Coronavirus has forced the majority of us indoors, and so we suddenly find ourselves with far more time to lay around on the sofa watching Netflix and Amazon Prime in-between working from home. With the world feeling a little scary right now, I figured I would round-up my favourite TV Shows for when everything feels a bit rubbish. These are the TV shows that got me through a huge amount of loss and grief in 2018, and what has got me through the past two weeks of uncertainty.
Outlander – Amazon Prime
This is one of my favourite shows for a bit of escapism. It’s a time-travel romance show and although there are stressful and sad parts, for the most part it’s just such a feel-good watch. I also LOVE the music, it’s all beautiful Scottish folksy stuff, which I never thought I’d enjoy but I actually find it really uplifting.
Power – Netflix
I got so hooked on this I watched all five seasons and 65 episodes in under two weeks. I mean, thankfully I started watching it just as I decided to social-distance due to Coronavirus, but seriously, it’s so binge-worthy! It’s a drama show about drug dealers and gangs in modern-day NYC, and is *ahem* incredibly sexy. There’s quite a lot of gore and death though so I frequently had to cover my eyes,
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Amazon Prime
This is another show I got totally hooked on and watched back-to-back within a week or so. There are three seasons so far with eight episodes per season, and it’s just a brilliant strong-independent-woman sort of show. It’s set in 1958 New York and the costumes are just DIVINE! Midge Maisel has the perfect life – Upper West Side apartment, husband, two children, and incredible outfits – but then her husband Joel leaves her for another woman, which leads to Midge getting drunk and accidentally discovering she’s quite the comic. The TV show follows her as she begins a career in comedy in the fifties, and it’s just glorious! Love, love, LOVE.
Jane The Virgin – Netflix
This has to be one of my favourite TV Shows of all time. I love the female empowerment aspect of it, I love how relatable the characters and some of the story-lines are (obvs not the one where she’s a virgin and accidentally artificially inseminated), and I love how the general aesthetic of the show is so bright and colourful. It’s the perfect feel-good show and great if you don’t want anything too heavy. There are also five seasons made up of about 20 episodes per season, so they’ll keep you occupied for quite a while! The ending made me cry LOADS.
Queer Eye – Netflix
Oh Queer Eye! I just love this one, it’s such a feel-good series and absolutely hilarious too. It’s about a group of gay men (the Fab Five) who go to different households in various towns in the Midwest region of the United States, and makeover straight men in all areas; grooming, style, food & wine, design, and culture. It’s charming, funny, and will cheer you up no matter how bad your day is!
Episodes – Netflix
Featuring a lot of the same cast from Green Wing, Episodes is a bright and cheery comedy series about two British TV writers who move to Los Angeles and are forced to work with Matt LeBlanc (who plays himself) – much to their dismay – when the network replace their original (and chosen) star of their new TV show. There are five seasons and it’s just a very light-hearted, easy-to-watch show that made me laugh out loud loads!
The Hills: New Beginnings – Now TV
I don’t know about you, but I used to be obsessed with Laguna Beach and then The Hills! It was a staple on the TV in my teenage years, so when I heard about The Hills: New Beginnings I obviously got super excited. Well, it did not disappoint. It’s really weird seeing them all grown up and in their mid-thirties, but it’s a really good escapism watch. Also Mischa Barton is in it, which I still can’t get my head around.
Friends – Netflix
Need I say more? I mean, Friends is just one of those shows that makes everything better no matter how rubbish everything is in the real world. Plus, you now have time to watch it all the way from beginning to end without huge gaps in-between!
Fresh Prince of Bel Air – Netflix
Another old favourite, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air actually got me through the grief of my second miscarriage. It was the only thing I could watch for months after because I was too scared about being bombarded by babies and pregnancies in any other TV show! I liked that even when Aunt Viv is pregnant, it’s not a *huge* aspect of the show and isn’t the main focus. Although there were a couple of episodes where I had a big cry, mostly it picked me right up and made me laugh when I really didn’t feel like laughing.
Seinfeld – Amazon Prime
I only saw Seinfeld for the first time last year and instantly loved it. It’s just a classic early-nineties American comedy series about a group of friends in New York and it always cheers me up and makes me laugh. There are also 9 seasons and 180 episodes to get through, so it’s perfect if you’re sick or in self-isolation and need something light-hearted and easy-to-watch. The show is essentially a show about nothing, with the episodes instead showing and making light of the minutiae of daily life. But anyway, watch a few episodes and I promise you’ll be hooked!
How To Get Away With Murder
Viola Davis is simply captivating through this entire series, and it’s one that I got so addicted to I cleared my diary on the weekends and binge-watched it. Yep. Anyway, it’s about a hot-shot law professor who becomes involved in a murder plot with five of her students. There are five seasons currently but Netflix only has four of them at the moment, but still plenty to binge-watch through winter!
Remember to take time for self-care during the Coronavirus outbreak
Even though it’s very easy to force yourself to be productive and create ALL the things and work super hard with all this free time, please don’t forget to properly relax and practice self-care during all this. Read a book, take a nap, have a bath, bake a cake, or just spend a few hours binge-watching your favourite show – and do all of these things with zero guilt!
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
