Reality is stressful—and despite our best efforts, almost impossible to avoid. Technology, with its whiz-bang push alerts demanding our constant attention, is making us crazy. The news cycle isn't just ceaseless, it's straight-up depressing for people of every imaginable ideology. We’re all exhausted, nervous, and in need of a break.
Thankfully, there's television. (Not news. All the rest of it.) And this year there are a number of Emmy-nominated shows that can be very therapeutic. They won't cure anything, but they'll help take the edge off the anxiety—think of them like an entertainment version of Xanax. And the following recommendations are your prescription.
First, though, a word on methodology. Some truly great shows won't be found on this list, and that’s because they're either too real (like Atlanta, which even with its magical realism captures the ethos of 2018 so well it cannot be called an escape), too close to the news cycle (ahem, The Americans) or just not relaxing at all (Westworld, Game of Thrones, anything with creeping, ever-ratcheting tension like Ozark). Also, I was going to include Mozart in the Jungle, but was informed by a classical musician that it makes for very stressful watching for people in that field. That said, if you know nothing about classical music, go ahead and add that to this list. (And hey, maybe listen to some classical music sometime!)
Nominations: 2
How have you not watched this show yet? Oh my god, it’s so good I don’t even want to tell you anything about it. But since I have to, here’s what you should know. Sanda Oh, who yesterday became the first Asian-American woman to get an Emmy nomination for leading actress, plays a brilliant but underappreciated MI5 investigator who’s obsessed with a quirky female serial killer. The show is a dance between these two women who are out to take each other down. As they get closer, their respect for each other grows and tiptoes right up to the completely inappropriate. Somehow, the show manages to be sexy and funny and feel like a rollicking good time, even as its central action is vicious and cold-blooded. Come for the acting performances, stay for the weird and wonderful costumes, and rewatch to hear all the accents.
Where to Find: Amazon, Google Play
Nominations: 11
Scene by scene, Barry—about a hit man who really just wants to be an actor—is very much a show about Hollywood, about the earnest people drawn there to make it big. But it’s also a show about murdering people. A lot of people. And though that may not sound relaxing, Bill Hader (who stars as Barry), Henry Winkler (who plays his acting coach), and the rest of the cast manage to bring a sweetness that makes the whole thing almost heartwarming. Barry just wants to be loved! To be seen! From the cops to the mob bosses to the struggling actors, the people in Barry’s world want what we all want: to be useful, do our best, make friends, and get some respect. Sure, there’s bloodshed, but everyone’s intentions are good. That mirth, combined with the utter ridiculousness of the plot, makes Barry an effective, if violent, escape from the cruelty of the real world.
Where to Find: HBO Go/Now
Nominations: 4
Antivenom for the snakebite that’s divided America. Its nomination for Outstanding Structured Reality Program is worded perfectly, for one can only wish their reality were structured like Queer Eye. In each episode, five empathetic and loving experts enter the life of some wayward soul and solve all their problems. A reboot of Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the new (and improved) version preaches radical acceptance and has tackled issues like homophobia— naturally—but also racism, transphobia, religious exclusion, and broader themes of loneliness, guilt, and fear of failure. At the end of every episode, a life has been changed, furniture has been rearranged, a strange appetizer has been cooked, and people are weeping happy tears.
Where to Find: Netflix
Nominations: 3
Starring the two funniest and most talented women in Hollywood—Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, who is nominated for lead actress—Grace and Frankie is a female revenge fantasy, in which friendship and dildos are the methods of choice. Longtime frenemies are forced to live together after their husbands, who have a law firm together, admit they’ve fallen in love with each other. High-jinks ensue as they learn to love each other, smoke pot, paint vaginas, and cook up edible lubricant for senior women. Unless that somehow sounds like your normal life—in which case I want to be your friend—the show is a great distraction from reality.
Where to Find: Netflix
Nominations: 2
A silly comedy about a woman who grew up in an underground bunker as part of a doomsday cult—and then has to deal with modern New York City after being rescued. The premise allows for easy fish-out-of-water laughs, but with the world feeling so strange and unfamiliar to many people in 2018, Kimmy embodies the alienation we all feel (the same one that’s leading us to want to binge a TV show in the first place). But don’t think about that part, OK? Because then the show will be less fun. Just focus on moments like when Kimmy’s roommate Titus, played by Titus Burgess in an Emmy-nominated performance, decides to “live as a bed” because love is hard. I feel you, Titus, every day.
Where to Find: Netflix
Nominations: 3
Like Planet Earth before it, Blue Planet is a celebration of this home we’re all bound to (much to Elon Musk’s chagrin). With beautiful, sweeping shots, the franchise's second iteration shows us our world like we’re never able to see it. It’s a celebration of the variety of life forms our planet supports, and the different terrains and eco-systems that dot Earth’s surface. It’s mesmerizing and humbling and will fill you with awe—and maybe the desire to stop using plastic straws.
Where to Find: iTunes/Amazon/Google Play
- PHOTO ESSAY: Turning silicon into colorful circuit cities
- The transformative power of Reddit's alien mascot
- This nonsensical 3-wheeler might be the future of driving
- How to free up space on your iPhone
- Welcome to the highly probable world of improbability
- Looking for more? Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss our latest and greatest stories
