For many people, a new semester means new goals, new opportunities and new interests. For me, a new semester means a new TV show.
Since I began college, I’ve become a pretty religious TV show-watcher — not necessarily the binging type, but the have-on-in-the-background-to-bring-me-a-sense-of-comfort type. An episode or two at the end of the night is my ideal way to unwind from the hustle and bustle of a school day and transition into my night routine.
As a second-semester senior, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my college experience, and one of the things I have come to realize is the nearly perfect segmentation of my TV show history across each semester. I’ll fixate on one show in a semester, then by the time a new semester comes along, I’m ready for something different.
Each semester has its own energy, brings its own sets of challenges and therefore requires different sorts of comfort and release from the media I consume. I compiled each of them here in hopes of adding some sentimental value to what would otherwise be a pretty run-of-the-mill list of TV shows.
To be sure, there are a few shows that I consider all-time comfort shows — I’m looking at you, ‘Gilmore Girls,’ ‘New Girl,’ and ‘Great British Baking Show.’
This isn’t a comprehensive list of my favorite comfort shows, or an objective ranking of which ones are generally considered the best. These are the shows I’ve generally enjoyed over the last four years. These are the shows that brought me connections to people along the way. These are the shows that have defined my college career.
Fall 2018: ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’
It’s hard to believe I was a mere 17 years old when I entered my first semester in the fall of 2018. This semester for me, as for most, was one of the most challenging semesters because my life had made such abrupt changes over the course of only a few weeks.
In some of my loneliest moments — missing home, going through my first real heartbreak, struggling to find a solid friend group — I turned to ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine.’ It was recommended to me by my sister, so it helped me feel connected to the people I missed the most, and the sheer stupidity and ridiculousness of Andy Samburg always had a way of making me laugh.
I still have such a soft spot for this show, and I definitely have plans to return to it soon, especially with the release of the last season.
Rating: 9/10
Spring 2019: ‘The Newsroom’
‘The Newsroom’ is probably the most random and least expected show on this list. I probably never would have chosen it myself, but one of my friends at the time suggested it. She would traverse our lengthy dorm hallways with a blanket around her shoulders and a mug of tea in hand to watch it with my roommate and I in our room, and I’m not sure I have ever known such peace since.
To clarify, the show itself is kind of a wreck. But so were we at the time, so it worked.
I was desperately searching for who I was without some of the people I had lost the previous semester, and these moments helped me to see who and what really mattered to me. Those show-watching partners are now some two of my closest friends.
Rating: 8/10
Fall 2019: ‘Friends‘
I can’t remember if this was my first run through ‘Friends’ or my second, but it had a chokehold on me either way.
The fall of my sophomore year was when I really started to feel like I was coming of age. My dorm room looked and felt like an apartment, I joined extracurriculars that were professionally focused and I started to figure out what my path would look like.
To me, ‘Friends’ fit that vibe perfectly. It’s also a reminder that it’s okay to not have everything in your life figured out in college. It’s okay if you eventually have to run away from your wedding and become a barista at the local coffee spot. I still watch episodes every once in a while for that reminder.
Rating: 7/10
Spring 2020: ‘how i met your mother’
One of the first things I did when I arrived in Rome for my study abroad semester was check Italian Netflix to see if there were shows I couldn’t access in America. Lo and behold, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ appeared immediately in my suggestions, and I dove right in. I even watched it with Italian subtitles to try to absorb the language more (it didn’t really work, but I like to tell myself it did).
Studying abroad is a sort of mental whiplash. You feel like you’re living a dream and you’re having some of the greatest experiences you know you’ll ever have, but at the same time, it can be incredibly lonely and isolating. You’re extremely far away from your support system, and chances are you don’t have easy access to the things that you rely on to make you feel better (I’m thinking Target runs, American comfort food, etc.).
This show brought me a little slice of America when I was feeling the most homesick I ever had before. I remember watching the episode where Marshall searches for the best burger in New York City, and I vowed a good-quality cheeseburger would be my first meal when I returned to America — my antithesis to The Last Supper, if you will. Though my return was unexpectedly early (and I had to finish the show on Hulu), I still got that burger.
Rating: 9/10
Fall 2020: ‘Phineas and Ferb’
This one is a little out of the blue, but I stand by it. I don’t have as much of a story for this one. I dressed up as Candace for Halloween this year, watched a few episodes for inspiration and got hooked.
In some ways, I think this was a healing of my inner child. However, I think ‘Phineas and Ferb’ is really a great show for any age, and continues to be one of my all-time favorites. No shame.
Rating: 10/10
Spring 2021: ‘Bridgerton’
Okay, now I have a little shame.
I don’t even know if I can technically call this one a “comfort show,” but nevertheless, I was obsessed. I watched the first season three times through back-to-back-to-back when it first came out.
Sure, the steamy romance was addictive. But honestly, my favorite episodes were the first few, when Daphne and the Duke were “friends” attending elaborate balls together and giggling to themselves about the spectacle around them.
I decided shortly before this show came out that I was going to learn how to embroider, and I spent some of my binge sessions practicing the new skill because it just felt right. I still embroider now, so maybe the show had at least a little lasting impact on me.
Rating: 7/10
Fall 2021: ‘Jane the Virgin‘
I started ‘Jane the Virgin’ because a few of my coworkers at the time recommended it to me. We were in that will-we-won’t-we period when you’re trying to determine if your work friends could potentially be outside-of-work friends, and I was eager to make stronger connections with them.
They were all writers — like revising-the-first-drafts-of-their-novels writers, not spending-all-day-in-a-coffee-shop-and-hoping-for-a-few-lines-of-poetry writers. I wanted to be able to have something to relate to them since I am unfortunately the latter.
Ultimately, those work friends are now my regular friends and we almost never talk about the show. At least I had something to keep me entertained for a few months!
Rating: 8/10
Spring 2022: ‘Seinfeld‘
In this my final semester of college, I’ve anointed ‘Seinfeld’ as my go-to show, and I must say I’ve been loving it so far.
I think part of the reason I’m liking it so much is because this is what I want my life to look like after graduation — a job I like but don’t have to pour all of my being into (Pendant Publishing doesn’t sound half bad) and a few close friends as my support system. As much as I adored ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ I love that ‘Seinfeld’ doesn’t revolve around the friend group having exciting plans in the city every weekend. The “show about nothing” has helped me realize that the simple, chill nights in your apartment with your pals are as noteworthy as the escapades across town.
Also, I can’t talk about how much I love ‘Seinfeld’ without mentioning the outfit inspiration from Elaine (and honestly a bit from Jerry and Kramer, too!). From her casual jeans and jackets to her dressy blazers and skirts and everything in between, Elaine is a walking lookbook of what I want my style to evolve into.
I am ultimately very pleased with this final decision and have fully accepted the fact that I will now be beginning most conversations with what happened in the last ‘Seinfeld’ episode I watched.