Murphy’s Team-Up, Volume X: Comfort Movies and TV Shows

John Sabato

Favorite comfort show would have be Parks and Recreation. It’s one that absolutely never gets old and I can watch it over and over. In fact I have, I’ve seen Parks and Recreation like 11 times. I watch it less now due to it no longer being on Netflix, but it’s the characters and their progression throughout the series that makes it so special to me.

Nathan Miller

My favourite comfort film is 1979’s The Muppet Movie. I think it’s the first film I remember watching and probably caused my love of roadtrips. Not only are The Muppets themselves incredibly comforting in their humour and life lessons, but the songs are brilliant. “The Rainbow Connection” still makes me misty-eyed and “Movin’ Right Along” is also a really great roadtrip sing-along. The film itself is one of the few origin films that I truly love, because of how much it commits to the verisimilitude that makes The Muppets great in general. There are also some cracking cameos that still hit decades later. The whole film is a warm embrace and a reassuring pat on the shoulder to keep at the things that make dreams come true.

Mary Maerz

My comfort movie is Hunt for the Wilderpeople. I only watched it back in the day (2016) because I knew some random guy named Taika Waititi was directing Thor: Ragnarok, so I was curious about his other films. Long story short, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is now probably my favorite non-Marvel movie of all time. Sam Neill and Julian Dennison are incredible in the lead roles and bounce perfectly off of each other. Dennison is the reason the film is so funny, and Rachel House’s serious-but-absurd child welfare services officer is dry humor at its finest. Even through some darker themes and scenes, the movie manages to feel so wholesome overall.

Nicole Sobon

My comfort television show is Criminal Minds. It’s admittedly, not the greatest, however, the earlier seasons are enjoyable, even if ridiculous at times. The ensemble cast is great, and I have a connection to the series that makes it a comfort for me. When I’m not working here or at my day job, I write books. One of those books, Program 13, ended up being quoted in a Season 8 episode of Criminal Minds – episode 13, “Magnum Opus.” Needless to say, since then, Criminal Minds has become a comfort series I revisit at least once a year when I “can’t” find something to watch, or simply don’t want to commit to a new series.

Joseph Aberl

If it comes to comfort shows, there is enough to choose from. For some, it’s a show they’ve seen over and over again or something they can turn on while turning off their brain to take it easy.  In my case, it’s more the former, as my comfort show is the sitcom Friends. I somewhat have a tradition where I rewatch the show once a year, especially made easier now with the option to binge it on Netflix, to get my mind off of things. There’s a strange familiarity returning to these characters and their stories even if some aspects of the show I have a hard time sitting through. Still, it was something I always fall back on if I have met a point where I don’t know what to watch or even do with myself and has stayed as such to this day. And if that doesn’t work, I tend to just watch a random cooking competition.