through Taskmaster on YouTube.
Late to the party, but wanted to add an animated show I don’t see mentioned anywhere – Star vs. The Forces of Evil.
It’s silly and absurd and wonderful and full of heart. It sits up there with Gravity Falls for us. It’s also wrapped up, so no cliffhangers!
Oh! And the Carmen Sandiego Netflix show! It’s so SO good! Also completed, so no cliffhangers.
And Kipo & the Age of Wonderbeasts, though it has a few sadder bits, is fantastic. (Also a completed series!)
Forgot to mention where you can find them – Star is on Hulu, the other two are Netflix originals.
OOH yay! I made the rec league! that is just so super. . . erm, stokes me full? If that makes sense? 😛 anyhoo! have had a hectic and a sort of anxious week, so haven’t been around here a lot. will go through all these lovely recs and report back as and when I watch something!
I have a request for the rec league or for an open thread. It seems to have been awhile since you’ve done lists of podcast recommendations, but I’d like to see a similar thread to this one based on comforting or hilarious podcasts. I’ve recently been listening to Table Manners with Jessie Wear, which I think I discovered because of a recommendation on this website. The dynamic between Wear and her mom is so funny, and the interviews with celebrities about food and other topics are often funny and comforting in equal measure.
@Stefanie Magura:
Her name is Jessie Ware. Get it right before posting. I hope my misprint does not diminish my recommendation for the podcast.