If you are anything like me, these last few weeks will have been a rollercoaster of emotion. On the one hand I am very grateful to be isolating with my family, able to work from home, and to have a garden to work out in when cabin fever strikes. But at the same time if feels like there is a big dark cloud hanging over all of us.
It is scary to be greeted by a rising death toll when you watch the news every night and my heart breaks for the people who’s loved ones are currently hospitalised and fighting this virus.
My heart also goes out to the people whose weddings have been cancelled, whose graduations and end of year celebrations won’t go ahead, whose ‘once in a lifetime trips’ have been put on hold while they fight with insurance companies.
It's ok to take this time to chill
It does feel a bit like our lives have been hijacked, and I understand the outpouring of content across the internet encouraging productivity, and HIIT workouts, and taking up knitting, or whatever else it may be. I get it. It is human nature to strive for structure and purpose in our lives.
But it can also be overwhelming. It is ok if you are not taking this time to learn Spanish. If, instead, you are just needing to hit pause on everything, sit back, and try to relax.
For me, something that has really been cheering me up when the anxiety hits, is rewatching the whole of Community on Amazon Prime. It feels good to take a break from the constant corona content and watch something light-hearted and funny for half an hour.
So, with that in mind, here is a list of my favourite comedy series available to screen this quarantine season.
If you haven’t already seen this show – what have you been doing!? Schitts Creek is the brain child of the brilliant father-son duo, Dan and Eugene Levy (the dad off American Pie).
The painfully rich Rose family suddenly find themselves broke, with their home and belongings repossessed and with no other option than to relocate to the aptly named town of Schitts Creek (which Johnny Rose had bought for his son’s birthday years earlier ‘as a joke’).
The characters are hilarious and endearing, Annie Murphy is just brilliant as Alexis Rose, and the plot is entertaining, light, and with that perfect dash of humanity and vulnerability that shines through in any decent comedy.
There are 5 seasons on Netflix, each with around 13 episodes, so you have plenty to get your teeth into!
Sex Education is, without a doubt, the teen comedy of the day. Far from the subtle whitewashing of previous contenders (the aforementioned American Pie for one), Sex Education is an explosion of diversity in both its cast and topic matter (think everything from masturbation, to anal douching, and asexuality).
The adorable and inexperienced Otis (Asa Butterfield), assisted by the intimidating, yet secretly vulnerable Maive (Emma Mackey), starts a therapy hustle in his school. Having grown up with a sex-therapist mother (executed perfectly by the incredible Gillian Anderson), Otis has absorbed a lot of sex-related knowledge which he doles out to his fellow peers for a cost.
Filmed in the most stunning countryside in Wales, the settings, set design, and costumes are every bit as colourful as the plot. It is a feel-good, funny, and fun-loving series which will have you laughing (and crying) as it addresses the wide-ranging insecurities and dramas of teenage life.
This is an oldie but a goodie. First airing on Channel 4 in 2009, Misfits was one of my favourite shows during high school – alongside Skins and, randomly, True Blood (boxsets of which were swapped feverishly amongst my friendship group).
Misfits tells the tale of a group of teenage delinquents who are caught in a strange electrical hailstorm while doing community service, and subsequently end up with superpowers. If you think it sounds daft, you’re right.
The characters change from season to season but, as far as I remember, there is no Skins-esque decline in quality. Rudi from the later seasons is every bit as comical and infuriatingly loveable as Nathan in the first (though he does lack Nathan’s dreamy blue eyes).
I can’t speak for how it has withstood the test of time as I haven’t watched it since I was about 15, but if I remember correctly it is rude, addictive and totally hilarious.
All seasons available on All4 boxsets.
Community has to be one of the best shows I have seen on television (and not just because it stars the love of my life, Donald Glover).
Big shot, morally corrupt lawyer, Jeff Winger, is forced to enrol in community college to try and recover his job when it is discovered that he faked his degree. On his first day, in an attempt to get with one of the women in his Spanish class, he starts a study group. The plan backfires, of course, and Jeff finds himself surrounded by a rag tag group of misfits all with their own random reasons for ending up in Greendale Community College.
Courses at Greendale include: ‘The History of Ice-cream’, ‘When is it ok to shake a baby?’, ‘Ladders’ and, famously, ‘Nicolas Cage, Good or Bad?’.
Dan Harmon (of Rick and Morty fame) created this inventive series whose cast includes: Chevy Chase, John Oliver, Alison Brie and Ken Jeong, to name just a few.
The show is clever, self-aware, and interspersed with episodes parodying other genres. Examples include: the epic history documentary-esque ‘Blankets and Pillows’ (season 3 episode 14) and ‘Modern Warfare’ (season 1 episode 23). Plot lines are subtly driven by the pop-culture obsessed Abed, expertly played by Danny Pudi and the result is random, ridiculous, and totally brilliant.
All 6 seasons are available on Amazon Prime and coming soon to Netflix (we are still waiting for the movie).
Another contender for the most absurd, yet brilliant show on Netflix is Arrested Development. Michael Bluth, the widowed son of an Orange County real-estate mogul, has no option but to try and keep his family together after his father is imprisoned for dodgy business dealings.
His filthy rich, socialite family have to get used to a new normal and move in to the one asset they still have left: a show home on their latest housing development. Their snazzy cars are replaced by another last reminder of their riches: the stair car for their private jet.
It is bizarre, unbelievable, unpredictable, and totally binge-worthy. The eccentric family gets themselves in all sort of nonsensical antics while the exasperated Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) does a terrible job of holding on to any sense of sanity.
All 5 seasons are available on Netflix but do bear in mind that it does it get a wee bit crap around season 4.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge is my new hero and Fleabag is one of my favourite shows in recent years. Adapted from a one-woman stage show, Waller-Bridge takes us on a journey with Fleabag, the unnamed protagonist who is struggling with potential sex-addiction, and other destructive behaviours in the wake of the loss of her closest friend.
Her regular, conspiratorial breaking of the fourth-wall makes you feel like you’re really ‘in it’ with Fleabag and creates a sense of intimacy with the audience that is unusual for a tv show.
The first season is better than the second, but the second is worth watching for the hot priest alone.
Find it on BBC iPlayer or Amazon Prime.
The early seasons of this show were a firm favourite in my family. Starring the wonderful Tamsin Greig and Simon Bird (Will from the Inbetweeners), the premise of this programme is totally simple. Two young adult brothers return to their family home every Friday night for Shabbat dinner. Invariably, something goes wrong and there is an appearance from their eccentric neighbour Jim.
This show has become something of a cult classic (you will have seen the ‘shalom Jackie’ memes). While the earlier seasons are every bit deserving of their large fan base, I worry that it is following in the footsteps of so many other brilliant series that overstay their welcome on our screens and generally getting just a bit shit.
All six seasons available on All4, and the first 3 are available on Netflix.
I binged far too much of this series in one very lazy weekend last year, and I have no regrets. The show revolves around the NYPD detectives in a fictional 99th precinct. There is conflict between the new commanding officer, the serious and severe (but actually totally loveable) Captain Holt and the totally immature, Jake Peralta. The show is silly, but with great character development as it progresses.
If you have no other reason for watching then Terry Crews as Terry Jeffords (a buff, mountain of a man whose baby twins have brought out a very vulnerable side to him) is just a treat.
All 5 seasons are currently available on Netflix and season 6 is coming very soon!
I actually avoided this show for a long time, despite many recommendations, as I thought it sounded cheesy and just plain ridiculous.
Jane is a sweet, young, religious Latina woman in a long-term, committed relationship who has chosen to save her virginity for marriage. Cue one mistimed gynaecology appointment with a hassled and distracted doctor and whoops! She is accidentally artificially inseminated. I know.
But, for some reason I decided to give this show a try and it is addictive!! If you love the melodrama, passion and absurd plot lines of telenovelas, you will love this. It’s got twists, it’s got turns, there are moments of unbridled joy, and crushing sadness. It is a rollercoaster of a show with a brilliant cast and a ridiculous number of celebrity cameos (think Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Eva Longoria, Bruno Mars and Britney Spears!).
There is a total of about 100 episodes available on Netflix so you have plenty of material to get you through the next few weeks of isolation.
A cutesy, goody-two-shoes, primary teacher, Jess (played by Zooey Deschanel), moves into a flat of 3 single guys following a traumatic break-up. Her best friend is a model. Groundbreaking right?
This show is lighthearted, loveable, and surprisingly relatable for anyone who has lived in a flat-share situation. Again, the cast are brilliant and the character development from first to last season is well thought out and brings a depth to an otherwise shallow premise.
There are 7 seasons in total, all of which are available to stream on Amazon Prime.
Any other recs?
These are some of the shows I have dedicated far too many hours of my life to watching over the last few years. I hope you find them as entertaining and uplifting as I have in times of stress (many of these shows were binged in my final year of uni – outside of library hours of course).
Let me know if you have any other recommendations – I seem to be running out of options! And if you need any book recommendations or ideas for your post-corona vacations then check out these posts here.