New York Magazine - USA (2020-03-30)

march30–april12, 2020 | newyork 25

Hereare 15 cozyshows,includingclassicsitcomsandcheerful

t Food realityseries,if distractionis whatyou’relookingfor.

9. The League ❑
   Streaming on Hulu
   Two years ago, when one of my cats was slowly
   dying and I had to spend many long hours on the
   couch keeping him company, I found myself getting
   completely sucked into ... The League. This unas-
   suming bro-y comedy about a group of Chicago
   friends in an absolutely brutal fantasy- football
   league is most certainly not Peak TV. I’m not even
   sure if it’s actually good TV. I didn’t have to pay too
   muchat tentiontoit,butI didn’t feelmuchshame
   becauseit wasoftenabsurdlyfunny. Andso,now
   thatI’mspendinga lotoftimeat homeagain,
   unabletofocusmuchonanything,I haverediscov-
   eredthejoysofTheLeague.Thecharactersare
   simplydrawnandlikable,theplotdynamicseasyto
   follow,andthelaughsare just what I needtotake
   mymindoff things. bilgeebiri
   11. The
   Golden Girls ❑
   Streaming on Hulu
   The Golden Girls is seven
   seasons long, and each
   season at least 23 epi-
   sodes, so you can get into
   a long, sustaining rela-
   tionship with it. Like most
   oldersitcoms,there’s a
   repeatingstructuretothe
   jokes,totheact breaks,to
   theepisodearcs.It’s very soothing.Mostimportant,
   TheGoldenGirlshasexactlytherighttoneforanx-
   iousminds.It’sfullofgoofy,gloriouslyeye-roll-
   worthy one-linersandgags.Butit’s alsounfailingly
   warmandsincere. kathrynvanarendonk

12.The Simpsons ❑

Streamingon Disney+

Growingup,myfamilymovedtonewstates

multipletimes,butwhereverwe’dendup,one

thingcouldbecountedon:AlocalTVstation

wouldsyndicateat least one(andsometimes

two!)episodesofTheSimpsonsat someconve-

nientpointinthelateafternoon.I watched[does

somemathonanenvelope] allofthem.Sincethe

launchofDisney+,I’vebeenmeaningtore-

createthat soothingafter-schoolexperience,but

a numberofannoyingcircumstances—work,

friends,LoveIsBlind—havegottenintheway of

thatplan.Butnowthat I’mtrappedat homeall

day, I’vebeenrippingthroughthemagainand

it’ s beenamazing,missingsightgagsbedamned.

ray rahman

13.Supernatural ❑

Streamingon Netflix

and YouTubeTV

CW’slongest-running

showendsafter 15 sea-

sonsthisMay,butI’m

onlyonseasonfive.As

someonewitha predi-

lectionforspooky, witchy

comedy-dramas(some-

onewhohaslongsince

finishedall 11seasonsof

TheX-Files) I’vefoundsolaceinthefact that

I stillhaveninemore seasonsofSupernatural.

That’smorethan 200 episodes of Jensen

Ackles’sroughyet comfortingbaritonetomake

thisdamselfeelsafe. truptirami

15. Apple& Onion ❑
    Streaming on CartoonNetwork,
    Hulu, and YouTubeTV
    Apple &Onionis thecutest, sweetest,cutiesweetie
    ofa show.It’saboutanapplenamedApple(voiced
    bycreatorGeorgeGendi)and a scallionnamed
    Onion(voicedbyRichard Ayoade)whoare room-
    matesina bigcity ina worldpopulatedbyother
    foods.It sharesa deadpansenseof humorandfish-
    out-of-watersensibilitywithFlightoftheCon-
    chordsandhasthesamesort ofsunny, chillvibes
    andvisualgagsasTuca&Bertie.Andtheshowhas
    suchaninfectiouslypositiveattitudewithoutbeing
    manicorcloyingthatit makesyougratefulforthe
    thingsthatyoudohave:friends,videogames,your
    cat,yourbed,dinerfood,leftovercake inthefridge,
    a rooftosneakonto,a sunsettowatch.
    rebecca alter

14. PUSHING

DAISIES ❑

Streaming on CW Seed,

buy on Amazon,

iTunes, and YouTube

Bryan Fuller’s pie-making-slash-crime-solving

procedural has everything: Lee Pace as a tall,

awkward baker who can bring people back to

life (but only for one minute, or then someone

else dies), morbidly hilarious causes of death,

and Kristin Chenoweth singing just because.

But as one of my friends pointed out, Pushing

Daisies doubles as an essential guide to love

in times of self-isolation with a central

romance that can’t ever be consummated,

since Chuck and his revived paramour, Ned,

can’t touch each other or she’ll die. Instead,

they resort to kissing through cellophane,

holding their own hands while standing near

each other, and dancing in full-body bee suits.

That seemed ridiculous once, and now it

feels ... well, you know. Social distancing can’t

stop a love story. jackson mchenry

10. THE

SOPRANOS ❑

Streaming on HBO

and Amazon Prime

I started my current Sopranos rewatch because

a running gag in Hulu’s High Fidelity remake

about Rob never having seen The Sopranos

inspired my fiancé, who’s never seen the show, to

finally jump in, and I happily came along for the

ride. Now that we’ve hit the series’ third (and

arguably best) season, it’s accelerating into a full-

on binge—which is itself a new experience, given

that I’d only seen the show in week-to-week,

year-to-year real time. That instant gratifica-

tion, combined with the 15 years’ worth of TV-

watching and critical-thinking skills I’ve devel-

oped since I first watched, has made it feel in

many ways like I’m watching The Sopranos for

the first time. It’s not so much that the show is

easy to watch as it’s now something I can engage

with more easily and on a deeper level than I

have before, and that is its own kind of comfort.

genevieve koski