Latest Love // Wholesome Comedies

Latest Love is a series of posts where I talk about a recent obsession. This could be a bookish obsession or otherwise - anything that has been making me happy recently that I feel like sharing. The important thing about this feature is that it isn't a review. This is just a way of me expressing a few reasons why I like something, and maybe find some more people to talk about it with. 😊

Up until the last two years I didn't watch a lot of comedies. If you found me watching any TV it would be filled with science fiction, fantasy, and the supernatural. Although In the Flesh, Person of Interest, and Buffy are still favourites of mine, these days I've been in the mood for more humour.

I think part of the reason I was uninterested in comedies was because I thought a lot of them would be cruel or gross or immature. I'm not sure where this belief came from, but I've learnt that humour can also be incredibly sweet and pure, and that that kind of thing actually appeals to people. I love that so many people connect with shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Good Place, which don't rely on belittling others in order to create entertainment. They are hopeful and motivational and show a world where people can be better, and I love that they can make so many people smile.

I was going to do four seperate Latest Love posts for these shows, but I realised that their themes fit so well together that if you like just one of them, you're almost garunteed to love the others.

The Good Place

The Good Place was the show I most recently finished, and I adored it. It's about a woman who finds herself in The Good Place, and realises that she was put there by mistake. The hijinks the characters get up to in order for Eleanor to avoid going to The Bad Place are so entertaining, and Michael's weird afterlife which he created for people is charming if not a little rediculous.

The first episode sets up what can already be gathered from the trailer, and at times the first season feels like it can't go anywhere beyond the premise. But stick with it, because the finale makes it all so worth it, and it's impossible to resist binging the second season immediately.

The characters are all simultaneously awful and wonderful. Even when they are being absurd it's impossible not to love them. (Also can we please take a moment to appreciate the diversity? I would have been very annoyed if heaven was all white Americans.) Plus for a show about the afterlife, it doesn't ever feel too dark. The Good Place is an incredibly sweet show, and one that will keep surprising you.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Normally when I binge watch a show I start to skip the theme tune, but I can never bring myself to do it with Brooklyn Nine-Nine. This show has the best opening sequence and the goofiest characters. There's something about a group of detectives acting like children that is difficult not to enjoy.

As a comedy, the characters are where this show shines. Everyone has their favourites, and they are lovable whatever situation they are placed in. What makes it even better is that the show is incredibly diverse. The number of POC to white people is almost completely balanced out, and the show features a badass bisexual Latina woman and a gay black man in a position of authority.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine subverts so many stereotypes, and is political without being forceful. It's not without it's flaws but I love it regardless, and it isn't just the characters. Every season has recurring episodes to look forward to (the Halloween Heists are my favourites), and the final few epsiodes of each season are filled with drama. If you haven't watched this show yet I'd highly recommend it.

Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation is a ball of reckless optimism and sunshine. It's about a woman who cares about her tiny fraction of the government more than anyone should have a right to, and the cast of characters she works with.

This show is a lot like Brooklyn Nine-Nine in that it's got a kind of childish sense of humour. It is less action focused, but what drives it more is how motivational it is. Leslie Knope approaches everything she does with unfathomable positivity, and the series has a perfect group dynamic which I adore. The characters are very different from one another in both personalities and political opinions, but no perspective is treated as right or wrong. It shows people who are very different working together in harmony and forming very strong friendships despite their differences.

I found the first season a little difficult to get into, but it's only six episodes long, and after that I couldn't stop watching. It's the show that makes me want to be a better person and make this world a better world.

Pushing Daisies

Pushing Daisies is the only one of these wholesome shows that I did not watch recently, so my memory is a little foggy. But I'm pretty sure this show invented wholesome-ness.

The show is about a pie maker named Ned who can wake dead bodies by touching them. If he touches them again they die, but if he doesn't touch them again within a minute, someone else takes their place. But when his childhood sweetheart dies, he decides that he isn't going to let her stay dead. The show is both a romance and a murder mystery where Ned and Chuck team up with a detective to solve crimes. Ned and Chuck can't so much as hold hands, but their love remains strong and completely adorable.

The way Pushing Daisies is set up is also adorable. It features quirky settings and an impossibly blue sky, and it's narrated like a fairytale. The show was cancelled far too soon, but it's short and really worth the watch.

What is your latest love? Do you have any favourite comedies? Have you watched any of these wholesome shows too?

All gifs from giphy (1, 2, 3, 4)