In Praise of Comfort Watching
how ted lasso and the great british baking show help me get through
I don’t watch a lot of tv shows. I don’t have what it takes to commit to tuning into something every week, and I don’t have the attention span it takes to binge. I also have no interest in watching anything with too much drama, too much violence, too much forced laughter. I have two exceptions to these rules, though -shows I love because they bring me something no other shows can: a sense of comfort.
Ted Lasso and The Great British Baking Show offer me things - especially at this time in my life - that make me feel normal for a little while. I feel things, I smile, I lose track of time, I enjoy what I’m watching without ever looking at how much time is left. When the episodes are over, I revel in the comfort they brought me for a while. They are medicine. They are a salve.
There is so much care and love and warmth in each episode of Ted Lasso that sometimes I feel overwhelmed with emotion. Sure, there is conflict - every show needs conflict - but most of those conflicts are solved with a healthy dose of humanity, and if they aren’t solved they are at least soothed; you get to see each character grapple with their humanness, with their emotions, their past and present. They interact in heart warming ways without becoming treacly or overwrought. Ted Lasso offers the best of humanity in small doses, enough to lift me out of an emotional rut and make me feel something.
Because I’m going through so much turmoil in my personal life right now, I am seeking out things that move me away from the frenzied feelings of loss and heartbreak, of feeling like I’m floating out to sea alone. I need entertainment that tethers me, that makes me feel safe and secure. This is why I stay away from true crime or murder mysteries or the dramatic escapades of dysfunctional families or violent procedurals. I don’t need to add more turmoil to my life, I don’t need to constantly fret about someone else’s life. And while Ted Lasso can offer dysfunction and fretting, it does so with a soft hand. There’s resolve, there is movement forward, there is a warmth that I don’t get from other shows or even from life. I care about these characters, I want what’s best for them. I want to watch them grow and learn and succeed. I don’t remember watching a show where I root for nearly everyone. It feels good.
I watch the Great British Baking Show for almost the same reasons, but on a different scale. There’s drama, there is competitiveness, but it’s all done with a sense of camaraderie. The contestants are up against each other, but they cheer each other on. There are tears and hugs and more of that warmth I am craving. There are also delicious look baked goods to ogle. The comfort that washes over me as soon as the show starts each week is a godsend; I instantly forget about what is ailing me and I get lost in the triumphs and disasters.
I never hear people talking bad about GBBS, but the backlash for Ted Lasso is real and perplexing, mostly because it’s from people who never watched it yet feel compelled to toss invectives at it. It’s too cheesy, they say. It’s too feel-good. There’s not enough soccer. They fail to see the humanity in Ted and his team. They can’t understand why people would want to feel a loving warmth every week. And that’s fine. It’s not for everyone. But making your entire personality about hating on something other people love is a hell of way to go through life.
There’s a lot to be said about letting people love the things they love without making them feel bad for it, and I suppose the opposite is true: let people hate the things they hate. But hating on something because of the premise or what you’ve heard about it without ever giving it a chance is not fair; not to yourself or to others.
I’m going to be very sad when this season of Ted Lasso ends. I look forward to each Friday so much. Starting my morning with this cast of characters and their adventures always sets me up for a good day. I am comforted by their presence in my life. I derive joy from their triumphs. I feel bad for their defeats yet in true Ted Lasso fashion, there’s always something positive to take away from each episode.
I need that positivity in my life. I need to forget about my own turmoil for a little while. That’s what Ted Lasso and GBBS do for me. I hope you have some of this in your life as well.