When you turn off your TV/alternate viewing device for the night, do you feel worse about the world? Shocker: watching heavy fare House of Cards, Mad Men, or Game of Thrones isn't exactly the most uplifting way to spend your time. Not that we'd ever stop, ourselves. Instead, we like to maintain a bit of balance in our TV consumption. For every show about conniving politicians or murderous adulterers, we like to sit down for something a little more life-affirming.
Stream an old episode of Friends or a new installment of New Girl and remind yourself that there are people who've got your back too. Make yourself feel incredibly together in comparison to the girls on Broad City. Realize there are good people in the world by watching Parks and Recreation or The Voice. Laugh your ass off at Lip Sync Battle. TV doesn't always need to make you think so hard or worry so much. Sometimes, it's just to make you happy.
Inside Amy Schumer
The ineffable Schumer returns to Comedy Central on April 21 for another season of the formula she's nailed: self-deprecation combined with self-empowerment combined with heavy doses of hilarity.
Photo: Courtesy of Comedy Central.
Younger
Though the heart of the new TV Land show's premise is that women over 40 should lie about their age, everything else about the series is uplifting. You've got three of the funniest actresses on TV — Sutton Foster, Hilary Duff, and Debi Mazar — talking about lady issues, careers, and friendship in beautiful, supportive ways, while the boys are mostly just around for eye candy. No wonder you feel like calling your best friend after watching this.
Photo: Courtesy of TV Land.
Friends
Speaking of supportive, it's pretty clear that Joey, Chandler, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, and Ross would be in some kind of scary, dark place if they didn't have each other. Now that Friends is on Netflix, you can flip it on and watch how a joke with a good buddy can soothe every problem, from divorce and unemployment to pregnancy and unrequited love.
Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
New Girl
Filling the hole that Friends left, this other sitcom also features cohabitating buddies always on the cusp of getting their lives together without quite making it across the finish line. New Girl offers humor that's just a little sillier, and not quite as broad, as its predecessor. And, while your friends might not be models or the world's laziest bartenders, you can just as easily imagine yourselves inventing a drinking game like True Americans at the end of a long week.
Photo: Ray Mickshaw/FOX.
The Mindy Project
In real life, the moment when you realize you're old enough to have friends who are doctors (or you become one yourself) can make you feel pressure to act like a "responsible" adult. That's why there is something so inspiring in the way Mindy Kaling's Mindy Lahiri consistently screws things up in her personal life and yet continues to be a successful Ob/Gyn. Half an hour with these docs confirms that growing up doesn't mean you have to compromise your romantic notions.
Photo: John P. Fleenor/FOX.
Broad City
Speaking of growing up — who needs it? If Ilana and Abbi can make it in New York City being marginally employed and smoking pot all day, why can't you? Even when we don't partake ourselves, these girls' adventures always give us a contact high and leave us feeling that at the end of every awkward situation, there's a slightly less awkward resolution.
Photo: Lane Savage/Comedy Central.
Happy Endings
Once you get over the fact that this sitcom's own premature end was not a happy one, a visit with hilariously dysfunctional friends Jane, Brad, Penny, Alex, Max, and Dave is like a dose of uppers. They never fail to make the worst decisions, and never fail to make us guffaw at embarrassing volumes. We don't care if that countdown clock was for an April Fools' Day joke, not a real revival of the short-lived show; we are holding out hope that it will happen ... one day.
Photo: Courtesy of ABC.
Parks And Recreation
The gang from Pawnee may have packed up for good, but we can still watch past episodes for a fix of Amy Poehler and company. While global politics can seem irrevocably f-ed and we're already weary of the 2016 presidential race, Leslie Knope's relentless drive to make a difference in her community gives us hope that there are well-meaning folks in government. Okay, maybe those people are fictional, but let us believe in them for a few minutes!
Photo: Courtesy of NBC.
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
World and local news can get us so worked up...or dragged down. But, if the ridiculousness of current events are boiled down and filtered through the eyes of John Oliver, they are imminently less depressing. His relentless logic and occasional use of puppets calm our worries for the future. Somehow, though we've been clutching our stomachs laughing, we also feel smarter at the end of every installment.
Photo: Courtesy of HBO.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
We love to gorge ourselves on juicy celebrity gossip as much as the next person, but sometimes it feels even better to watch celebrities in the good-natured hands of a late-night host. Famous folks feel so comfortable with Jimmy Fallon, they wind up doing absolutely embarrassing things, proving that they can be entertaining without opening up about their deepest, darkest secrets.
Photo: REX/Shutterstock.
Lip Sync Battle
To anyone who's heard of the Internet, it should be of no surprise that Fallon's spinoff has become a huge hit. It's impossible not to smile while watching someone as insanely talented as Anna Kendrick "compete" in something we do in our own bedrooms. Plus, there's Chrissy Teigen there to make us grin even wider.
Photo: Courtesy of SPIKE.
iZombie
The circumstances of Liv Moore 's un-death are incredibly unfair (a random attack at a party she didn't even want to go to), but eventually, she deals with its aftermath in such a life-affirming way: working at the morgue and eating the brains of the dead to solve their murders. The sparkling dialogue of Veronica Mars ' Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright sure helps, too.
Photo: Courtesy of The CW.
Doctor Who
Don't knock our geekiness until you've tried it, guys. Any time you're feeling down about the human race, all you need is to listen to a speech by the alien time lord about how beautiful we are — with our big dreams and big, dumb flaws. Spend an hour traveling with him through all of space and time, and you'll find you either escaped reality for a nice spell or your fictional adventure gave you a good dose of perspective.
Photo: Courtesy of BBC.
The Voice
It doesn't matter if you're totally sick of the singing competition show format, or if you never agree with the winners. Tune into The Voice to see extremely successful people say extremely encouraging things — and ignore the fact that, in all likelihood, the contestants won't really be following in their footsteps. It's just nice to suspend disbelief for a show-business fairy tale once in a while.
Photo: Courtesy of NBC.
Jane The Virgin
There is so much about this telenovela adaptation that could represent your own personal hell: accidental pregnancies, in-laws with scary drug lord connections, long-lost fathers, jealous fiances. What makes the show work, however, is the endearing, upbeat attitude of the characters, reflected in their sunny Miami setting. And, despite all the melodrama, their loving relationships (especially between Jane, her mother, and her abuela), give us the warm fuzzies.
Photo: Courtesy of The CW.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Talk about upbeat in the face of crazy. In lesser hands, Kimmy 's positivity could be just plain annoying. Instead, as we watch Ellie Kemper's character navigate life above ground on the mean streets (or, you know, gorgeous townhouses) of NYC, her "unbreakable" qualities are practically contagious. Choice quotes, songs and outfits by Titus Andromedon (Tituss Burgess) complete the package of sunshiny joy.
Photo: Eric Liebowitz/Netflix.
Fresh Off The Boat
Because Constance Wu is basically our favorite new comedic actress on TV. And anything involving a childlike nostalgia for '90s hip-hop makes us smile.
Photo: Courtesy of ABC.
Like this post? There's more. Get tons of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and cat videos on the Refinery29 Entertainment Facebook page. Like us on Facebook — we'll see you there!
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
The Hills Star Jason Wahler Opens Up About Attempted Suicide