It’s not easy to make genuinely feel-good TV; for a while, it felt like television had moved on. When Larry David bestowed his “no hugging, no learning” mantra upon the nascent Seinfeld, he put in place one of the building blocks of what we now call the Golden Age of Television – the unlikable protagonist.

Hardly a new concept, sure, but pushing the boundaries of geniality at the turn of the millennium also begat the Golden Age of Dicks on Television. Not actual dicks, of the sort still drastically underrepresented on Game of Thrones, but a succession of lead characters in desperate need of a slap: Larry David himself, still the king; Don Draper; Dr Gregory House; Hannah Horvath; even the excruciating distillation of nice-guy tropes that is Ted Mosby.

Having complicated, nuanced characters is a good thing, of course, especially when they’re starring in complicated, nuanced television shows. But these are dark days. Our government is giving bigotry a platform under the guise of a #respectfuldebate, Nazis are somehow back, and the world seems to alternate between being on the verge of nuclear conflagration and collapsing into an all-devouring black hole under the accumulated weight of sheer hatred. It’s okay to want to escape into the comforting arms of television, that old friend.

So What Are The Best Feel-Good, Golden-Age TV Shows?

There are a few core rules we need to establish.

Feel-good factor (AKA The Abed Rule)

These shows don’t have to be the best, or the funniest, or the most groundbreaking. What they have to do is make you satisfied, a little warm, a little more prepared to face the mundane terrors of tomorrow. If a show is a too acerbic or cutting, it’s out; for example, the US Office is great, but its early seasons are bleak AF. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is superb, but its brand of cheerful nihilism is hardly comforting. What we’re after is chicken soup for the reality-addled soul.

Likeable lead(s) (AKA The No Dicks Rule)

The lead character should be someone with whom you can empathise, who might be going through some of the same troubles you are, but remains snug and warm under the protection of plot armour. Shows with characters you love to hate are out.

Secret MVP(s)

However, this can be mitigated by a loveable ensemble, or another character who catalyses change in the lead. Which brings us nicely to the next scoring category.

Hugging and learning

Points are awarded for satisfying arcs and emotional growth, particularly if it stays true to character. This isn’t meant to be a vector for change in the viewer – just a way for us to keep believing that a change is gonna come, even when the real world is cold and bleak.

So what are the best feel-good shows on TV?

Here. We. Go.

10. Galavant

Feel-good factor: Galavant is a half-hour musical comedy with original songs by Alan Menken, the man behind the earworms of The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, and pretty much every Disney movie that isn’t The Lion King. It manages to send up the Disney classics while maintaining a huge reservoir of affection for them, combining some old-school swashbuckling with some very modern jokes. 8/10

Likeable lead: Sir Gary Galavant (Richard Sasse) is dashing and all, but ever so slightly bland – though he does improve tremendously as his privilege gets checked, again and again. 5/10

Secret MVP(s): Thankfully, the supporting cast is excellent. Karen David’s Princess Isabella is proud and defiant and lovelorn, and the ostensible baddie, King Richard (Timothy Omundson), steals entire episodes with his oblivious charm. But Mallory Jansen’s Queen Madalena is a deliciously evil character who remains true to herself, even when it’s to the detriment of everyone else. 7/10

Hugging and learning: Lots — Galavant was a quick hit of fairytale magic when it was at its best, which it often was. Roles are reversed, alliances are swapped, but happily ever after is never too far away. 6/10

Total score: 26

9. New Girl

Feel-good factor: The quiet genius of New Girl is that it’s an antidote to every show about women that was run by a man. Showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether didn’t just give us great female BFFs, she captured everything that is joyous and juvenile about male relationships too, but from a woman’s perspective. New Girl can be wildly uneven, but it’s always very loving. 7/10

Likeable lead: Zooey Deschanel’s Jessica Day is charming and neurotic and much more than those atrocious “adorkable” ads that turned a whole lot of people off the first season. 6/10

Secret MVP: Max Greenfield (Schmidt) and Jake Johnson (Nick) are often hailed as the breakout stars, but pay close attention to Lamorne Morris as Winston; he’s been doing some low-key brilliant work for years. 7/10

Hugging and learning: Constant, but somehow never cloying. 7/10

Total: 27

8. Gilmore Girls

Feel-good factor: The Gilmores’ home town of Stars Hollow is the sort of hamlet that makes you want to put down roots immediately, where everyone knows your name (and probably has a nickname for you, too). The mother/daughter/best friend/sparring partner relationship that Lorelai and Rory have is as welcome as it is welcoming, a cosy alternative to the crisp air outside. 7/10

Likeable lead(s): The Gilmores make a lot of mistakes. A lot. They fight and bicker with everyone in their orbit, and those fights can be raw, but through it all they have each other – a frayed, weatherbeaten bond that somehow remains as strong as it ever was. It’s the sort of love that’s all too rare in the world. 6/10

Secret MVP: Emily Gilmore, doing her thing all through the regular series and coming into her own in A Year In The Life. Her path to revelling in being single and independent is a hard, joyous journey. 8/10

Hugging and learning: Some, but not as much as you might think. Emily definitely grows the most in the revival, while Lorelai and Rory do a lot of running to stand still. Painful change and reluctant acceptance are two sides of a coin that’s always going to be part of the Gilmore inheritance. 7/10

Total: 28

7. Jane the Virgin

Feel-good factor: Jane the Virgin is full of twists and turns and betrayals and revelations – it’s a telenovela, it’s all there in its DNA. The way the show keeps up the breakneck plot while maintaining the ironclad certainty that everything is going to be all right is a masterful balance between satire and sincerity. 7/10

Likeable lead: Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez) is a shining light, following her heart down roads smooth and bumpy, overthinking everything, and always, always being responsible and honest. She’s the best. 8.5/10

Secret MVP: Is it cheating to award this category to the three-way relationship between Jane, her mother Xiomara (Andrew Navedo) and grandmother Alba (Ivonne Coll)? Probably, but it’s happening. 6/10

Hugging and learning: It’s all there in the title – this is a show about sex and the infinite complications (and joys) thereof. It manages to celebrate both virginity and promiscuity, and then also takes on everything from immigration and identity via culture and heritage. 7/10

Total: 28.5

6. Community

Feel-good factor: Community is a television show that is obsessed with television (and the movies). It references everything under the sun, but does so with awe and reverence and a great deal of wit. It is possibly the single greatest meditation on the value and importance of what used to be called ‘low art’. It’s also uproariously funny. 9/10

Likeable lead: Having said all that, it’s occasionally weighed down by Jeff Winger (Joel McHale), a jackass so self-obsessed that he almost caused Community to be stricken from this list. But his role is an important one; he’s essentially the punching bag for the meta- commentary of which the series is very fond, and he can be counted on to bring the group home with a trademark speech. 4/10

Secret MVP(s): Danny Pudi, Donald Glover, Alison Brie, Jim Rash, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ken Jeong, Chevy Chase, Gillian Jacobs, John Oliver (!), Keith David, Michael K. Williams, Jonathan Banks – that’s an all-timer list of actors gleefully riffing off each others’ many gifts. 9/10

Hugging and learning: Often, in a way that’s sincere even when it’s used ironically. If that makes no sense you clearly need to watch more Community. 8/10

Total: 31

5. Bob’s Burgers

Feel-good factor: Bob’s Burgers is the antidote to the referential, self-reverential claptrap peddled by Seth MacFarlane, and one of the few shows on this list that is as caustic as it is comforting. It’s a frank depiction of anxieties economic and familial that’s also tender and reassuringly familiar. 8/10

Likeable lead: Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) is a symbol of these trying times, frequently exasperated by his business and his family. He wants to do the right thing, but isn’t always sure how best to get there – and keeps trying when life persists on getting in the way (which happens about 25 times per episode). 7/10

Secret MVP(s): It would be easy to give this to Linda (John Roberts)’s boundless optimism, and the way she’s written to be a real person, instead of just a wife or mother – or the eternal conflict between Louise (Kristin Schaal)’s almost-homicidal insanity and her desire to be loved. But it’s got to go to Tina (Dan Mintz), a deadly serious and achingly funny personification of burgeoning teenage sexuality, quietly reminding us of those times when feelings or events or people can swell to occupy the entirety of a life. 9/10

Hugging and learning: Its characters don’t grow so much as they realise (even Louise, on occasion) that they did, actually, care about each other all along, under the squabbling and bickering. The gift Bob’s Burgers gives is the certainty that dysfunction and happiness are not mutually exclusive. 7/10

Total: 32

4. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Feel-good factor: Setting a comedy in a police precinct sounds like a recipe for disaster in this climate, but Brooklyn Nine Nine’s success is testament to the show’s overabundance of heart. It is immediately obvious diversity isn’t just a victory for representation, it’s an aggregation of some of the finest comic actors around. 8/10

Likeable lead: Andy Samberg makes being irritating into an art form, and his Detective Jake Peralta is no different. He basically gets bonus points for somehow being magically married to Joanna Newsom in real life. 6/10

Secret MVP(s): Another tremendous ensemble here, with the likes of Terry Crews and Andrew Braugher in roles that play with and against type. But Chelsea Peretti’s Gina rules them all; she’s a hurricane of withering sarcasm and life choices that are as deeply questionable as they are deeply embraced. 9/10

Hugging and learning: Det. Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz) is basically a how-to class in character arcs; by Season 4, she’s as spiky as ever, but has learned to open up without losing any of her sharp edges. But the most satisfying relationship on television right now is that between Det. Jake Peralta and Andre Braugher’s Captain Raymond Holt – the former learning to grow up, millimeter by millimeter, and the latter becoming steadily addicted to nonsense. Hearing Braugher’s velvet sledgehammer of a baritone intone utterly asinine dialogue is an almost tangible pleasure. 9/10

Total: 32

3. Scrubs

Feel-good factor: Scrubs is a medical sitcom, sure, but there are few shows that have so resolutely committed to the internal fantasies we all have but seldom admit. It’s as sweet as it is silly, except when it’s breaking your heart into a thousand pieces. Later in its lifetime, the show also developed a penchant for mocking its delightfully sappy excesses while still leaning hard into them – and oh, that soundtrack. 9/10

Likeable lead: John Dorian (Zach Braff, yes, I know) comes across as another cocky white dude, but Scrubs very quickly realised the character’s dorkiness was his defining trait. JD wasn’t just a character who drank appletinis and sang Toto in the bathtub, he was a character that absolutely loved doing those things. 7/10

Secret MVP(s): There used to be blogs devoted to Scrubs’ sprawling list of rotating doctors, interns and patients, but there are a few people who deserve shout-outs. Turk (Donald Faison) and Carla (Judy Reyes) have a relationship that is as strong as it is true; Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins) is an eternally underrated blend of evil and humanity; and Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) is beautiful when he’s angry. But the Janitor (Neil Flynn) is best of all. His capacity for ad-libbing was so legendary that by the time the series ended, scripts would include the instruction “Whatever Neil says” in lieu of dialogue. 9.5/10

Hugging and learning: It’s a medical show, so there’s death and trauma to deal with; but Scrubs also never shied away from the loneliness that is often the flipside of romance. You laughed with its characters, and you ached when they ached. 8/10

Total: 33.5

2. Friday Night Lights

Feel-good factor: FNL isn’t really a show about football; the gridiron is just a vector for all manner of gloriously soapy goodness. It’s about honour and sacrifice and loyalty, but above all it’s about family. And if that’s not enough, the last two seasons have the main characters starting from scratch, working their way back to the top. Just don’t mention the gas leak in season two. 9/10

Likeable lead: Coach Eric Taylor is a father figure and a sex symbol to many, many people. He’s gruff, but caring; stern, but flexible; you’d rather die than disappoint him, and that’s just as a viewer. Watching him mould teams into heroes, win or lose, is like getting an arm around your shoulders when you need it most. 8/10

Secret MVP: Tami Taylor, hands down. Connie Britton imbues the character with strength and dignity and a complete inability to put up with any bullshit. She’s the “clear eyes” part of the show’s famous chant. Best of all, FNL makes no bones about the fact that she’s the one holding everyone together. 9/10

Hugging and learning: FNL put a premium on winning on the field, but spent a lot of time off it too. The early seasons star Scott Porter as Jason Street, a quarterback who is injured in the very first episode; he never walks again, but his story is never given short shrift. But the show’s best moment came in its finale, when Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) and Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki) realise that what they have in front of them is more valuable than any dreams that have been dashed over their turbulent lives. Texas forever, indeed. 8/10

Total: 34

1. Parks & Recreation

Feel-good factor: For seven glorious seasons, Parks & Rec was the televisual equivalent of a warm hug. Its cast felt like people you could trust, and who you wanted to hang out with in real life. It is the sort of show you can watch over and over. It’s sweet, sure, but also wholesome and nutritious. 9/10

Likeable lead: Leslie Knope is principled, committed, and has a deep and abiding love for her work. She’s also so thoughtful she just might smother you with kindness. But the best thing about the character is how she transcended the show’s mockumentary roots. In Amy Poehler’s memoir Yes Please, Parks & Rec creator Michael Shur explains that while various actors on the show looked at the camera as a means of providing some insight into their inner thoughts, Poehler “just kind of stopped”.

“I realised,” he wrote, “that Leslie had evolved into a character for whom there was no difference in her private and public thoughts, motives, or feelings. Amy had made her into a completely consistent, heart-on-her-sleeve character who was not embarrassed or ashamed by anything she ever said or did in any scenario.”

We should all be taking some damn notes. 10/10

Secret MVP(s): The entire cast, to be honest – this show is stacked. Quite apart from the instantly iconic names of Ron Swanson, Tom Haverford, April Ludgate and Andy Dwyer, Parks & Rec grew a Simpsons-esque supporting cast of memorable and frequently batty characters. But a special shoutout has to go to Retta’s Donna Meagle, who gives the impression of deigning to drop in on the show while also having a fully developed life outside of it. She’s Regal Meagle for a reason. 10/10

Hugging and learning: It’s the whole point of the show, to be fair. In the absolute gift of a final season, every single character flows to a conclusion (or a beginning!) like tributaries into a larger body of water – smooth and sure and certain, the way it was always meant to be. Some move up, some move away, others move on, but in each instance it’s to a place or a job or a person they’ve been working towards their whole lives – or at least since they came into the world of Leslie Knope. 9/10

Total: 38

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Hari Raj has worked as a journalist and editor in Malaysia, China, and Australia. He tweets about pop-culture ephemera at @jarirah.