When my late husband was hospitalized (many times), we used to watch Bob Ross’ painting show on Saturday morning in the hospital room. Usually on Saturday they leave you pretty much alone (although if you’re in the hospital over the weekend, it’s not for something trivial). His voice and manner were comforting during some extremely dark times and the show gave us a little respite from worry and anxiety.
Over the last few days, while I’m recovering from surgery, I’ve been binge-watching America’s Test Kitchen. The interesting yet utterly benign content combined with the structure of the show, friendly banter, mild humor, pretty food, product and science tips-- just what I need to anchor me.
Were/are there movies or TV shows that you watch/ed repeatedly for comfort, sanity, distraction, etc., during shaky times?
Oh, yes! I don’t have a lot of friends or a big jolly supportive family so I’m on my own pretty much during shaky times.
One year, my family cut us off and we were facing a lonely Christmas. Just the three of us, me, husband, little girl. I was so, so sad I just cried and cried and cried from utter depression and sadness. I ended up watching a marathon showing of ‘Northern Exposure’ all day, and that got me through that awful lonely Christmas.
On a happier note, I had a huge sewing project to finish tout de suite one summer weekend, and I binge-watched ‘Good Eats’ while doing so, made the hours fly by.
During the last 3 or 4 months I went through a period of extreme stress, depression, and anxiety (up until a couple of weeks ago). A number of things in my life just seemed to fall apart and I spent entire days, even entire weekends completely paralyzed to do anything productive. The only thing that could take my mind off of it was British panel shows, primarily QI and Would I Lie to You. The latter I burned through all 7 seasons in a matter of weeks.
Also physics lectures and panel discussions and things like that on youtube. I can really never get enough of these by people like Brian Greene, Lawrence Krauss, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, etc, especially panel discussions.
So apparently when I’m down it takes a whole panel to distract me
Funny you should mention that, I was also recovering from surgery this last month and watched Alton Brown’s Good Eats as my anchor. I’ve always wondered if ATC borrowed some of their content from the earlier GE shows!
Back in the most stressful days of pursuing an engineering degree, I actually took comfort in the Leonard Rossiter version of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin and enjoyed his methods of coping with his stress including dropping out of society and ending each episode with a primal scream.
In 1977 I had a serious health problem that resulted in my undergoing three surgeries in a two-month period. I was at a very low ebb both physically and emotionally. I was, in fact, circling the drain. I believe that my resolve to survive was largely a result of having seen Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory on a small black-and-white television in my hospital room. I had never seen this movie before, and something about its macabre good cheer really struck a chord in my soul.
Northern Exposure (with Joel) and MST3K (with Joel)
Was in a new area with few friends, little money, and a stressful job. I identified with the NE characters, each one for different parts of my personality, and I was CROOOOWWW!!!
At the end of 2013 my dad was in the hospital (he had cancer, and we were pretty sure he wasn’t going to come home). I came down to visit with him and help him deal with various things, which meant that I was staying alone in my childhood house (the spouse stayed home to take care of our cats, which I wanted him to do). Mostly it was okay during the day, but the nights were really depressing/stressful. Especially since there was no working TV in the bedroom, so I couldn’t even turn something on to go to sleep to. I’d been away for long enough that the house didn’t feel at all familiar to me anymore.
Fortunately I had my iPad with me with an unlimited data connection, so I found that putting on a Doctor Who (Tenth Doctor) episode and setting the iPad up next to the bed was extremely comforting. I rarely got more than ten minutes into an episode before falling asleep (I pretty much know them all by heart) but just having the familiar voices and situations in that lonely, stressful, and depressing time got me through the nights. It was especially helpful when I’d wake up at 3 a.m. full of doubts and sadness and a mind that just wouldn’t shut up.
I was in the hospital last summer for a gigantic cancer surgery. During the 11 days there and the difficult months recovering, I watched every Alaska wilderness/survival show on TV. I also binge-watched American Pickers and Pawn Stars.
The downside is now I can’t stand them because they remind me of that terrible time!
In school, I was the first kid in my grade to have acne, and I had a particularly nasty case. No one ever let me forget it. I watched the Twilight Zone episode Eye of the Beholder during a 24-hour marathon and it was a huge help.
A few years later, I was home sick and watching movies on TNT. Casablanca came on, and though I already knew some of the famous lines, the ending really lifted my spirits. I decided that I had to learn all about classic movies.
A few years back the Sci Fi channel aired a marathon of the kids tv show Land of the Lost. I DVR’ed them all.
A couple months later my son was born premature and he had a difficult time with nursing and bottle feeding.
During middle of the night feeding sessions, I’d cuddle up with him and click on one of the old episodes of Land of the Lost. It usually took a full episode for him to get down a couple ounces and fall back asleep.
It took so long for him to get a full belly and fall back asleep that watching that show helped keep me awake and alert. I almost looked forward to the next episode and nightly feeding.
2007, the worst year of my life—as in the “literally going out scouting for places I could have a fatal ‘accident’ at”—this happened to be streaming on on-demand cable. ‘Probably in no small part to the series’ length of over fifty episodes, and the somewhat dry and grim tone, this was a nice, private, special little distraction for me. I’d ration out maybe an episode or two a week.
It was the first movie I could bring myself to see after I’d been shell-shocked by a tragedy. For quite a while after it happened I felt like I was moving through molasses, and experiencing things through a filter, and I didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything, or even read. This was the first movie I was able to drag myself to afterwards. It was awful*, and not at all faithful to the Robert Ludlum book it was nominally based on. But a good movie would’ve been wasted on me at that point.
*Despite an impressive cast, with Rutger Hauer, John Hurt, Dennis Hopper, and Burt Lancaster – Burt freakin’ Lancaster! – and with Sam Peckinpah directing. That may have been the problem. According to Wikipedia, Peckinpah hated the script and started jerking it around.
