Some Shows I Watch To Chill Out A Little

Hello and welcome to 2026. Everyone seems very stressed out. That’s the vibe I’ve been getting, both online and from people in the physical world. There are reasons for this, of course, many of which are very important and are discussed at length at blogs other than this one and therefore do not need to be discussed here, ever, not even a little. Others are less consequential on a macro level. Some people just get fried by the holidays, or are overwhelmed by what the next year holds, or JUST NEED THE GODDAMN PHILADELPHIA EAGLES TO DISPLAY A COHERENT OFFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY FOR A FEW WEEKS IN A ROW, JESUS CHRIST.

Sorry.

A few people actually reached out to me over my little break recently to ask for recommendations for things they should watch to chill out a little. I answered them each privately, but I’m also gonna round up some of my recommendations here. There are tons of good shows out there across 100 different streaming services, but a lot of them are very intense. You don’t always want an intense show. Or a dour one. Or one that bums you out. Sometimes you just want something to watch for 30-90 minutes to clear your head a little. Lord knows I do. 

Here are some of the things I watch to do just that. Feel free to share some of your own. People helping people, man. That’s what it's all about. 

Detroiters (Netflix)

One of my favorite shows ever, made by Comedy Central before Tim Robinson became a huge deal — he was actually kind of billed as “Veep star Sam Richardson’s buddy” when the show came out — and just a delight. Silly, extremely dumb, just two buddies doing a bunch of things that make them laugh and hoping everyone else comes along for the ride. I will often watch an episode or two before bed. I have yet to have a nightmare about being named Chump of the Week. It’s a good time. 

Loot (Apple TV)

Maya Rudolph plays an out-of-touch rich lady whose heart grows 10 sizes when she divorces her jackass billionaire husband and decides to get way into charity. This is a good premise for a show. 

Taskmaster (YouTube)

I just got into Taskmaster recently, when Jason Mantzoukas became the first American contestant on the long-running British panel show. Now I’m way into it, digging through the archives of previous seasons to watch various groups of comedians devolve into anarchy as they attempt to complete increasingly nutty challenges. There are like 100 episodes of this sucker on YouTube. For free. It’s crazy. This can get you through until summer if you need it to. 

Additional reality-based options:

• Many people have recommended I watch The Traitors, which I haven't done yet, so while I can’t personally vouch for it, I feel I should mention it here so they don’t yell at me again
• You can watch 24 seasons of How It's Made on HBO Max if you want and no one can stop you

Speaking of old shows with a huge back catalog… 

Columbo (Peacock/Tubi)

THERE ARE DOZENS OF EPISODES OF COLUMBO AVAILABLE ON PEACOCK AND TUBI

LIKE, RIGHT NOW

I AM SORRY FOR YELLING

I JUST THINK WE SHOULD ALL BE TALKING ABOUT THIS MORE

AS A SOCIETY

Shoresy (Hulu)

I discovered Shoresy, a Canadian show about a bunch of goofball hockey players from Letterkenney creator Jared Keeso, last year and promptly binged the whole series in like a month. It’s now one of my favorite shows. I wrote about it here. The new season debuts in America later this year. This is the perfect time for a watch or rewatch, if only so I have more people to talk about it with. 

Travel shows, generally

I love a fun travel show. Conan O’Brien gallivanting around doing bits on HBO Max? Yes, always. Eugene Levy doing his whole schtick in various locations on Apple TV? Of course. Classic like Rick Steves, who recently made the news for being an extremely good dude? Line ‘em up. 

It’s always nice to make the world feel a little smaller and realize most of us are more similar than we realize. That’s comforting. Sometimes they eat food that makes you hungry. That’s why you have pretzels in the cabinet. 

Harley Quinn (HBO Max)

What we have here:

• An animated series from Abbott Elementary producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker 
• A combination of heart and the foulest and silliest jokes you’ve ever seen committed to the screen
• A depiction of Bane that is so funny that it kind of ruined the character for me forever, in a good way, to whatever degree that is possible

Also, Kaley Cuoco appears to be having a blast doing the voice of Harley Quinn. Good for her, man. 

Sporting events you don’t have a rooting interest in

Not everyone is into sports. I get that. I am, though. And while, as mentioned above, I love watching my beloved local sports teams drive me completely insane, it can also be cool to watch something you have no huge stake in, just to go on the ride. I watched a college football game between Montana State and Illinois State the other night. I didn’t even know those were colleges before I turned it on. It ended up being one of the wildest and most enjoyable sporting events I’ve seen in months, and my blood pressure never spiked through the ceiling. Tough to ask for more. 

On this note: The Olympics start next month. You could do a whole lot worse than briefly becoming consumed with the intricacies of obscure winter sports being played at the highest level possible by people who have dedicated their entire lives to them.  

News bloopers

Hmm. Was this whole thing just an excuse to post a 30-minute roundup of the best news bloopers from 2025, a collection of reporters flubbing lines in embarrassing fashion or catching a devastating and highly contagious case of the giggles on live television?

Perhaps. Perhaps it was. Although I do stand by the other stuff, too. 

This is the thing where I pitch you on subscribing and especially upgrading. I really enjoy doing this newsletter. I hope you enjoy reading it. If you do, please consider smashing the button below and supporting me so I can keep doing it.

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STUFF I CLICKED ON

— Pluribus roundup because I've been on break for a while: Sepinwall on the final scene; good chat with Rhea Seehorn; good blog by Alison Herman about how the show was slow (complimentary) as opposed to boring 

— oh helllllllll yes, The Lowdown is coming back for Season 2

— Bilge Ebiri on movie marketing being stinky now 

— god bless Linda Holmes for including number 39 on her annual year-end list of 50 wonderful things

— dug this thing about the real ping pong hustler who inspired Marty Supreme

— Isiah Whitlock Jr. passed away, which sucks, but it did result in a bunch of people sharing his awesome Random Roles entry at The AV Club, which was a tiny silver lining

— I am really pumped for the new Muppet Show, and not just because I called this over a year ago

— former South Park writer bought the URL for TrumpKennedyCenter.com and used it to be a rascal, which I support 

— lol the church from the new Knives Out movie is the same one from the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up

— huge shoutout (and speedy recovery) to the Disney employee who saved crowd members from a runaway prop boulder at the Indiana Jones live show

— heck yeah, Kumail Nanjiani is gonna be on Taskmaster

— for very different reasons, I enjoyed watching the trailers for the new Peaky Blinders movie and the one where Nic Cage plays John Madden

— my buddy Andy Isaac was posthumously inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and when this article popped up in my feed I started crying immediately, which he would have made fun of me for

— a hacker dressed as the Pink Ranger went on stage during a big hacking conference and deleted three white supremacist websites while the audience whooped and cheered

— lobster heist

— drill-based bank heist

— “‘Sorry, I been drunk’: Thief returns stolen mandolins to New Jersey guitar store with apology note”

— “Missing wallaby found near Walmart after escaping animal sanctuary”

— big cheese news

— lol Cher

— I am so proud of these gentlemen

Okay, that's it for this week. Please subscribe and share and try to chill out a little.