Current:Home > reviewsThe 2024 election is exhausting. Take a break with these silly, happy shows -TradeCircle
The 2024 election is exhausting. Take a break with these silly, happy shows
View
Date:2025-04-12 11:37:53
Thinking about the election? You're not alone.
Unless you're living in a internet, TV, billboard, lawn-sign and mail-free bubble, you're probably aware that the 2024 presidential election is coming up in just a few days. The contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is sucking up all the energy in seemingly every room close to the big day, as polls, policies and pundits flood the airwaves. It can all feel overwhelming.
While being an informed citizen who's up to date on the race and the candidates' stances and plans is admirable, there is such a thing as burning out on political news when the election is so emotional and heated. You don't need permission to take a break from CNN and peruse something a little lighter every once in a while. And if you don't have the brain power left to choose something good for a pick-me-up, we can take care of that.
We gathered five choices of happy-go-lucky, silly, funny and blissfully apolitical TV show categories you can watch when you are tapped out on Steve Kornacki's analysis of Pennsylvania counties. So stream, zone out, and recharge. And if you want to tune into election coverage when you're feeling better, just turn on any cable news channel, late night TV (including a live election night "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Comedy Central), and of course, our USA TODAY election coverage. But please, take care of yourself first.
Shows that remind you of the goodness of humanity like ... 'The Great British Baking Show'
Stream on: Netflix, Roku TV.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
There is no sweetness quite like the kind that comes with a perfectly baked bun on "The Great British Baking Show." The U.K.'s national treasure became a sensation across the pond for its focus on kindness, camaraderie, sunshine and sweet old ladies who love to bake cakes for their grandkids. It's hard to be unhappy while watching this kind of uplifting, craft-focused reality TV that gives you a smidge of competition but a lot of beautiful food and a lot of smiles. See also "The Great Pottery Throwdown" (Max) and "Making It" (Peacock) if you've already finished "Baking."
Shows that take you to another time and place like ... 'Doctor Who'
Stream on: Max, Disney+.
One of the best ways to escape real life is to disappear into a series that travels to faraway worlds. British sci-fi drama "Doctor Who" can take you anywhere in time and space, from alien planets to the age of the dinosaurs to prerevolutionary France, with its alien Doctor (currently Ncuti Gatwa) in his TARDIS spaceship/time machine. And there are so many episodes of the series, both from the classic era and the "new" one that began in 2005, you can pick and choose only the best to cheer you up. Try scary but satisfying "Blink" from Season 3 or silly and mysterious "The Unicorn and the Wasp" from Season 4. And if you want more science fiction to whisk you away in a spaceship, you could go for "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" (Paramount+) or "Futurama" (Hulu).
Reality TV with love, lust and melodrama like ... 'Love is Blind'
Stream on: Netflix.
Some may call it trash TV, but one person's trash is another's treasure trove of binge-watching. The latest season of Netflix's love-at-first-lack-of-sight reality show "Love is Blind" was taped in Washington, D.C., but the only politics it will remind you of are the relationship kind. This year's couples, who meet in anonymous "pods" and get engaged when they see each other for the first time, were among the most dramatic and histrionic of all seven seasons of the series, with a tumultuous reunion and plenty of twists. If you want something a little tamer and less seedy, try "The Golden Bachelorette" (ABC/Hulu), but for more on the lusty end of the spectrum, go for "Love Island" (Peacock) or "Too Hot to Handle" (Netflix).
Silly procedurals like ... 'Psych'
Stream on: Peacock, Prime Video.
If you like the familiarity and comfort of crime procedurals like "Law and Order: SVU" or "FBI" but want something a little more lighthearted, there was an era of TV in which USA Network delivered nothing but that kind of "blue sky" TV series. They offer a murder or a crime or a law case every week, but all the cops and civilian consultants joke over the dead body. The best of them is "Psych," about a super-observational detective (James Roday Rodriguez) who pretends to be a psychic so the police will hire him for help. It has the best characters and jokes, but you can find good-humored procedural high jinks on shows including: "Suits" (Netflix, Peacock), "White Collar" (Netflix, Hulu), "Monk" (Netflix, Peacock), "Burn Notice" (Netflix) and "Castle" (Roku TV, Hulu, Prime Video).
TV as sweet as pumpkin pie like ... Hallmark (or Netflix) Christmas movies
Stream on: Hallmark+, Netflix, others.
If you want something so very sweet it verges on treacly, it's never too early to just dive full on into Christmas season with cheesy, meet-cute movies from Hallmark, Netflix, Lifetime and others eager to cash in on the trend. Boy meets girl (or boy, or girl meets girl), and one's probably from a big city and the other from a small town. There's probably a Christmas-tree farm or a cookie-baking contest. Maybe there's a prince or a princess or a mistaken identity. But no matter what, there's a happy ending. And at the end of the day, we're all worried we won't get a happy ending this election. So go escape into some guaranteed cheer for a while.
veryGood! (3)
Related
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Jack Gohlke joins ESPN's Pat McAfee after Oakland's historic March Madness win vs. Kentucky
- Trump says he has nearly $500 million in cash but doesn’t want to use it to pay New York judgment
- Blake Lively Apologizes for Silly Joke About Kate Middleton Photoshop Fail Following Cancer Diagnosis
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Republican Mike Boudreaux advances to special election to complete term of ousted Speaker McCarthy
- Polyamory is attracting more and more practitioners. Why? | The Excerpt
- Man pleads guilty to using sewer pipes to smuggle people between Mexico and U.S.
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- FACT FOCUS: Tyson Foods isn’t hiring workers who came to the U.S. illegally. Boycott calls persist
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Inmate seriously injured in a hit-and-run soon after his escape from a Hawaii jail
- Jack Gohlke joins ESPN's Pat McAfee after Oakland's historic March Madness win vs. Kentucky
- Regina King Offers Sweet Gesture to Jimmy Kimmel During Conversation After Her Son's Death
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- You could buy a house in Baltimore for $1, after plan OK'd to sell some city-owned properties
- Kate Middleton Receives Well-Wishes From Olivia Munn and More After Sharing Cancer Diagnosis
- Target doubles bonuses for salaried employees after profits jump in 2023
Recommendation
DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
Nearly 108,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2022, breaking record, CDC says
Elena Larrea, Social Media Influencer and Animal Activist, Dead at 31
Here's How Jamie Lee Curtis Reacted To Chef José Andrés' Kitchen Mishap While Filming For His New Show
Have Dry, Sensitive Skin? You Need To Add These Gentle Skincare Products to Your Routine
California doubles water allocation for most contractors following February storms
Deaths of dog walker, 83, and resident of a remote cabin possibly tied to escaped Idaho inmate
Blake Lively Apologizes for Silly Joke About Kate Middleton Photoshop Fail Following Cancer Diagnosis