Here Are The Most Wholesome, Uplifting TV Shows To Watch Right Now
The world is on fire, so here's some TV that will help a bit.
The television shows of 2019 so far have been a hoot … NOT. We all need a bit of wholesome TV to balance it out.
We’ve seen people slowly die of radiation poisoning on Chernobyl; the extreme injustices of the American legal system are featured in When They See Us; and the teens on Euphoria are so edgy they’d get confiscated by security at an airport. Someone is due to be sawn in half on The Handmaid’s Tale any day now.
There’s a lot of misery on the tube.
We’ve had to implement a rule at our house where we use the lighter shows as a chaser to the most depressing series: like when you take a mint after syphoning petrol out of a car with a rubber tube (we’re practising for the apocalypse).
Oh, and the planet is on fire, too. Sheezus!
Time to insulate ourselves in the comfort of TV shows that don’t remind us that the doomsday clock it close to midnight (please recycle, though).
We’ve had to set some boundaries so this doesn’t turn into another essay about The Golden Girls but here’s one we prepared earlier. Here’s a selection of new(ish) TV shows from the past decade to give you a feeling of … what’s that word? Oh man, it has been ages.
Dope … rope … oh yeah: hope.
1. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
The Schurniverse is full of optimistic series like Parks and Recreation and The Good Place (they are dead, though, sad face), but the police of the mighty Nine-Nine restore our faith in cops and the power of workplace friendships.
The series is so positive it survived cancellation thanks to its chipper fans.
2. A Moody Christmas
Each year, Dan Moody (Ian Meadows) returns home from London to spend Christmas with his family.
Set over 6 years, we check in with the Moodys each Christmas day for backyard cricket, boofhead brothers (Patrick Brammall) and neighbourhood politics. If you like this one there’s a follow-up series called The Moodys.
3. The Marvellous Mrs Maisel
From the fast-talking mind of Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls, Bunheads) comes the tale of Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), a housewife who discovers she’s great at stand-up comedy. Midge’s journey from a breakdown to the big time is pure joy and the series is lush with beautiful period costumes and a colourful 1950s New York City.
4. The Great British Bake Off
The soothing, polite, delightful antidote to these troubled times.
Put the kettle on, pick a season and peek inside the tent. Amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds under the eye of judges, but most of the competitive reality TV bullshit is absent from this series.
5. Big Mouth
Puberty is a horrible time for everyone so it’s a relief to look back and laugh with Big Mouth.
The animated series, created by Nick Kroll (Kroll Show, The League), focuses on teenagers who get a visit from hormone monsters (voiced by Kroll and Maya Rudolph) who provide chaotic advice during a confusing time.
6. Danger 5
A team of international spies try to kill Hitler in this absurd Australian series where there are Nazi dinosaurs, time travel and robot super soldiers.
Think Team America meets Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. Insane, pulpy fun worth a sensible chuckle or two.
7. Fresh Off The Boat
Set in 1995 — when Shaq was all the rage — Fresh Off the Boat follows the Huangs, a Taiwanese-American family who move from Washington DC to Orlando, Florida, to set up a cowboy-themed streak restaurant. Cultures collide in pursuit of the ‘American dream’ but there’s a sweet coming-of-age story amongst all the gags about life in the 90s.
8. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
The dream of 30 Rock is alive, sort of, in Tina Fey’s Netflix series.
The premise is dark, for sure, with Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper) adjusting to life in New York City after spending most of her life as a member of a doomsday cult. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has a similar joke hit rate to 30 Rock and Titus Andromedon (Tituss Burgess) straight up steals the show.
9. Key and Peele
American sketch comedy can be patchy (see: the entire history of Saturday Night Live) but the one that’s consistently great is Key and Peele. The series effortlessly moves from absurd characters to genius riffs on pop culture using genre elements.
10. Bob’s Burgers
I confess to only being new to Bob’s Burgers (it’s been going for 9 seasons) but it’s so wonderfully odd and funny that you can approach it at any time. The show focuses on the Belcher family who run a burger restaurant.
Yes, it’s another animated dysfunctional family show but it’s weird enough to set it apart from the pack.
Cameron Williams is a writer and film critic based in Melbourne who occasionally blabs about movies on ABC radio. He has a slight Twitter addiction: @MrCamW.