There’s nothing worse than getting sick and feeling incapable of doing even the most basic of daily tasks, but if you do succumb to the seasonal flu💞 or other illness, it doesn’t have to be all bad.
One of the best things about being sick has always been curling up on the sofa with a blaꦇnket, pillow, and something comforting on the TV while you doze in and out of the waking world. Even when you feel like death incarnate, it’s a comforting temporary reality. We might not be skipping school anymore, but we all need a little while to check out when we feel poorly.
ꦦIf you want something to watch in the backgroun𝐆d that doesn’t need too much focus but is enough to lift your spirits when you can’t breathe through your nose, here are the best feel-good shows to watch when you’re sick.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has everything. Comedy, a will-they-won’t-they love story for the ages, an initially grumpy mentor, and all the drama you’d expect for a police unit in the middle of New York City. It’s eight seasons of now-beloved moments featuring Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Terry Crews, and a long list of other faces who feel like f🔴riends whe🍸n you’ve finished the show and watched them grow.
Ghosts
You’d expect an infestation of spirits to be scary, but when Alison moves into an inhe𓆉rited house and gets much more than she bargained for, her spiritual companions are less spooky and more irritating. After they try and push her out of a window and she ends up dead for three minutes, suddenly she can communicate 🐎with them and ends up having to help them through their ghostly experiences so that they can ascend to the afterlife.
To be clear, I’m talking about the original British version of Ghosts above because it outweighs the US version for me due to the casting (it’s everyone from Horrible Histories). Alison falls down the stairs in the US version. Both versions are just as good as the other, and it falls to personal preference which one you watch, but the British version is a ಞfull season ahead.
Scrubs
There’s something about Scrubs that mak♉es it infinitely rewatchable (if you discount the final, trainwreck of a season), even if you’ve watched it a thousand times before and have memorized every line. It’s c🅷omforting, and the jokes still hit even when you know exactly what’s coming.
Plus, when you’re sick, who better to have around than a bunch of doctors? It’s probably a good idea to keep some tissues handy, though, because Scrubs manages to hit you right in the feels w🍸hen𝓰 you least expect it.
Parks and Recreation
The 00s brought many comedy masterclass shows, and Parks and Recreation belongs near the top of that list. Set up as a mockumentary, Parks and Recreation follows Leslie Knope and her government career inside the Parks and Recreation department in P𝓰awnee, Indiana. The relationships between her and the other staff are heartwarming, although at times hilarious, and it’s impossible not to love Ron Swanson.
Russian Doll
Russian Doll is the story of Nadia, who somehow ends up reliving the day of her 36th birthday on an infinite loop that always ends in her death. She reawakens repeatedly, lives the same day, loses her mind a little bit, dies, and then does it all again. She eventually meets someone who is also stu🐭ck in a loop, and they try to unravel the mystery of what’s going on. The second series is straight-up time travel, but it’s no less enjoyable than the first.
Cunk On…
Philomena Cunk is the definition of the village idiot, although I mean that in the best way possible, if there is such a thing. The premise of any Cunk On… s🎀how is that this idiot discusses big ideas with scientists and experts but asks them questions that nobody wants to know the answers to. She’s interviewed Brian Cox, she’s explored the history of Britain and the history of the Earth𓂃.
Each series is produced by Charlie Brooker, a genius and likely more well-known for his work on Black Mirror. Cunk On… shows are amazing when you’re𒆙 sick because they make no sense anyway, so falling asleep won’t make you miss anything.
The Inbetweeners
I will openly admit that this is a very British entry, but it’s my go-to show for when I’m feeling down or knocked on my butt by any illness. America did try to remake The Inbetweeners, but the adaptation failed hard, so the original British version rꦆeigns supreme.
It’s a gross and horrifyingly funny insight into the world of teenage boys and everything they get up to, and I guarantee you’ll have known someone in your life who could e෴asily fit into each of the four roles played out.
Bob’s Burgers
We all have that one animated show that keeps us coming back. For many, it’s Family Guy or the Simpsons, but for me, it’s Bob’s Burgers. Whether it’s Linda’s ability to see the good in everything while Bob remains down in his pessimistic slump, the story of Tina and her frankly concerning obsession over Jimmy’s butt, or the♉ underlying oddness that runs through Seymour’s Bay.
Even on the days when I feel at my worst, a single episode of Bob’s Burgers is enough to mak🍰e me feel just a𓃲 little bit better.
Our Flag Means Death
What could go wrong when an aristocrat going through a mid-life crisis decides that he wants to try his hand at being a pirate? Well, just about everything as it happens, but that’s what makes Our Flag Means Death so fun to watch. Well, that and Rhys Darby, who makes eve🎀rything he touches turn to gold (even his role as the Interim Deputy Director of Turalism), and Taika Waititi.
While you’re laid up feeling wretched, you can count on Our Flag Means Death to remind you that l📖ife really isn’t so bad.
What We Do In the Shadows
This is a strange choice for this list, and I’m willing to admit that I might just be a little bit of a weirdo when it comes to my personal choice in comfort shows, but What We Do In the Shadows is one of my favorites, and it never fails to lift my spirits. It’s a mockumentary about the dail🐎y lives of traditional vampires finding their way in the modern world of Staten Island.
The incre🥂dible movie came first in 2014 (directed by Taika Waititi), later rebooted into a series by FX in 2019.
Schmigadoon!
Even if you hate musicals, you’ll find something to enjoy about Schmigadoon. It actively pokes fun at musicals while undoubtedly being one itself (with one of the main characters constantly complaining about the singing, which is entirely understandable), and the🎃 songs themselves are equal parts horrifying and catchy (sex education to the tune of Do-Re-Mi).
So yes, even if you’ve never enjoyed a musical in your life, I promise you’ll enjoy Schmigadoon.
The Office
I have to get something off my chest. As a British person, it’s almost blasphemous to say that the American Office is better than the original UK Office. But it is. Michael Scott is just infinitely more likable than David Brent, and the humor just works in a way that Ricky Gervais never managed to achieve. There, I said it. I’ll let you know if I get ly𝕴nched by the gre🍌at British public.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know what The Office is. It’s a Mockumentary following the staff at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight, and the rest of the team are so familiar to people now that they’ve essentially become real people, and rewatching The Office feels like spending time with friends, which🌼 is always comforting.
Friends
Even if you were born after the last episode aired (2004, as a reminder to those who were around at the time), I can guarantee that you’ve seen at least one clip from an episode of Friends. It birthed thousands of memes that still live on in infamy, inclu🌼ding “You’re my lobster” and “We were on a break”.
There’s a hu🎃ge amount of comfort from rewatching the journey that the group went on over 10 seasons, even with the questionable 90s fashion choices 💟on display.
Superstore
A sitcom set in a supermarket doesn’t sound like it would be the most thrilling of watches, but actually, Superstore manages ⛄to be both heartwarming and filled with drama. There are babꩲies nearly born in the aisles, a hurricane that tears through the roof, and even a realistic portrayal of retail life during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Throw in an oftentimes infuriating will-they-won’t-they romance, and Superstore feels comforting whenever you watch it and touches on real-life eꩲvents that we all remember without feeling forced.
The Big Bang Theory
What could be more comforting than a group of science nerds finding their way in the real world? Well, a lot of things, but there’s more to The Big Bang Theory than that basic premise. There are love stories, heartbreak, and♚ an almost🅷 coming-of-age feeling to the show, even though everyone involved is very much of age.
There are countless cameos from infamous nerd superstars like Stephen Hawking, Bill Nye, Leonard Nimoy, and even Stan Lee, and the pop-cul🔴ture references to all things even nerd-adjacent will always leave you smiling.
Published: Feb 27, 2025 01:08 pm