My Top 3 Comfort Shows/Movies

Last week, I felt “meh.” I was a little stressed about school, the weather was cold and gloomy, and I felt deeply melancholic. I decided to make myself dinner and unwind for the rest of the evening. An idiosyncrasies of mine is that if I’m eating alone, I have to watch something while I eat. I don’t care if it’s a TV show or a YouTube video, or even a meager scroll through TikTok. I just want something to play. So that evening I settled onto the couch, switched on the TV and assessed my options. After finding nothing on Netflix and Crave, already halfway through my meal, I opened Disney+. That’s when I saw it; the title of a sitcom in all of its 90s retro glory: Boy Meets World. I gladly pressed play and finished the rest of my meal and evening on a lighter note. 

As the name suggests, a comfort show or movie is what you watch to relieve yourself of stress, anxiety, sadness, or to invoke nostalgia. No matter how many times you’ve watched the show/movie, it never fails to make you feel grounded and less overwhelmed. My selection of comfort shows/movies has been adjusted over the years, but in this post I will share my current top three in no particular order.

1. Boy Meets World (1993-2000)

I first watched Boy Meets World when I was 15 years old. Since then, I’ve revisited it every few years and it’s now one of my go-tos. The show follows Cory Matthews, a young boy who navigates school, romance, and friendship from sixth grade to university. Each episode finds Cory facing a new adventure with his best friend Shawn Hunter, childhood sweetheart Topanga Lawrence, and long-suffering teacher Mr. Feeny by his side. Every time I watch an episode, I long to be part of the characters’ friend group. Boy Meets World has everything you’d want in a 90s sitcom: hilarious punchlines, cheesy laugh tracks, and quintessential nineties fashion. It ran for 7 seasons, which means there’s a vast number of episodes to choose from.  

2. Martin (1992-1997)

When I was a kid, my parents had a Season 1-3 DVD set of Martin. We watched it all the time. Unfortunately, we moved out of my childhood home and lost track of the DVDs. Throughout high school and university, whenever I randomly remembered the show, I’d search for it on streaming platforms to no avail. It wasn’t until last year that I finally discovered it on HBO Max to my sheer delight. I started the show from Season 1 and watched at least 2 episodes every day. It was amazing how many plot lines I could still remember. Even more amazing was how many jokes I realized went right over my head as a kid. Martin stars Martin Lawrence as the titular character; a cocky, witty, and irreverent radio personality. He gets into ridiculous situations with his friends Tommy and Cole, his girlfriend Gina, and her friend Pam. One of the reasons I love this show is how electric the main cast’s chemistry is. Their friendship dynamic is fantastic and every character is scene-stealer. I highly recommend it.

3. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

This modern teen romcom made waves when it was released on Netflix in 2018. I watched it the night it came out with my friends, and I’ve rewatched it several times since. I love romantic comedies, but nowadays it seems like good ones are far and few between. So when I watched TATBILB, I not only found it incredibly charming but also refreshing. There is so much I love about the film: the cinematography, the soundtrack, the actors’ chemistry…I could go on! The film is about Lara Jean, an introverted hopeless romantic who writes a love letter to every crush she has as a means of expressing herself, but never mails them out. One day she comes home from school to discover the letters are missing and realises they’ve all been mailed to the recipients. It’s an endearing story that gives me the warm fuzzies every time I watch it. 

There are a few more shows/movies I watch to cheer myself up. Perhaps I’ll share them in another blog post.

What are your go-to comfort shows or movies? Are any of them on this list? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!