26 Feel-Good Shows to Watch When You Need a Pick-Me-Up

As one of the most discussed—and much-needed—feel-good series in recent memory, Nobody Wants This is proof that sometimes, we could all just use a good rom-com. The hit Netflix show follows agnostic sex podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell), who quickly finds herself falling for a charmingly unconventional rabbi, Noah (Adam Brody). The chemistry between the pair is off the charts, their families are equally absurd, and their very real conversations about religion and partnership strike a poignant note in an era that’s plagued by dating app fatigue. Season 2 has already been confirmed—and to that we say, Baruch Hashem.

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Abbott Elementary did the unthinkable: It revived the network sitcom. Created by and starring Quinta Brunson, the ABC show is currently in its fourth season and follows a group of educators that are being spotlighted in a documentary about underfunded schools. Brunson plays second-grade teacher Janine Teagues, who’s passionate about her job at the titular Philadelphia school and is determined to help her students succeed against all odds. Her colleagues—portrayed by Chris Perfetti, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lisa Ann Walter, and Tyler James Williams—are similarly dedicated. Their tone-deaf but hilarious principal (Janelle James), on the other hand? Not so much.

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The Roses are, hands down, one of the most beloved TV families of all time. After they lose their entire fortune, former soap star Moira (Catherine O’Hara) and video star magnate Johnny (Eugene Levy) retreat to the titular small town that they had once purchased as a joke. There, the couple and their incredibly spoiled kids, David (Dan Levy) and Alexis (Annie Murphy), take up residence at the local motel and, despite their initial culture shock, slowly ingratiate themselves with the locals over the course of six seasons. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll say “Ew, David” on repeat—when you’re not memorizing the “A Little Bit Alexis” dance, that is.

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Ted Lasso just might be the most optimistic TV character…ever. When the titular American football coach is recruited to manage an English Premier League soccer team, he shows up with biscuits, a “Believe” sign, and a can-do attitude. The thing is: AFC Richmond’s owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) actually hired Ted in the hopes that he’d tank the team, which she purposefully took from her husband in their acrimonious divorce. Despite his inexperience with soccer, Ted is determined to succeed—and his endearing brand of positivity leads him to do just that. Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, and Juno Temple also star in the AppleTV+ series, which ran for three seasons (and might get a fourth).

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Kim’s Convenience is nothing short of a delightful watch. The CBC sitcom revolves around a Korean-Canadian family that owns, you guessed it, a convenience store in Toronto. Patriarch Sang-il Kim (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) and his wife, Yong-mi Kim (Jean Yoon)—referred to as Appa and Umma, which means Dad and Mom in Korean, respectively—run the business with the help of their kids, Janet (Andrea Bang) and Jung (Simu Liu). As the Kims navigate their own family dynamics as well as their interactions with customers over five seasons, the series explores the realities of immigration in today’s ever-changing society. And it does so with an abundance of well-meaning jokes.

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Sometimes, you just need a good reality binge-watch. And no series is more heartfelt than Queer Eye. The show’s sole focus is to improve the lives of people around the country, with the Fab Five—Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown, and Tan France—providing full-on lifestyle makeovers to down-on-their-luck recipients. Fair warning, though: Watching them advise local “heroes” on everything from grooming and style to diet and décor over the course of eight emotional seasons will cause you to shed some (very cathartic) tears.

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Spend some time at Greendale Community College, why don’t you? In the NBC sitcom Community, lawyer Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is forced to enroll at the Colorado school when the State Bar threatens to suspend his license—because that’s what happens when you lie about having an undergraduate degree from Columbia University and get caught. In order to spend time with his crush, Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs), Jeff decides to host a Spanish-language study group. Much to his surprise, a whole gang of misfit students—portrayed by Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, and Chevy Chase—show up for tutoring. Naturally, they become good friends while continuing to meet for six seasons—and they do, ultimately, learn a thing or two along the way.

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It would be hard not to enjoy any show starring Steve Martin, Martin Short or Selena Gomez. But when the trio joins forces in Only Murders in the Building, it’s like lightning in a bottle. Their characters—former TV star Charles-Haden Savage, struggling Broadway director Oliver Putnam, and loner millennial Mabel Mora, respectively—team up for a true crime podcast about a slew of murders that, as the Hulu series’ title suggests, occur within their Upper West Side apartment building, The Arconia. And despite the obvious dark undertones of the killings, all four seasons to date have been a joy to watch—and from Meryl Streep to Tina Fey, the guest stars are top-tier.

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Black-ish is so good that it spawned not one, but two spinoffs (Grown-ish and Mixed-ish) on top of its impressive eight-season run. The ABC sitcom centers on the Johnsons, a wealthy Black family living in a predominantly white suburban neighborhood. As they raise their four kids, advertising exec Dre (Anthony Anderson) and his wife, anesthesiologist Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross), question whether or not they’ve assimilated too much while pursuing the American Dream. So, determined to stay true to their cultural identity, they find bold new ways to celebrate their identity—and they deliver plenty of laughs along the way.

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You’d be hard-pressed to find an episode of Modern Family that isn’t both hilarious and lovable. Throughout its 11 seasons, the mockumentary-style sitcom follows three interrelated households in Los Angeles. Everyone is connected by patriarch Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill), who’s helping to raise the young son of his second wife, Gloria (Sofía Vergara). Nearby, Jay’s daughter, Claire (Julie Bowen) lives with her husband, Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell) and their own three kids, as does Jay’s son, Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), who’s adopted a daughter with his partner, Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet). There’s constant chaos and countless misunderstandings, but every episode reminds you that, in the end, they’re just one big happy family—and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to that.

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Spending time with the good people of Stars Hollow is the equivalent of wrapping yourself up in a warm and cozy blanket. Gilmore Girls follows independent single mom Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and her teenage daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), who live in what may be the most picturesque Connecticut town ever to grace the small screen. Known for their fast-paced witty banter, mutual coffee addiction, and similarly messy love lives, the mother-daughter duo also share big career goals—but they need financial help from Lorelai’s wealthy parents in order to achieve them. Seven seasons of obligatory Friday night family dinners led to a 2016 Netflix reboot, the similarly feel-good Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Where they lead, we will always follow.

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One of the best things about The Good Place was the fun plot twist at the end of its first season; but in order to get there, you’ll have to start from the beginning. The NBC sitcom blends the best of fantasy and comedy, with its recently-deceased lead Eleanor (Kristen Bell) realizing that she’s landed herself in a heaven-like afterlife for those with superior morals, called the Good Place. Based on her selfish past behavior, Eleanor believes that she’s there by mistake; still, she’s determined to change for the better. So, with her newly assigned soulmate, Chidi (William Jackson Harper), and helpful pals Tahani (Jameela Jamil) and Jason (Manny Jacinto) by her side, she does her best to avoid being transferred to the Bad Place—and to stay under the radar of the Good Place’s architect, Michael (Ted Danson). It’s a creative and entertaining four-season exploration of ethics, and that’s not exactly easy to find.

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Perhaps one of the most underrated series of its time, Younger simply feels like a warm hug. The TV Land show follows Liza (Sutton Foster), a divorced mom in her forties who decides to start fresh in New York City. In order to get a job in the ageist publishing industry, she pretends to be 26. Absurdly enough, the plan works. Liza is hired as an executive assistant, becomes best friends with her millennial coworker, Kelsey (Hilary Duff), and finds herself in a love triangle with a 26-year-old Brooklyn tattoo artist named Josh (Nico Tortorella) and her boss, Charles (Peter Hermann). All seven seasons are highly watchable and beyond charming.

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If The Nanny’s theme song doesn’t immediately lift your spirits, then the wildly colorful and over-the-top outfits worn by Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) for six seasons certainly will. The heartwarming journey at the core of the CBS comedy follows the nurturing Queens-bred caretaker as she helps raise the grieving Sheffield kids and falls in love with their wealthy widower father, Maxwell (Charles Shaughnessy). It’s also worth noting that the onscreen dynamic between Maxwell’s butler, Niles (Daniel Davis), and business partner, C. C. Babcock (Lauren Lane), might be one of the best of all time.

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Who knew that local government officials could be so funny? In NBC’s mockumentary sitcom Parks and Recreation, Amy Poehler stars as Leslie Knope, a mid-level employee at the Parks Department in Pawnee, Indiana. She faces no shortage of bureaucratic red tape while trying to have the town’s hazardous construction pit turned into a park at the behest of her friend, Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones). In her efforts to have the project approved and, really, get anything productive done throughout seven seasons, Leslie interacts with an absurd cast of characters played by the likes of Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Aziz Ansari, and Retta. You will laugh out loud.

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Any show that begins and ends with a pensive voiceover has to warm your heart; it’s just a fact. Scrubs did just that throughout its nine-season run. Narrated by medical intern John “J.D.” Dorian (Zach Braff), the NBC series follows the antics of a motley crew of employees at Sacred Heart Hospital. Between surreal daydreams and over-the-top silliness, J.D. and his best friend, surgeon Christopher Turk (Donald Faison), experience emotional encounters with their sick patients and navigate drama with their love interests Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke) and Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes), bosses Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) and Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins), and mortal enemy, the Janitor (Neil Flynn).

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Rachel and Ross. Monica and Chandler. Phoebe and Joey. There’s not much left to be said about Friends’s iconic 20-something characters, who catapulted the NBC sitcom’s cast—Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc—to superstardom. For 10 seasons, we were glued to our seats as Central Perk’s best customers navigated life and love together in the Big Apple’s least-realistic rental units. Watching reruns is never a bad idea; queue up “I’ll Be There For You” and try not to debate whether Ross and Rachel were really on a break.

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As its name suggests, HBO Max’s coming-of-age dramedy The Sex Lives of College Girls is a (mostly) lighthearted romp. Set at the fictional Essex College in Vermont, the series revolves around four freshman suitemates who are discovering their sexuality, career goals, and what it really means to be an adult. Each character is chaotic and relatable in her own way: overeager Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) is struggling financially but desperate to keep up with her peers; Bela (Amrit Kaur) wants to be a comedy writer and doesn’t understand the concept of boundaries; Leighton (Reneé Rapp) is a rich and popular lesbian who faces pressure from her family; and Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) is the daughter of a U.S. senator, as well as a star soccer player who’s having an affair with her coach. Catch up before season 3 premieres in November.

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Based on the British series of the same name, The Office shines a light on the typical tedious workday—and it’s one of the most entertaining mockumentary sitcoms out there. It’s set in Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton workspace, helmed by Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the paper company’s meme-worthy regional manager. Though he means well, Michael doesn’t take anything seriously and frequently offends his staff, which includes sales rep Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), secretary Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), and socially awkward Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), the unofficial Assistant to the Assistant Regional Manager. With nine seasons of workplace shenanigans, the NBC show’s cast of characters just can’t be beat.

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Turn on The Great British Baking Show and you’ll be transported to a world where all that really matters is whether or not your oven was set to the correct temperature or that you properly measured your ingredients. In each season of the show (there have been a staggering 15), a dozen amateur bakers whip up cakes, breads, and pastries to impress a group of judges. The recipes get increasingly more difficult as the rounds progress, and contestants are eliminated one by one until the last baker standing is named the U.K.’s best.

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