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- Reality (good for binging without the emotional investment/strain):
- Comedy:
- Quirky (not really dramatic in the serious way):
- Drama:
- Live Performance
Movies
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Music
There are important things that are missing here: The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas. Also, back in the pre-streaming days, I had a mellow playlist of favorites that I eventually added to the cloud using a friend’s Spotify list (be sure to listen on shuffle).
Other
Note: I use ReelGood to check and see where various things are streaming
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More Movies
And also:
Maybe?
TV Shows
Reality (good for binging without the emotional investment/strain):
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (short episodes, light hearted vibe)
Chef's Table (portraits of exceptional chefs, shot beautifully -- my favorite is the Korean nun, but there's also a spin-off specifically for BBQ which is what I found first, and now also pizza, French chefs, and…noodles?)
Parts Unknown (Anthony Bourdain -- accessible travel/history/culture that feels really authentic)
Say Yes to the Dress (the original if you can find it; the UK version is also cute, but very different)
Tidying Up w/ Marie Kondo (with her speaking Japanese)
What Not to Wear
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (the original if you can find it, though the most recent cast is growing on me)
Gardener’s World (calming British show (running since the 1960s!) about Gardening and plants; I can only vouch for the seasons with Monty Don as its host 2003-2008, 2011-present)
The kids version of the great British bake-off? (Newly licensed to Netflix)
The Great Pottery Throwdown (Great British Bake-off but while learning all about clay techniques!)
Inside Pixar
Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2
Dating/matchmaking shows that are sort of windows into another culture(?)
- Love on the Spectrum (Australia)
- Love on the Spectrum (US)
- Down for Love (NZ)
- Jewish Matchmaking
- Indian Matchmaking
Masterclass might fit here too. And some is accessible with a library card via hoopla these days :)
Also: shows about building or renovating are often great for this sort of low-stakes vibe, as long as you avoid too much drama with spending and mistakes and such:
I haven’t tried these next ones, but they seem worth checking out:
Recommended by my family:
Comedy:
Parks & Rec
Glee (musical)
Simpsons?
South Park?
Futurama?
Modern Family?
Schitt’s Creek?
(My parents love Bob’s Burgers and King of the Hill and 30 Rock and thus have a constant source of inside jokes for approximately all situations)
Quirky (not really dramatic in the serious way):
Ted Lasso (people generally making good decisions/doing the right thing — though I can only vouch for season 1, and I have some evidence that the subsequent seasons lose this important thread)
Extraordinary Attorney Woo 🐋
Kipo (worth trying just for the fun music)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Northern Exposure (an oldie but goodie, though my clan was pretty disappointed in how things turned out, so a stronger vouch for the earlier episodes)
Once Upon a Time (what the people who made Lost actually wanted to make)
Avatar the Last Air Bender (anime, but solid story and characters)
Star Trek (NG, Enterprise, etc.)
Good Omens (this is right on the edge for me wrt my discomfort around people doing the wrong thing/cringe, but they actually do a pretty good job in tough circumstances and I think I maybe want to be Crowley when I grow up… incredible casting in the leads, kind of phoned it in with some of the smaller parts 😕)
Lucifer (a little campy and soapy — sort of like Good Omens + Fringe + Virgin River + CSI Miami (or whatever those detective shows are where there’s a new crime to solve every episode))
The Magicians? (millennial angsty irreverent chronicles of narnia with more magic and a zillion more plot lines and twists, closer to Once Upon a Time maybe? but not as good)
(content warning: especially early on—seasons 1 and 2?—there are some really horrific scenes, including violent sexual assault at the end of S1E13 and then that guy (“Reynard”) being really really awful and scary for a while as a plot point)
Agatha Christie’s Poirot (available via your library card & hoopla)
Grantchester? (another PBS mystery program with a small town inspector and his surprising crime-solving partner: the handsome young vicar — should maybe be in the drama section with Poldark, but generally lighter fare at least in the early seasons)
Rick & Morty (feel like I should have a warning here, but not sure what kind 🙃)
WandaVision
Drama:
Friday Night Lights (not the main topic, but one of the best examples of a healthy marriage I’ve seen on TV)
Battlestar Gallactica
Fringe (sci-fi crime solving — each episode starts with something pretty disturbing, but the squad is ~”good people” and as a bonus, they have really great wardrobes)
MadMen
The West Wing (serious, but good people trying hard)
Studio 64 (30 Rock but by the West Wing people and not done as a comedy)
The Wire (also serious)
Sherlock
Nashville? (I like the inclusion of music without it being a “musical”)
The Witcher (there is a thread of comic relief throughout, maybe in the quirky way), but putting in this section because it’s also full of violence and danger. Henry Cavill does an incredible job as the lead for the first three seasons, and, more importantly for me, has a code and sticks to it. The minstrel is also great. Everyone else is meh. But I think it’s still worth it.)
TrueBlood? (This could maybe also go up in the quirky section.)
Dexter? (only ok because he’s weirdly a good guy — rumor has it that by the end of the series they break this 😕)
Virgin River? (soapy with a couple unnecessary threads of danger/badness but basically wholesome, at least through the first few seasons)
Poldark? (Similar vibe to Outlander but way less violence/fear/torture (the things that prevented me from including it on the list) and also less steamy)
*I’m actually pretty interested in recommendations for anything on this page — either things I forgot to list or things I don’t know about (now that you’ve seen what I like and could maybe triangulate).
For movies and shows: I currently can’t handle suspense/tension/startle things and I have no interest in horror, sexual violence, or torture (Marvel type violence is about my limit). It’s best for me if the people are trying to do the right thing and aren’t cruelly punished for it.
Live Performance
Plays are also great. Concerts. It seems like an important part of the human experience — an ancient form of storytelling. Broadway is a thing for a reason. And the famous shows are famous for a reason.
Musicals in particular:
Phantom of the Opera
Wicked
The Book of Mormon
Rent
Hamilton
The Lion King
But also small productions — when I was a kid, my dad was an actor and a musician in our community and I have so many memories growing up as a volunteer usher at our local theater, sitting on the steps in the aisle, watching the shows. (I was also a Waldorf kid, and putting on plays was a regular and fun(?) part of the curriculum.)
Go see things! Go have experiences! Be changed by things! Learn songs you want to sing at home! Maybe even try out for a role in your school or at your community theater 🙃
See also: Reading