Pop Culture Pick: 10 Cheerful Shows To Brighten Your Day
Because we all need more fun in our lives
The COVID pandemic has been a soul-crushing cavalcade of bad news, sad losses, and economic hardship. Where I live, in Los Angeles, we’re still in the centre of a hot zone, with cases rising, hospitalizations up and more deaths daily. So I started to think about fun TV diversions that allow you to disappear into a more cheerful world for a brief amount of time. I came up with 10 recommended shows that should slap a smile on your face. Here, in no particular order, are my suggestions…
Never Have I Ever
Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher co-created this show, which is loosely based on Kaling’s own upbringing. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan plays Devi Vishwakumar, who is dealing with high school life, the death of her father a year ago and social pressure to find a way to be cool. Suffice to say, she’s only partly successful, but the journey is a heart–warming and often hilarious one. It’s refreshing to see South Asian characters at the core of an American show as opposed to sidekicks, and this delivers on several levels. I was glad to hear that it has already been renewed for Season 2.
Available worldwide on Netflix
Somebody Feed Phil
To the pantheon of human beings on the planet who are disarmingly sunny and enthusiastic, I would happily add Phil Rosenthal. A TV writer/producer who most famously created Everybody Loves Raymond, he’s since started making shows that combine his love of food with his endless curiosity about the people who make it. First came I’ll Have What Phil’s Having, which he’s followed up with three seasons of this Netflix series. Follow Phil as he ventures around the world, sampling cuisine and learning about its history, while delighting in meeting new friends and rounding up old pals. His check-ins with his parents are often a highlight of each episode.
Available worldwide on Netflix
Psych
I’ve talked up Psych before when I was reviewing the new TV Movie, but it’s well worth including on this list. Fake psychic Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) and best friend/anxious sidekick Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill) investigate murders while assisting/annoying the Santa Barbara police department. The mysteries are really just an excuse to enjoy the interplay between Shawn and Gus, or Shawn and anyone else he interacts with. It’s also loaded with pop culture homages, which never overpower the show.
Available in the US on the Peacock streaming service or USA Network; to buy on Amazon/Apple/Google in the UK
Floor Is Lava
One of the surprise hits of the lockdown era, this new game show is an extremely simple concept: a trio of friends or family members work together to solve puzzles and make their way around a room where the floor is, well, lava. If someone falls in, they’re gone, at least until the post-game interview. You’ll find yourself either rooting for them to succeed to secretly hoping they fall in. Comedian Rutledge Wood hosts and provides the voice-over, which is sporadically enjoyable. But the real fun here is watching the teams compete and figuring out whether you could do it better.
Available worldwide on Netflix
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tina Fey frequently dipped into farce and surrealism for 30 Rock, and Kimmy Schmidt takes that and runs with it. Despite a dark theme of kidnap running through it (Ellie Kemper’s title character starts the show emerging from years of captivity with other women at the hands of lunatic doomsday preacher Reverend Wayne Gary Wayne, played by Jon Hamm), the show gathers a wacky group around her and sets her loose in New York searching for new meaning in life. Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess, Carol Kane and Hamm steal scenes and the laughs are fast and reliable. Team Kimmy returned this year with a choose–your–own–adventure version of the show (think Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch but with more jokes) to continue the story.
Available worldwide on Netflix
Derry Girls
Though it is set during the Troubles in Ireland, Derry Girls is pure comedy that occasionally nods towards its contextual setting. For the most part, it’s the chaotic misadventures of Erin (Saoirse–Monica Jackson), Orla (Louisa Harland), Clare (Nicola Coughlan), Michelle (Jamie–Lee O’Donnell) British transplant James (Dylan Llewellyn) and their various friends and families. Creator Lisa McGee has created some classic, memorable characters here, and throws them into all manner of madcap situations. I’ll freely admit that I was late to the boat on this one, but I’m a firm fan now, eagerly awaiting the third series.
Available on Netflix in the States; on More4 and Netflix in the UK
Good Omens
Neil Gaiman made a promise to Terry Pratchett before the latter died that he’d bring their joint novel to screens after it had lingered in film development hell for years. And so he did it, bringing a quirksome apocalypse to screens. Certainly, the idea of the world ending might not seem like the most enjoyable concept to take in right now, but the sheer nutty style and the blend of Gaiman and Pratchett’s particular styles gel. Michael Sheen and David Tennant are the best pals – who just so happen to be an angel and a demon – that together decide that they’re too fond of Earth and its human occupants to help usher in the end of it all.
Available worldwide on Amazon Prime Video
Parks & Recreation
I’m digging back further into the past (well, 2009) for this one. Parks And Recreation comes from some of the team behind hit sitcom The Office, but aside from the mockumentary format, developed into its own thing quickly. True, it’s worth perhaps skipping the first season, but once it finds its rhythm, the sheer likeability of the show wins out. Amy Poehler is Leslie Knope, a practical, friendly, driven public servant who is committed to making life better in her small Indiana town via the parks department where she works as a deputy director. The ensemble is great, and, like the Office, it develops a great world of supporting characters. I fell in love with this series and its kooky characters and was thrilled when it came back for a recent, virtual reunion episode.
Available on Hulu in the US, on NowTV and Amazon in the UK
The World According To Jeff Goldblum
Whether you love his style or are confused and frustrated by his giggly “um, ah,” delivery, there’s no denying that Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum is a unique performer who has carved his own niche in the entertainment world. Disney Plus/National Geographic let him loose on the world, exploring a variety of subjects including sneakers, coffee, jewellery, bikes and more. He charms and confuses people in equal measure, and the series is filled with quirky observations and some fascinating science. For the record, I’m a big fan of Goldblum and this show was just the thing to grab my interest and keep me smiling.
Available worldwide on Disney Plus
The Great British Bake-Off
Bake-Off was, I’ll admit, a total surprise. I’d never watched reality competition TV before and had always dismissed it as something more aimed at my mother. But then I gave the available earlier, Mary Berry/Mel & Sue series a try, and quickly became hooked. It’s so relentlessly sunny (even when the weather is pouring rain) and delightful, it’s not hard to see why it has become a massive sensation. And if the later series, hosted by Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig, with Prue Leith replacing Berry), don’t quite rise to the same level, it’s still deliciously easy to consume. Just don’t try and make me call it The Great British Baking Show. It’ll always be Bake-Off.
Available on Netflix in the US, on Channel 4/Sky Go and iPlayer in the UK
So those are my thoughts. What have you been watching to keep yourself amused/distracted? Let me know in the comments…