TV Shows From The Last Decade That Made The World A Better Place
These are some wholesome shows.
It’s been a rough decade. The world is literally on fire. But hey, at least we’ve had some great TV!
Seriously, though: when things are a mess and the real world gets depressing, comforting shows that offer you a bit of hope — or at the very least, a brief escape – feel more vital than ever.
With that in mind, here’s a (by no means exhaustive) list of some of the best shows of the 2010s that added some light into our lives…
The Great British Bake Off
A reality show competition isn’t the place you’d normally turn to have your faith in humanity restored – quite the opposite. But that’s exactly what The Great British Bake Off does. It’s just a bunch of British people baking things in a tent in a field, and yet it’s so much more. The way contestants help and support one another is genuinely heartwarming, and the tone of the show is so gentle and calming.
Queer Eye
News of a Queer Eye For The Straight Guy reboot was met with a lot of skepticism, and while it’s certainly not a perfect show, watching it often feels like diving into a group hug with the Fab Five themselves. Their focus on communication, emotional vulnerability and helping others is more relevant than ever.
Fleabag
For a show that opens with the main character musing over whether she has a huge arsehole, Fleabag has an incredible amount of nuance and depth.
It’s one of the best-written shows of all time, and the way it explores grief and self-loathing is especially remarkable. It makes you laugh one minute and punches you in the gut the next, but overall it leaves you with a feeling of hope and catharsis.
The Good Place
The Good Place is a sitcom about being a better person. It doesn’t get much more wholesome than that, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring or cheesy. It’s a very smart show, mixing high-brow subjects and low-brow humour in beautiful ways. The characters are relatable, even in their extreme situation, making their message about being kind and good all the more powerful.
Schitt’s Creek
Schitt’s Creek is a bit of a slow burn, but if you commit to it and give it the time and space it needs to unfold and come into its own you’ll undoubtedly love it forever. It’s one of the rare shows that is very funny without ever really punching down. As obnoxious as the Rose family seems at first, it’s hard not to love them.
They are ~simply the best~.
Lovesick
Who knew a show originally titled Scrotal Recall and based around the premise of a twenty-something white guy getting chlamydia would actually be so darn sweet? If you haven’t given Lovesick a chance yet, you MUST.
It’s a beautiful rom-com and a wonderful depiction of friendship, with a great big heart.
The End of the F***ing World
This is another show that is so much more than its premise first makes it seem.
While it starts with a self-declared psychopathic boy planning to murder a lost and lonely girl, it quickly morphs into a complex story of love and trauma and what it takes to survive in the world. It’s about how people can save each other and, perhaps even more importantly, how we can save ourselves.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
A musical comedy about a woman having a mental breakdown sounds like it shouldn’t work, and yet it completely does.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is actually one of the best explorations of mental health that has graced our screens in the last 10 years. While the format is over-the-top, the characters and their internal journeys are very raw and real. It’s funny, it’s emotional, and it’s ultimately very empowering.
Derry Girls
Set in Northern Ireland in the 1990s, the contrast between the petty interests of the teen girls (and one boy) at the centre of the plot and the political chaos around them feels relevant in 2019 in a way that hits rather close to home.
But crucially, while deriving a lot of humour from the girls and their interactions, the show is never judgemental. Instead, it highlights the very human instinct to just want to get on with things, and the desperation we all have to not just survive but thrive. It’s pretty wonderful to be reminded that that’s not a bad thing.
Jenna Guillaume is a Sydney-based writer who loves all things TV and pop culture. She tweets @JennaGuillaume, and her new book, ‘What I Like About Me’ is available now.