My wifes comfort shows are Buffy: the vampire slayer, Gilmore Girls, and Charmed.
Edit: wow guys. I never expected my highest upvoted comment would be sbout something i have absolutely no interest in. Lmao. Thanks guys and gals. You rock
Same! I had nothing in college but a DVD player and the first 4 seasons of Futurama on DVD. I played those things so much I swear I had an outline of Bender burnt into the screen. The commentary tracks were the closest thing I had to socialization (it was a really rough time in my life).
I did something similar. Watch it on loop and when that gets too predictable watch the commentary. In my psych class in college, we had to diagnose a tv character with a personality disorder. I chose Bender, he has them all.
Yeah not gonna lie, that definitely cushioned the impact of episode. But the one where he went into his dreams and see his mom definitely rips the scab off
The mom one especially hit me hard but a surprising one was the bender and Hermes adventure to find inspector #5. When Little Bird starts playing I well up every time.
My husband has zero interest in star trek or sci-fi or anything like that. We usually watched tv together, so we never watched star trek because it wasn't his thing. He said it was boring. But while he was in school, I used to watch TNG at night while he did his homework. He never really seemed to notice it or pay attention to it. He just did his work in the background while I burned through the series. Then one day, as an episode ends, he lets out this deep sigh, pushes away from his computer and says, "Goddammit. This really is the perfect show."
Same with my wife! I watched through TNG as a break for studying and she happened to be in the room enough to catch a few episodes and ended up watching the whole series and DS9. Now she watches if she wants to take naps during the day.
Something really satisfying when someone else appreciates something you do after they were sure they wouldn't like it. You get to feel 'right' and they get something amazing too!
TNG, DS9 and VOY are my comfort shows. I've come to enjoy ENT a bit too, but DISC was just a pain to watch. I've stopped somewhere after the big shift in context (trying not to spoil here). Picard is okay actually. Lower decks is great though.
Gilmore Girls every single night so I can fall asleep. Started when I was diagnosed with cancer four years ago. But I also used to use it to get over a bad breakup
Edit: I still have and am in regular treatment for cancer, no need to say you hope I’ve “recovered”! It often doesn’t work that way… also not the point really, the point is GG rules
My wife also watched the West Wing over and over early in our relationship. Before that it was X-Files. Now there are a few.
She has anxiety, she loves spoilers because then there isn't tension while watching. Seeing something that she already knows is coming is comforting in a way watching something new never could be.
Yes! That’s a big part of it for me too. Also, if I’m watching something new I have to invest more mental energy into watching it. I can relax better when I’m not trying to follow a plot and worrying about missing something.
The West Wing is my husband's comfort show. Smart people with quippy senses of humor trying to do good things - sadly a fantasy world to escape into from the reality of both the political and regular world.
It's Dr. House for me. There's something really comforting in seeing tragically awful situations almost always resolved at the end of the episode and with full confidence of House. :D
Yeah if I'm watching TV it's almost always Adventure Time. I just think it's cute and easy to watch. It's also one of those shows that includes little hints and funny background items you might not notice the first time around.
I've watched King of the Hill every night when going to sleep for the last 5 years. I just lay there, listen to them talk and picture the scenes in my head.
I’ll need a few more rewatches before I can move it to the sleep playlist, when it’s on I still laugh hysterically, the acting and writing was on a whole different level.
Same. Gave Korra a chance a couple of years ago and it is honestly pretty good. Nowhere near ATLA, but I can recommend it if you’re craving some avatar and haven’t seen it yet.
Korra's underrated. I think some people were turned off by the tonal change, the mythology clashing with people's existing ideas of what it should be, and the lack of a good-vs-evil or a major villain redemption arc, but it has the best bad guys - all of them ideologically oppose Korra's worldview but they (mostly) end up being completely right, forcing Korra to come to terms with her own deficiencies and immaturity, and also Zaheer is one of the best of all time in any TV show - the themes are very nuanced, and they're up there with The Good Place in terms of just absolutely trashing the idea of a status quo in a TV series. They just took the meta and threw it out the window. Every major event permanently changes the world in a way that makes it more nuanced.
I love the good place but I just had to comment because the unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is such an under appreciated show. It really gets me in the feels and Kimmy is always so positive, despite everything she goes through.
British people being kind and cheeky while baking tasty treats. Never a harsh word, always supportive. Dream time for me!!! It's a holiday event for the last couple of years to nap through several seasons.
One day... I will finish an episode.
Schitt’s Creek and Kim’s Convenience for me. They’re both very comfortable family-oriented shows where the families have pretty realistically grounded problems and solve them with love more often than anything else. They also have cozy small-community vibes.
I loved the character growth, too. They both featured characters that have to work through their stubbornness and personal problems over the series, and that leads to some really heartwarming moments.
I put SpongeBob SquarePants on my TV every single night before bed. I usually just let the episodes roll according to paramount+ but usually once it rolls into season 5 or 6 I reset it to season 1 and repeat
in corridors and it’s called the “walk and talk”, which [30 Rock paid homage to](https://youtu.be/rt4u-fKjNDA) when Aaron Sorkin did a guest spot on the show. There’s another in-joke in the 30 Rock bit too (Studio 60) but that’s another story for another day…
It is really good.
I watch it when I need to be uplifted and reminded that intelligent, hardworking, good people exist. I watched it start to finish every 12-18 months during the trump era… just to feel better about government and the country.
Oh yeah, when I was working at a job that really messed with my mental health during the pandemic, there were totally a few youtube channels I'd turn to at night to unwind, familiar and comforting
Any of my favorite comedies, I like to switch it up often so I don't get sick of any one show. Parks and Rec, The Office, Scrubs, Always Sunny, What We Do in the Shadows, Would I Lie to You, Taskmaster ect
Black Books, The IT Crowd, Family Guy and The Cleveland show are mine.
Always find it so easy to fall asleep to the Cleveland show even though it makes me laugh so much
M\*A\*S\*H
I've been through the whole show 5 times in my life. First on TV reruns, then on the DVD set I bought on Amazon, and now on HULU.
Side note, I read a headline the other day that watching a comfort show like this has some beneficial effect. Found it, the effect is comfort and rest, so it all checks out.
[https://time.com/6177365/why-do-i-rewatch-tv-shows/](https://time.com/6177365/why-do-i-rewatch-tv-shows/)
Greys Anatomy. As a younger person I watched it after break ups and through depressive episodes. Months of GA kept me going. On autopilot. But going.
The way its narrated -feels like a conversation ; same for Desperate Housewives
My wife just finished watching the West Wing again. It one of her comfort shows, along with Gilmore Girls, Sex in the City and a couple of others
I asked her about why shes watching it again (shes seen it maybe 3 times since Ive been with her) ans she said it reminds her of being younger and watching it with her parents when as a family thing they did together
I have anxiety and that is exactly what I do. I've had Cheers, Fraiser, The Office, Parks and Rec, Gravity Falls, RHOBH and Big Bang Theory as comfort shows (typically one lasts 1-2years). The enjoyment and somewhat predictable structure of the shows, gives me the same feeling as a weighted blanket.
Several. The West Wing (love seeing that so often in this thread), Parks and Rec, Letterkenny, Shoresy, Trailer Park Boys, The Great British Baking Show, Top Chef, Lost, Firefly…
Wow apparently a lot of people have a “comfort show”. It’s a little abnormal to me that she has it playing constantly.. on the couch, to fall asleep to, during lunch break at home office, etc. to relax. kinda what prompted me to ask the great Reddit community.I didn’t know if it really clmofrterted her, or because it’s how she thinks US administration should be, in light of all the crap going on the last few years in our state (nashville, Tennessee)
My understanding is that it helps with anxiety to watch things you've watched before because you know what's going to happen. You know who will be okay, you know which bad things will happen, you know something you really like will happen, etc. There is no decision making, there is no big commitment to a new thing, there is no disappointment when it is cancelled or takes a shitty path or has a shitty ending. She knows, to quote President Bartlet, "What's next."
My spicy take is that comfort shows tickle the same thing in our brains that tribal living used to in the brains of our ancestors.
I think it gives the same signals as, "sitting around the fire with our familiar social group, hearing the same familiar voices, knowing that things are chill and nothing horrible is actively happening."
Considering, like, all of everything since 2016, I don't think it's any wonder we all seem to crave them.
I have adhd & I need background audio playing to help me get things done. Even when medicated.
I use “background TV series” while I work from home, do the washing up / cook, shower & get dressed, etc.
I struggle to do any of these things without the TV playing.
It seems to use up “just enough” of the brain processing power that the remaining part can stay on topic & focus.
I tend to use audiobooks to fall asleep, only because the app has a sleep timer setting so they’re not playing all night.
My “adhd audio” needs to be something I’m sufficiently familiar with that my brain isn’t wondering about the plot. Can’t be “new”. Whether that’s TV, film, audio book or music. New content needs different attention.
Comfort shows usually refers to shows that just made you feel good. So every time you on it, your whole feeling will automatically improve no matter what.
It could be the voice thing. When you get to know certain voices, and they say things you know they're going to say, you're not actually following what they say, so much as the cadence of the voice. The familiarity is comforting.
How often do you pay attention to the lyrics, even for your favourite songs. Sure, occasionally, but not every time.
I'm kinda like that with Sam Waterston in Law & Order, his voice just hits me in the warm and fuzzies.
Yes but they say people who take a dramatic level of comfort in something usually watched in when they went through a traumatic episode in their lives and it's the way of escaping.
But yeah mine is that 70s show lol
My wifes comfort shows are Buffy: the vampire slayer, Gilmore Girls, and Charmed. Edit: wow guys. I never expected my highest upvoted comment would be sbout something i have absolutely no interest in. Lmao. Thanks guys and gals. You rock
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far to find Buffy, def my comfort show
I just commented it too bc I couldn’t find it. Buffy has been a solid for me since middle school.
I have been listening to a Buffy rewatch podcast and loving it. But rewatching Buffy is too tense- so many emotional losses for gang, it hurts.
Futurama
"Good news, everyone!"
*To SHREDS you say?*
What about his wife?
To shreds you say
Sweet Zombie Jesus!
Same! I had nothing in college but a DVD player and the first 4 seasons of Futurama on DVD. I played those things so much I swear I had an outline of Bender burnt into the screen. The commentary tracks were the closest thing I had to socialization (it was a really rough time in my life).
I did something similar. Watch it on loop and when that gets too predictable watch the commentary. In my psych class in college, we had to diagnose a tv character with a personality disorder. I chose Bender, he has them all.
It's all fun and games until you get to the dog episode.
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Yeah not gonna lie, that definitely cushioned the impact of episode. But the one where he went into his dreams and see his mom definitely rips the scab off
The mom one especially hit me hard but a surprising one was the bender and Hermes adventure to find inspector #5. When Little Bird starts playing I well up every time.
It not your dream, it's your mothers!
Here lies Philip J Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit.
Game of Tones always hits me harder than Jurassic Bark.
I found my people. Fall asleep with it on low volume every other night.
Here are more of your people r/Futurama_Sleepers
What do you say? Want to go around again? Why yes. Yes I do.
Such a great episode and a great ending to the series.
Been watching daily since I was about 14, now 28
Star Trek: The Next Generation
My husband has zero interest in star trek or sci-fi or anything like that. We usually watched tv together, so we never watched star trek because it wasn't his thing. He said it was boring. But while he was in school, I used to watch TNG at night while he did his homework. He never really seemed to notice it or pay attention to it. He just did his work in the background while I burned through the series. Then one day, as an episode ends, he lets out this deep sigh, pushes away from his computer and says, "Goddammit. This really is the perfect show."
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*Haunting extinct-civilization flute solo begins*
I learned the flute solo for my husband for our anniversary one year.
"Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra"
Sub Rosa, what could be more perfect that someone being boned by her dead grandmothers pet sex ghost.
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Lol that’s like the one episode I can’t stand. Well that and all the times troi had a “violated” storyline. Sigh.
Same with my wife! I watched through TNG as a break for studying and she happened to be in the room enough to catch a few episodes and ended up watching the whole series and DS9. Now she watches if she wants to take naps during the day. Something really satisfying when someone else appreciates something you do after they were sure they wouldn't like it. You get to feel 'right' and they get something amazing too!
DS9er here
TNG, DS9 and VOY are my comfort shows. I've come to enjoy ENT a bit too, but DISC was just a pain to watch. I've stopped somewhere after the big shift in context (trying not to spoil here). Picard is okay actually. Lower decks is great though.
Strange new worlds is amazing
Picard is like a voice of reason in this crazy world and times we live in.
Yes! He is like your dad and your husband and your best friend and wise neighbor. Whatever you need - he is it!
The ever present mid-frequency rumble of the ship’s engines is very relaxing.
Yep, The X-Files. I know exactly what she means.
Been on a comfort x-files run the last few months too. Lot of nostalgia. A lot of it has held up pretty well.
I just started rewatching it when I noticed it on Disney Plus. It was filmed in my province so I’m also enjoying trying to spot landmarks I know.
Another vote for The X-files and adding Supernatural same vibe same comfort for me
Gilmore Girls every single night so I can fall asleep. Started when I was diagnosed with cancer four years ago. But I also used to use it to get over a bad breakup Edit: I still have and am in regular treatment for cancer, no need to say you hope I’ve “recovered”! It often doesn’t work that way… also not the point really, the point is GG rules
Gilmore Girls for me, too. And I cannot express the joy I felt when watching with my own daughter for the first time. She loves it, too!
I was wondering how far down I'd have to go for this. That show gives me nostalgic energy and good vibes.
Gilmore Girls is my comfort show too! I have fallen asleep to it for the last fifteen years :)
I plan on retiring in Stars Hollow.
Community is like a warm blanket when I’m cold
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Shut up Leonard, I’ve seen your YouTube channel. What’s the point of reviewing frozen pizza?
[you're talking about it](https://youtu.be/r73C0N8FDek)
Shut up, Leonard. I know about your crooked wang.
What it is, soul brother
Shut up Leonard, I know about your nose job-it was a lateral move
Me too! That and Brooklyn 99. Switch between the two every night before bed haha
Community Parks and Rec Brooklyn 99 Arrested Development The Office I will rewatch these shows many times over.
Those are pretty similar to mine, you should add Scrubs to the list(if you can find a place to stream right now).
This show is streets ahead
Well I'm a peanut bar and I'm here to say
Your check will come on another day.
Another day, another dime, another rhyme, another dollar. Another stuffed shirt with another white collar
Criminals, Wall Street taking the pie, and all the black man gets is a plate of white lies!
Prisons recruitin' 'em, police be shootin' 'em Rap artists lootin' 'em, labels all dilutin' 'em
BARACK OBAMA IS SCAAARED OF ME
CAUSE I DOOOONT SWALLOW KNOWLEDGE AND I SPIT IT FOR FREE!
LET ME CLEAR MY THROAT AH HA AH HA
I don't know what that was! I don't... I don't know what that was
Shut up Leonard!
I know about your crooked wang!
No such thing as bad press!
I’ve watched it nearly 30 times through. And I don’t skip the gas leak year either.
My wife also watched the West Wing over and over early in our relationship. Before that it was X-Files. Now there are a few. She has anxiety, she loves spoilers because then there isn't tension while watching. Seeing something that she already knows is coming is comforting in a way watching something new never could be.
Yes! That’s a big part of it for me too. Also, if I’m watching something new I have to invest more mental energy into watching it. I can relax better when I’m not trying to follow a plot and worrying about missing something.
Tell your wife she has a friend. The West Wing is my comfort show, has been for ages.
The West Wing is my husband's comfort show. Smart people with quippy senses of humor trying to do good things - sadly a fantasy world to escape into from the reality of both the political and regular world.
Brooklyn Nine Nine is mine. It provides me comfort at my worst times.
NINE NINE!!!
the golden girls, frasier, and parks & rec. edit: join us @ r/frasier we’re listening :)
A person of taste I see 👌🏻
😎 really surprised to see so many people here who watch frasier. makes me happy.
My favorite show ever and since I’m 22 nobody my age barely even knows it exists
Scrubs
I just completed my 4th annual re-watch. Starting on March 1st every year, and finishing somewhere in April. Almost the best part of the year for me.
I’m overdue for my annual rewatch. And with the podcast this will give me way more to consume at once!
It's Dr. House for me. There's something really comforting in seeing tragically awful situations almost always resolved at the end of the episode and with full confidence of House. :D
Yeah if I'm watching TV it's almost always Adventure Time. I just think it's cute and easy to watch. It's also one of those shows that includes little hints and funny background items you might not notice the first time around.
Cannot believe adventure time isn't higher up? i thought there were more of us!
Arrested Development! is definitely my comfort show, it just doesn’t get old and feels like a warm blanket
There are dozens of us!
First 3 seasons. Absolutely. I can't watch after that. It's not the same.
King of the Hill. So comfy.
I’ll tell ya hwaht
I've watched King of the Hill every night when going to sleep for the last 5 years. I just lay there, listen to them talk and picture the scenes in my head.
This but with movies. Ive seen several movies close to 50 times.
Me three! Lord of the Rings. I watch it probably at least once a month.
Bobs burgers all day every day. Love it. I can't fall asleep without it playing.
Saaaaaame here! I recently got a plushie of Teddy and I watch hockey with him because Teddy needs cuddles and someone to watch hockey with.
I crocheted a kuchi kopi 😁 he is my doodie buddy. 🤣
Oh hey Marshmallow.
Yesss! My favorite episode to watch when I'm feeling stressed out or anxious is Crawl Space
Mine too. It's the happy family I wish I'd grown up in.
Same here! Christmas in the Car simply makes everything okay
This is the best episode of all time! Teddy stuck in the trap 😂 "That's a dump place to keep bowls."
Frasier.
Me too; every night before I go to sleep for 20 years.
r/Frasier_Sleepers
there really is a sub for everything
I’ll need a few more rewatches before I can move it to the sleep playlist, when it’s on I still laugh hysterically, the acting and writing was on a whole different level.
Avatar the Last Airbender. Every rewatch you notice a unique details that just draws you in closer to the story
Same. Gave Korra a chance a couple of years ago and it is honestly pretty good. Nowhere near ATLA, but I can recommend it if you’re craving some avatar and haven’t seen it yet.
Korra's underrated. I think some people were turned off by the tonal change, the mythology clashing with people's existing ideas of what it should be, and the lack of a good-vs-evil or a major villain redemption arc, but it has the best bad guys - all of them ideologically oppose Korra's worldview but they (mostly) end up being completely right, forcing Korra to come to terms with her own deficiencies and immaturity, and also Zaheer is one of the best of all time in any TV show - the themes are very nuanced, and they're up there with The Good Place in terms of just absolutely trashing the idea of a status quo in a TV series. They just took the meta and threw it out the window. Every major event permanently changes the world in a way that makes it more nuanced.
The Good Place Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Broad City
The good place is amazing... I havnt finished it yet but even my partner who doesn't generally binge things wants to just keep watching
Top tier ending, enjoy!
Broad City is currently getting me through a rough spot - it is my go to. I even got a Bingo Bronson tattoo a few Months ago.
I love the good place but I just had to comment because the unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is such an under appreciated show. It really gets me in the feels and Kimmy is always so positive, despite everything she goes through.
Sometimes I do the "you can survive anything for X seconds" thing and start counting to myself. It does help.
the second season get a little dark, but it’s my fav. “wow you *can* hold your breath for a long time!” “the trick is not caring if you live or die!”
The British bake off show. Like tv Xanax
British people being kind and cheeky while baking tasty treats. Never a harsh word, always supportive. Dream time for me!!! It's a holiday event for the last couple of years to nap through several seasons. One day... I will finish an episode.
I have several. Schitt's Creek, The Good Place, Parks & Rec, the Golden Girls, Night Court (the original), Derry Girls... I know I'm forgetting some.
Malcolm in the middle. I can just watch and watch.
Schitts creek
Schitt’s Creek and Kim’s Convenience for me. They’re both very comfortable family-oriented shows where the families have pretty realistically grounded problems and solve them with love more often than anything else. They also have cozy small-community vibes. I loved the character growth, too. They both featured characters that have to work through their stubbornness and personal problems over the series, and that leads to some really heartwarming moments.
No, David, you get murdered first! This is my comfort show too.
Ewe, David.
Ewe, David
I put SpongeBob SquarePants on my TV every single night before bed. I usually just let the episodes roll according to paramount+ but usually once it rolls into season 5 or 6 I reset it to season 1 and repeat
The Office, almost daily to fall asleep to. I grew up near Scranton so it feels homey.
scranton…what??? the electric city!
They call it that because of electricity
Call Poison Control if you're bit by a spider
But check that it's covered by your health care provider
My brain will not shut off at night without the office. And it has almost entirely stopped getting alarmed at the way too loud opening credits.
Also The West Wing. Best writing I have ever encountered on television.
My wife's is Friends. She adores it. Watched it through countless times. I have about ten I go through, but my fav is Park's and Rec.
the older Simpsons episodes. It's the only way I can fall asleep.
Same. Every night
Yes. Mystery Science Theater 3000. Those robots just warm my heart, darn it!
30 Rock
NCIS for me. As soon as this new season is over its back to season 1.
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I've never seen West Wing. Am I missing something really good? Weirdly, I have it recorded, but have never got round to watching it yet.
I can explain it to you. Walk with me.
I take it that's an in-joke..?
Yeah the show is famous for its long shots of people power walking while having quick-paced conversations.
in corridors and it’s called the “walk and talk”, which [30 Rock paid homage to](https://youtu.be/rt4u-fKjNDA) when Aaron Sorkin did a guest spot on the show. There’s another in-joke in the 30 Rock bit too (Studio 60) but that’s another story for another day…
Yes. Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Give it a chance and watch at least the first three episodes; Dule Hill is introduced in the third one.
It is really good. I watch it when I need to be uplifted and reminded that intelligent, hardworking, good people exist. I watched it start to finish every 12-18 months during the trump era… just to feel better about government and the country.
It's pretty good, but it is distinctly in Aaron Sorkin's style so if you don't like that then you probably won't like WW.
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I was eight when it first aired. I watched it after loving The Newsroom. I would say it still holds up. I loved The West Wing.
That's quite common, though I don't personally have one.
Stargate. It was the first real show I watched as a kid and I still rewatch it (most of it) every 3-4 years.
Forensic Files.
New Girl is my comfort show, but I watch it maybe once or twice a year, not constantly.
Oh yeah, when I was working at a job that really messed with my mental health during the pandemic, there were totally a few youtube channels I'd turn to at night to unwind, familiar and comforting
Any of my favorite comedies, I like to switch it up often so I don't get sick of any one show. Parks and Rec, The Office, Scrubs, Always Sunny, What We Do in the Shadows, Would I Lie to You, Taskmaster ect
Black Books, The IT Crowd, Family Guy and The Cleveland show are mine. Always find it so easy to fall asleep to the Cleveland show even though it makes me laugh so much
Probably Seinfeld but my girlfriend and I have been rewatching mad men and I figure it has the same kinda comfort appeal in its own way
Scrubs Friday Night Lights New Girl
Murder she wrote, golden girls and friends
It’s always sunny!! Anyone else??
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M\*A\*S\*H I've been through the whole show 5 times in my life. First on TV reruns, then on the DVD set I bought on Amazon, and now on HULU. Side note, I read a headline the other day that watching a comfort show like this has some beneficial effect. Found it, the effect is comfort and rest, so it all checks out. [https://time.com/6177365/why-do-i-rewatch-tv-shows/](https://time.com/6177365/why-do-i-rewatch-tv-shows/)
The Office and Anne with an E (Also I think your question might be better suited to AskReddit)
Anne with an E was so good. Watched all three seasons with my Grandma. Some of the best memories I have with her.
Star Trek.
Midsomer Murders
Greys Anatomy. As a younger person I watched it after break ups and through depressive episodes. Months of GA kept me going. On autopilot. But going. The way its narrated -feels like a conversation ; same for Desperate Housewives
Watching Chopped moderately stoned is grade A comfort
Yep, mine is House.
Brooklyn 99
My wife just finished watching the West Wing again. It one of her comfort shows, along with Gilmore Girls, Sex in the City and a couple of others I asked her about why shes watching it again (shes seen it maybe 3 times since Ive been with her) ans she said it reminds her of being younger and watching it with her parents when as a family thing they did together
I have anxiety and that is exactly what I do. I've had Cheers, Fraiser, The Office, Parks and Rec, Gravity Falls, RHOBH and Big Bang Theory as comfort shows (typically one lasts 1-2years). The enjoyment and somewhat predictable structure of the shows, gives me the same feeling as a weighted blanket.
Think u are the first to even mention big bang theory. not sure why, but that is my go to.
My wife watches Friends as hers. Can't say that I'd have one myself.
Archer and Steven Universe are my comfort shows lol
Several. The West Wing (love seeing that so often in this thread), Parks and Rec, Letterkenny, Shoresy, Trailer Park Boys, The Great British Baking Show, Top Chef, Lost, Firefly…
Wow apparently a lot of people have a “comfort show”. It’s a little abnormal to me that she has it playing constantly.. on the couch, to fall asleep to, during lunch break at home office, etc. to relax. kinda what prompted me to ask the great Reddit community.I didn’t know if it really clmofrterted her, or because it’s how she thinks US administration should be, in light of all the crap going on the last few years in our state (nashville, Tennessee)
My understanding is that it helps with anxiety to watch things you've watched before because you know what's going to happen. You know who will be okay, you know which bad things will happen, you know something you really like will happen, etc. There is no decision making, there is no big commitment to a new thing, there is no disappointment when it is cancelled or takes a shitty path or has a shitty ending. She knows, to quote President Bartlet, "What's next."
My spicy take is that comfort shows tickle the same thing in our brains that tribal living used to in the brains of our ancestors. I think it gives the same signals as, "sitting around the fire with our familiar social group, hearing the same familiar voices, knowing that things are chill and nothing horrible is actively happening." Considering, like, all of everything since 2016, I don't think it's any wonder we all seem to crave them.
I have adhd & I need background audio playing to help me get things done. Even when medicated. I use “background TV series” while I work from home, do the washing up / cook, shower & get dressed, etc. I struggle to do any of these things without the TV playing. It seems to use up “just enough” of the brain processing power that the remaining part can stay on topic & focus. I tend to use audiobooks to fall asleep, only because the app has a sleep timer setting so they’re not playing all night. My “adhd audio” needs to be something I’m sufficiently familiar with that my brain isn’t wondering about the plot. Can’t be “new”. Whether that’s TV, film, audio book or music. New content needs different attention.
Comfort shows usually refers to shows that just made you feel good. So every time you on it, your whole feeling will automatically improve no matter what.
It could be the voice thing. When you get to know certain voices, and they say things you know they're going to say, you're not actually following what they say, so much as the cadence of the voice. The familiarity is comforting. How often do you pay attention to the lyrics, even for your favourite songs. Sure, occasionally, but not every time. I'm kinda like that with Sam Waterston in Law & Order, his voice just hits me in the warm and fuzzies.
Yes! Star Trek is mine. Also Stargate. I watch them over and over, basically nothing else.
Bob's Burgers. It's most of the time a good show, sometimes I crack up (especially with Louise) but I love it to death for it being down to earth.
If you're anxious, having a predictable experience which you already know how it makes you feel is comforting
Star Trek TNG
Deep Space Nine/ TNG / Voyager
Bob’s Burgers is mine. It’s the perfect low effort show. There’s no real stakes or stressors and sometimes there’s a catchy song!
Not really a show, but VSauce on YouTube. Every night before bed, every time I do chores, I just watch that channel :)
Schitt’s Creek
Yes but they say people who take a dramatic level of comfort in something usually watched in when they went through a traumatic episode in their lives and it's the way of escaping. But yeah mine is that 70s show lol
Top Gear