Why is everything so dark? Through circumstances I have been available to watch a lot of TV lately. Looking for binge watching opportunities. There are so many well received series out there right now there’s a lot to pick from. But most of it seems to be depressing and dreary. Characters you like getting shit on by the world episode after episode and possibly coming out on top if you slog through to the end. Where is the non-comedic light entertainment? Something that gives a balance of light and dark and doesn’t suck. After watching daredevil get the shit kicked out of him for the 20th time in five episodes I could use a break.
No kidding… I was trying to find something to lighten things up a bit and haven’t found a comedy I like. Supergirl and The Flash are fairly light, as these things go, but they’re not comedies.
Turn up the brightness in your TV settings…I’ll see myself out.
The problem with answering this question, from my perspective, is that the shows that are dark and edgy are the ones that are critically acclaimed. I watch plenty of television that I find interesting without being too dark, but the shows tend to be more conventional and maybe old-fashioned.
Here’s a few I recommend:
The Orville
God Friended Me
Madam Secretary
MacGyver
9-1-1 (obviously the guest characters have horrible problems, but the tone is mostly lighthearted)
The Bold Type (if you don’t mind a show about female empowerment)
If you just want something to watch, there are also plenty of enjoyable reality shows that are light and fun.
I recommend Dark on Netflix. Oh wait…
If you want a low-key, feel good comedy, I highly recommend Detectorists.
I’ve been of the persuasion for years that this is a major reason why *MLP: Friendship is Magic *acquired such a large following of adult males; it was something that wasn’t dark and depressing.
As for why; too many people in the creative arts think that only dark and depressing is “True Art”. And they are so caught up on the idea of avoiding “cliches” about noble heroes and happy endings that they don’t seem able to realize that failure, darkness and cripplingly flawed protagonists are the cliche now.
And TV shows are usually written by multiple people which makes it worse; I recall a comment from an author years ago that whenever enough writers collaborate on something there’s always going to be at least one who thinks everything has to be dark and depressing, and they’ll drag everyone else down with them. Once somebody writes an episode where awful things happen, the other writers will have to deal with the aftermath rather than write something cheery.
I do watch both of them but I’m caught up on Netflix.
After season 1, Legends of Tomorrow is a straight up comedy.
On that note, I recommend She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on Netflix. I never saw any of the original, but this reboot is just funny, and charming - but not so kidsy that this 52 year old white male can’t enjoy it.
If you watched Boy Meets World back in the 90s, check out the follow up Girl Meets World. It’s the tv version of the warm fuzzies.
I was about 10 years too old for that show
I agree that a lot of shows out there right now are depressing as hell. Everyone dies, including the dog, civilization collapses, and did I mention the vampires/zombies/plague? We watch a fair amount of it. My husband says it helps him keep his problems in perspective. I’d probably never watch the stuff again if he weren’t the one with the remote.
I’ll second The Orville as something more light-hearted.
Jane The Virgin is warm, funny, sweet and has a whole bunch of telenovela tropes that get played around with for maximum effect. And the color palette is lovely and light and saturated. Plus there’s like six seasons available!
I do watch Orville.
Did I mention I have a lot of time to watch TV?
It’s a big reason why I don’t enjoy a lot of the recent popular / acclaimed shows. People who know me are stunned to learn that I don’t like Game of Thrones (which they think I’d love because I play D&D and am a Tolkien geek) or Mad Men (which they they think I’d love because I work in advertising). I’ve found that I just don’t enjoy shows or movies in which everyone is a terrible person, and / or in which horrible things just keep happening to people.
I agree with you. The never-ending post-apocalypse gets exhausting after a while. Even Star Trek is grimdark desperation these days.
Some good, wholesome light-hearted stuff in addition to those already mentioned:
The Good Place
Brooklyn Nine Nine
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
I know it doesn’t sound like it, but iZombie is quite light and comedic. It does indeed have a zombie invasion as its main thrust, and there is some soapy drama, but it’s not at all dark.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is bubbly and funny as all get out.
The Durrells is quite light, if you can find it. A British show based on Gerald Durrell’s book “My Family And Other Animals”.
Also British are light and frothy murder mysteries Death In Paradise, Father Brown, Shakespeare and Hathaway, and Agatha Raisin.
I don’t think I have seen a show in the last 20 years pushed as hard as this Orville show. I am just waiting for ‘my shows’ to come back after the big fat holly jolly holiday break. There is literally nothing on that I’m interested in right now, I want ‘Poldark’, ‘Baskets’, ‘American Horror Story’, and ‘The Walking Dead’ back on. Probably a couple other dark, gloomy, horrific, and depressing things I forgot.
That said, I fall asleep to the endless reruns of comedies, and I currently love ‘Mom’ - quite often hilarious, and generally uplifting despite some sad storylines.
Ooh, *The Magicians *started up again tonight with season four. You’ve probably watched this one but if you haven’t–well, I envy you that you have quite a treat in store.