Top 5 Shows to Watch When You’re Depressed
Much of art is accurately depicting the world and the people in it. Though, many pieces of art present not how our universe is but, how is should be. Here are my top five shows to watch to to inspire hope when you feel like you have none.
5. Adventure Time
In Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time we follow Finn the last human on an earth that has recently suffered an apocalypse and his Dog, Jake. This show is filled with colors, friendships, and lots of positive life-lessons. Sometimes crass but often wholesome, this show is perfect for watching in quick succession as episodes only run about 12 minutes.
The core of the show is the relationship between Jake and Finn and how sometimes, even though you love someone, you might get upset with them. The show presents a light-hearted look at what it’s like to grow up and to find out that most things have a deeper meaning than when they first appear.
Adventure Time is available on Hulu.
4. The Office
The Office is a comedy of the mundane from NBC and is perhaps the most rewatchable thing currently available on the internet. It follows Dunder-Mifflin regional manager, Michael Scott as well as his office of employees turned family. This show is often incredibly well written and hilarious. All of the characters have satisfying arches from beginning to end. You learn that not only are we all capable of love but also worth loving, even if you’re not perfect.
The easily relatable issues that all of the characters lull you into a wonderful familiarity with employees of Dunder-Mifflin. It feels by the end of the series that you truly know these people, that they too are your family.
The Office is available on Netflix.
3. The Good Place
The Good Place is a bold new take on the twenty-two minutes situational comedy. It follows Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman who has recently died and been sent to “The Good Place” the show’s version of Heaven. However, she quickly finds out that there has been a mistake and she was sent to the wrong place post-death. She, with the help of her Soulmate Chidi Anagonye, has to unravel the mystery and become a better person.
The first season of The Good Place is a masterwork of overarching plot lines, confounding mysteries, discussions of morality, and hilarious jokes about flatulence. There has never been a show so smart and so dumb at the same time. With it’s bright and cheery color pallet and cast of characters it is a perfect reminder that you are capable of being a better person. The only one stopping you is you.
The Good Place is available on Netflix and is airing its current season on Hulu.
2. Steven Universe
Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe follows a young boy who recently discovers he has magical abilities inherited from his mother, who was a member of an alien species known as Gemes. He with his father and surrogate family struggle to right the damage from a war that took place on earth years ago. The show is soft, warm, and has beautiful musical numbers written by the show’s creator, Rebecca Sugar.
The values that Rebecca Sugar and her team instill in Steven Universe: kindness, love, hope, self-sacrifice, forgiveness, and mindfulness, are all values from adults may also benefit. This show is a reminder that not only can you be kind to and accept others but you may also do that too and for yourself.
Steven Universe is available on Hulu.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
In its second iteration, Star Trek is perhaps the pinnacle of not how the world is, but how it should and can be. In The Next Generation we follow Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise. Over the course of its seven-season run, Jean-Luc and his crew learn how to be more tolerant, kind, empathetic, objective, and moral through their encounters with various new cultures and phenomena.
This show is a calm and docile look at humanity, its mistakes, and its potential. Rarely does Jean-Luc pull a punch or fire a Phaser. Most issues are solved by a long think and a cup of earl grey tea. It is the perfect show to watch just before sleep or when you have no physical energy to leave the bed. It is mostly quiet, calm, voyage dealing in conflict resolution, acceptance, and self-betterment.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix and Hulu.
