I’ve been feeling down lately and I started re-watching futurama for some good nostalgia, but it keeps making transphobic jokes which is kind of just making me feel worse. Anyone have any suggestions for comfort shows to watch?
The Owl House
Adventure Time
Tuca & Bertie
Over The Garden Wall
Steven Universe
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Owl House, yes!
Sold!
holy , i gotta rewatch over the garden walll. that was so good
Bluey!
It’s cute, it’s short, and it’s great for de-stressing! I put it on almost any time I’m feeling anxious or depressed
It’s written so wonderfully, and can be fully enjoyed by adults just as well as kids
Came here to say Bluey!! My partner and I (both grown ass adults) watch it together and cry tears of joy as we let it re-parent us!! Such a wonderful show!
To tack on “kids shows that are just fine thank you very much” I really enjoy “Tinga Tinga Tales” The animation is crazy, music beautiful, the stories interesting (folk tales) and the characters fun. Great way to wind down for 20 minutes, finding out Why Frog Croaks.
Ted Lasso
Adventure time
Steven Universe
Out Flag Means Death
The Good Place
What We Do In The Shadows
To add what has already been mentioned: She-Ra and Steven Universe.
Steven, especially the first few seasons is super feel good low impact chill show.
Gravity falls is also pretty great for this.
Our flag means death - comedy about an english lord becoming a pirate, their crew and adventures. It’s funny, cute and often heartfelt.
Schitt’s Creek and Ted Lasso are great feel good shows with inclusive themes.
They’re not fiction, but two that work for me are Great British Bake-Off and Taskmaster. The people on GBBO are so positive and helpful, it’s a welcome change from American cooking competitions. Taskmaster is creative and silly, always good for a laugh.
Second the recommendation of Ted Lasso. Ted is a wonderful example of a person who doesn’t understand something, knows he doesn’t understand, but his heart is in the right place and he wants to learn.
Series 15 of Taskmaster featured Mae Martin, a nonbinary comedian
They were fantastic as well!
The series with Mike Wozniak should be avoided unless you’re okay with passing out laughing.
The New Zealand version has a different dynamic, but I enjoy it as least as much as the OG.
Great Canadian Baking Show is similarly positive. Everyone is so nice it hurts! They often help each other finish challenges and it’s a competition show :)
Bake Off is pretty much pure comfort. It’s just perfect in every way.
The American version isn’t bad either. It avoids the worst of reality show tropes, and it still has Paul Hollywood, so not bad at all.
My ultimate comfort show is Star Trek: the Next Generation. If it’s just me in the house and nothing good in my video queue that’s what I’ll turn on for noise.
I don’t remember there being transphobic jokes in The Golden Girls, so maybe that?
Just the opposite! There’s an episode with a trans man, and it’s (according to one trans person on youtube) a really good portrayal. It might be both the most progressive and least problematic sitcom out there
There aren’t transphobic jokes as far as I remember but it does become mentioned as a plot point a few times, that for the time was pretty good but now it would be dated.
The example that comes to mind is (relatively mild but be wary) >! an episode where Sophia tells Dorothy about a guy that she insists “used to be a girl”, and Dorothy doesn’t believes her. Later in the episode the guy, in fact, comes out that “I used to be a girl” to a group of people, Dorothy surprised about that. !<
EDIT: found this https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/friends-of-dorothy-was-the-golden-girls-really-as-queer-friendly-as-its-reputation-suggests-213923/
Honestly groundbreaking for its time
Here lots to choose from
3rd Rock From the Sun (comedy)
Barry (Dark comedy)
The Venture Bros (comedy)
Drawn Together (cartoon parody of big brother)
Scrubs (comedy drama)
Allo Allo (70’s WWII comedy)
Ted Lasso (drama comedy)
Travelers (thriller/action drama)
ST:TNG / DS9 / Voyager (90’s Star Trek)
Battlestar Galactica (Epic Space drama)
Quantum Leap (89-93) (unique drama)
Mr Bean (comedy)
Dragonball Abridged (Parody that followsbthe DB story)
Fawlty Towers (70’s English comedy)
MASH (70’s Korea war hospital drama/comedy)
Avenue 5 (if current CEO’s got to run a space cruise company)
Better off Ted (parody invention company)
Dexter + New blood (drama)
Drew Carry show (comedy)
Happy Tree friends (when I’m feeling sadistic)
It Crowd (comedy)
The Newsroom (drama)
Parks and Recreation (comedy)
Silicon Valley (parody of the real silicon valley)
Stargate (any of them)
I’ll be the one to spoil IT Crowd, it has at least one poor portrayal of a trans woman. Avoid anything associated with Graham Linehan.
Agreed about IT Crowd. I watched it for the first time like 2 years ago and there was a whole episode that was awful.
Drawn Together
No, oh definitely not. It’s funny but it has anti-everything jokes, including anti trans. They’re an equal opportunity offender against all groups.
I mean that’s the beauty, no limits! Easy Zander, EASY!
Scrubs unfortunately has a few transphobic and homophobic jokes. One episode is particularly bad. I rewatched it recently and it really stood out.
It Crowd (comedy)
except for that joke in s3e4 that led to graham going all terf central
Mash and Allo Allo both have no shortage of jokes about cross-dressing and plenty of casual sexism. Fawlty Towers … is also a product of it’s time, any good parts get outweighed by the bad parts.
The cross dressing in MASH was Klinger trying to get classified as a crazy (section 8?) And isn’t making fun of trans people. Allo Alloonlyl never made fun of trans people, cross dressing in that show was not about making fun of trans people but making fun about how Germans are kinksters (I’m assuming herrflick in lingerie) every other ‘cross dressing’ was for disguises. Do you also take offence to this
Klinger wants to get classified as crazy by wearing dresses, which implies that wearing different clothes is a sign of mental illness. Herr Flick gets sexual gratification from wearing women’s clothes, thus implying that wearing different clothes is something only a sexual deviant would do. Both of these stereotypes continue to be used to harm Trans women.
Klinger wants to get classified as crazy by wearing dresses, which implies that wearing different clothes is a sign of mental illness
Until very recently you’d be kicked out of the army for being gay or trans. Klinger was simply taking advantage of a broken system, we have no idea what his personal beliefs on crossdressing were.
That’s why I take the opportunity to litter any chance I get. /s
Though seriously, if they want to trans ban me from WW3 with China, Russia, and North Korea I really don’t mind at all. Go send all the cis-hets to die in countries they can’t point to without a labeled map to spite me.
Wonka “No, Stop, Don’t” intensifies
Luckily they realized after Vietnam that draftees who don’t want to be there don’t really give it their all. You bring up an interesting point though, all men in the country have to register for selective service at 18, I wonder if that still applies to trans women who haven’t updated their paperwork yet
Anyway, hypotheticals aside, I think it’s good that gay or trans people who want to serve in the armed forces have that option now
Absolutely, there shouldn’t be anything to stop those individuals from serving on their own volition.
luckily they realized after Vietnam that… (conscripts) … who don’t want to be there don’t really give it their all.
It was 2006-2007 I was a really big 9/11 truther, any time people would talk about a draft I used to rebut “I don’t want to go there, and I want to die anyways, go ahead and give me a gun and force me to go, let’s see how many Americans I can kill with sabotage and a rampage.”
It blows my mind that we still have people who think a conscription effort would be anything but detrimental.
Speaking of, anyone else notice the semantic propaganda that is the word draft/ conscript? Our enemies are evil and they conscript their men to fight in pointless wars, but we on the other hand draft our young heroes to selflessly serve their country.
That’s the motivations of the character, he was in a dress in a comedy so that people could laugh at him.
To be clear, having seen M.A.S.H, this is correct. And you’re right about the way that the narratives it plays into continue to be used to harm trans women.
If that’s how ya wanna take it, you do you. Ya notice how Klinger was a main character that everyone else regarded as being mentally fit? I think that speaks volumes more than a single negative Once again, Germans are kinksters, are ya kink shaming Herflick now?
They were both in their respective shows so that people could laugh at them, not with them.
Removed by mod
DS9
Unless you count the gender bending jokes surrounding Trill issues that have been made once or twice. Or the time Kira ruined a deal Quark was trying to make by editing his hologram program of her to have his head on a female body to disgust his buyer.
Actually curious what people think about those, along with Drew’s brother on the Drew Carry show.
I also think there was gender swap in 3rd rock played for laughs, but I might be misremembering gender differences for an alien. I also don’t recall the episodes so not sure if it was just poking fun at gender as a whole.
Similarly, I think scrubs has some references that may be unpleasant but on the whole they tend to be good or thoughtful when dealing with subjects that at the time weren’t always represented well.
Unfortunately, a lot of older shows have unpleasant jokes. We just have to realize that jokes were a way to discuss the taboo and if we didn’t have those jokes back then, we might not have the progress to today. That’s not to say we want them now but we should judge the media on the knowledge and morals of the time.
There’s also an episode where Quark undergoes gender reassignment in order to close a deal, which is played for laughs and includes lines about women being sensitive because of their hormones. It sticks out because it’s just horrible, while she show is generally good.
Sorry I can’t please everyone. Maybe ST: Discovery in more you speed?
If you have a problem with Drew’s brother you have some issues of your own.
Guys literally brought up issues regarding trans people, like getting employment. Remember how Steve got the job in the perfume(?) section?
I’m sorry you assume I have any issues with them when I literally stated I was curious what others thought about them.
Sorry, was generalizing didn’t mean you specifically
The Venture Bros does have a couple of borderline transphobic jokes about Dr. Mrs. The Monarch in one episode
Fuckin hell can we hang out? What’s your discord or something?
I don’t have discord server I use, just hop around a bunch of em like Mint Blitz, 3d Printing, LTT, EVE online And also trolling around Lemmy Don’t use much else
My partner and I have been really enjoying Spy X Family. Its a nice little found family/comedy series with very wholesome content.
The premise is that the titular Spy has an assignment to make contact with a total shut-in who only appears in public for events at his son’s school. So the Spy adopts a child from a shady orphanage and meets a woman who is willing to fake being his wife to get his child into the elite school. Of course, the child he adopted can read minds and the woman he fake married is secretly an assassin. No one but the child knows the truth about everyone and they’re each so focused on hiding their own secrets they don’t catch on to the others. The series isn’t complete yet, but so far the major theme is them coming to genuinely value their little family as more than a convenient facade.
Its just such a cute show, and I go back and forth between cackling and tearing up at how cute they all are. The only thing I think is particularly off about the show is the assassins brother. He’s a secret police officer and also incestuously obsessed with his sister. Its a weird inclusion, but he is made fun of by the narrative for his behavior and that is enough for me to still enjoy how good the rest of the show is
pushing daisies!! ❤️❤️
also my so called life
oh and schmigadoon if you have apple tv :)
Dogs in Space
Farscape
She-ra and the Princesses of Power
All are scifi, the top two are sillier and the bottom two are longer and get a bit serious and emotional at times.
If you haven’t seen Farscape and you like scifi space opera wackiness and Jim Henson puppets, seriously give it a go. It’s very comforting and fun.
Farscape is a deep cut.
Even Sillier than that is a British comedy called “Red Dwarf” and as far as I recall there is no transphobia. The closest I remember is an episode where the main character ends up in an alternate dimension with the female version of himself. They hit it off and the male main character of the series ends up pregnant, to his distress. At the time I remember it being a really interesting way to bring up gender dynamics without being too laboring, though it’s been a while, and I also haven’t seen the new seasons they apparently made after the show got cult status.
Edit to add: a Reddit thread has this to say about Red Dwarf and being trans
In series 8, Kryten is assigned to women’s prison wing, just because he doesn’t have a penis when he clearly resembles a male, sounds like a male and acts like a male. That’s regardless of the fact that he has no chromosomes because he’s an android (not even gynoid, so another good point). The show makes it out as ridiculous that the only reason why he’s treated as female only because of his lack of penis.
Also, in the episode DNA, it’s shown that when he’s turned into human male, he’s still an android on the inside because he clearly feels discomfort from certain dysphoria, where he finds appliances sexually attractive and inability to adjust to human biology lacking robotic features.
Edit to add to the edit, I forgot the ships on board computer actually does upgrade themselves to present female
Holly upgrading to female is the first trans representation my GenX child self saw in life.
Farscape is problematic as well.
Humans! Are! Superior!
I joke. But Farscape got me through more than one breakup. Very queer friendly. It didn’t shy away from being fetish friendly as well. Rigel in a dominatrix suit still delights me. Described by one critic as, “One American’s introduction to the Australian S&M scene.”
Since most of the effects were practical, they aged far better than my other faves, DS9 and Babylon 5.
The Expanse is the best television I have ever seen and is extremely queer friendly. It’s dark, but so was Farscape.
Eh I’d quite confidently say Farscape is far less problematic than any other show of it’s era and a great many after it.
And humans are not superior in that universe, they once believed they were and evolved into universally hated (but really hot) hyperfascists. Bringing them down was one of the biggest eventual arcs in the show and it wasn’t done by Chriton being superior, he just had wormhole weapon tech in his head that he didn’t want and believed nobody should have.
Chriton is one of the most basic life forms in that part of the galaxy too, he’s barely more sentient than food and it’s mentioned almost once an episode. He gets by by the skin of his teeth and his only real skills are maths and making friends/pissing people off.
(I do like that he also looks like a bit of a gormless idiot too, and testament to the writing and actor as he never comes across as an entitled white boy either.)Babylon 5 has held up better than DS9 in my opinion, like both are good but B5 is just very clearly much better. The Expanse is fantastic though I agree with you fully there.
(Btw I’m not really arguing with you about anything here, I just wanted to rant about Farscape a little as I love it dearly.)
Totally meant as tongue in cheek. Farscape could be re-released today without any changes and still be considered to be fantastic and queer friendly.
The context is Crichton covered in regurgitated white “stuff”, carrying a sword two sizes too big, nerdy goggles, and a shield made of hull plating. Aeryn’s expression ofz “we’re fucked” makes the scene for me.
Like @Froyn said, Bob’s Burgers is super cozy.
Trailer Park Boys