The new Magnum, PI is overall pretty light.
Have you tried Atypical on NetFlix? I’ve found that show to be a feel-good masterpiece with plenty of touching moments and some light drama. It’s pretty funny too.
My new favorite is Derry Girls. Need to turn on the subtitles but is great fun. I’ll also go with Death in Paradise, very light approach to murder. But I must admit I’m very much anticipating Westworld and American Gods return.
Watch The Great British Baking Show (which is the Netflix title for The Great British Bakeoff). Fucking A++ in “light and cheery” and not a comedy/sitcom.
I second The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I loved watching that, and can’t wait for season 3 to some out.
Lucifer is fun.
The Expanse is solid sci-fi. Occasionally intense, but not post-apocalyptic dark.
Blacklist somewhat silly premise (ok, very silly premise) but James Spader makes the show.
Elementary US take on Sherlock Holmes. Murder mysteries yes, end of world no.
Life in Pieces take on a modern family in short vignettes. Funny with a strong cast.
Jack Ryan - Amazon’s take on the Tom Clancy series. I liked it.
Altered Carbon - Science fiction show by Netflix
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - fun(-ish) peek into the life of a teenage witch.
Disenchanted - fantasy animated series about an unconventional princess
Dragon Prince - new fantasy animated series by the folks who did Avatar (the show, not the movie)
I would not recommend Mom - we enjoy the heck out of it, but about every third episode seems to have a death or estrangement or some other sad thing.
I also liked Future Man, a Hulu Original. Yes, there is killing and some characters hail from a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but it played very absurdist. The complaints of the characters are more like old men complaining about today’s pampered youth, than a serious dive into life in the sewers. There’s also time travel, played up in hilariously disturbing ways in season 2.
I love Life In Pieces. I’m also going to recommend-- for like the millionth time-- Frankie and Grace on Netflix.
To approach this from a different angle, I think Loach taking comedies out of the equation screws up the equation.
A lot of comedies have been getting more drama-y lately, with the increased move towards single-camera shows with smart writers. The role of “light drama” has dwindled, because you can get the same amount of drama WITH some jokes now. And shows like Orange is the New Black or Mrs. Maisel are splitting the difference pretty damn effectively.
“Light dramas” kinda only existed because network TV couldn’t get away with anything edgy. Now that streaming services are making content (and networks have gotten a bit bolder), darker material is just popping to the forefront more.
Sex Education on Netflix is great and Gillian Anderson is, as always, perfect.
Not dark, but not light either; more intense and stressful than anything else.
I will say that the showrunners have missed their boat by not playing up the comic relief that’s in the books; they’ve made Amos an almost autistic and childlike grim character, when in the books he’s both more congenial AND more scary than in the TV show. And Avasarala; well, they won’t broadcast most of what makes her hilarious in the books.
re: Altered Carbon- Unless the TV show is significantly different than the book, it’s also not a lighthearted story either- it’s intensely interesting and thought-provoking, but there’s not a lot of light moments in there.
Maybe Shameless?
I used to enjoy watching dark intense shows built around morally unlikable characters like the Sopranos and Breaking Bad, but I’ve found my tolerances for those kind of shows, except in short doses has really declined in the past two years. I’m also not a huge fan of the traditional sitcom, which is also not a good format for binging.
I would add to recommendations for the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Detectorists, Death In Paradise, and Legends of Tomorrow.
I’ve always been a big animation buff, and I’ve been watching (and re-watching)a lot of cartoons, which obvious tend toward the light side.
-She-Ra and The Princesses of Power: I’m a child of the 80s, but I hated He-Man and never watched She-Ra. However, this is a pretty solid and fun show so far, with good interplay among the characters.
-Hilda: Another Netflix show. Utterly charming light-hearted urban fantasy set in picturesque Northern Europe.
-The Dragon Prince: Another Netflix show, from the Avatar:The Last Airbender team It’s setting up to be as big Western fantasy epic.
Highly, highly recommend.
I have two theories that contradict each other: The first is that things were feeling so uplifting and good that people needed darker shows, and shows haven’t caught up to people feeling down.
The second is that people, particularly the millennial demo everyone goes for, are feeling down, and so we want darker stuff.
Either way, I totally agree with you, and my result is just that, when I do watch actual TV instead of Interent content, it’s all pretty much comedies and kids shows. The darkest stuff I watch are the late night TV shows do to them having to discuss the real life news.
It’s Internet video with people I like that I usually wind up watching. But that would be another thread.
Schitt’s Creek is my current favorite show that’s not heavy. Older seasons are on Netflix and new ones are airing on Pop, I believe.
…well let me put it this way: a couple of funny scenes (that I had already seen on youtube) aren’t necessarily indicative of tone, and it would take a lot more than what you’ve shown here to bring me back to the series. If I have to sit through death and dismemberment and rape to be rewarded with a few ridiculous things then I’ll give it a pass.
Have you tried Rosehaven? Mrs Piper binged it and I watched some of it. Enjoyed it.
I’d recommend Doc Martin and Murdoch Mysteries.
A Series of Unfortunate Events poses as dark and depressing - the narrator constantly tells you that terrible things are going to happen and that you should definitely watch something else - but it’s actually very silly and campy. If nothing else it’s worth watching for Neil Patrick Harris’ performance as Count Olaf.