From Friday Night Lights to Grace and Frankie, these 15 shows will hit you right in the feels.
Have we seen the last of Ted Lasso?
The delightful Apple TV series is wrapping up its highly anticipated third season (which you can watch right here), but there’s been plenty of speculation that this marks the end of the road for everyone’s favorite unlikely soccer coach. Star Jason Sudeikis has strongly suggested this season will be the show’s last, and a tweet “written by” the character of Ted refers to the season three finale as “our final match,” which would seem to support the idea that this is it.
While official promos from Apple TV+ are still referring to the episode as a season finale rather than a series finale, the signs do appear to point to this being Coach Lasso’s swan song. There’s been chatter about spinoffs, but nothing is guaranteed, which means Sudeikis’s comments are a hard pill to swallow for the millions of fans who adore the series.
And why, exactly, do we love Ted Lasso so much? There seem to be three reasons: The first is that the characters, and particularly Ted himself, are so utterly lovable that they feel like your friends — you’ll want to watch the next episode just to see what everyone is up to this week. Second, the plotlines are engaging enough to take your mind off your own worries for the length of each blissful episode, and even when there’s conflict, you know it’ll be resolved. Finally, it’s a show that’s guaranteed to make you laugh, and usually not at anyone’s expense — it’s just good, clean, feel-good humor.
All that said, we wouldn’t fault you for feeling like you’re about to say a very difficult goodbye. But fear not: To help you find more of the kind of escapist television we all deserve, we put together a list of 15 more shows like Ted Lasso, filled with humor and heart, for you to dive into once you’re all Lasso’d out.
Bob’s Burgers (FOX, Hulu)
If you’re a Lasso fan, we can almost guarantee that you’ll fall madly in love with the Belchers. Do not underestimate this show just because it’s animated— the characters on Bob’s Burgers are more developed and have more heart than almost any other comedy on television. The series follows burger joint owners Bob and Linda Belcher and their three wacky and wonderful children. What they lack in wealth they make up for in love, loyalty, and an unmatched ability to have fun. If you’re looking for a gateway episode, we suggest season 3, episode 7: Tina Rannosaurus Wrecks. Bob decides to allow his oldest daughter Tina, a confident but very rule-oriented pre-teen nerd, to try driving the family’s car in an empty parking lot. Tina freaks out and against all odds manages to cause the world’s slowest, most easily avoided car crash. By the end of this episode, you’ll be hooked.
Jane the Virgin (Netflix)
The plot of this show is bananas, and intentionally so — it’s modeled after the outrageous, overly dramatic Spanish telenovela genre. It follows a young woman, Jane (a virgin, obviously) who is accidentally artificially inseminated and becomes pregnant after she goes in for a routine gynecologist visit. If that’s not enough for you, the father is — gasp — Rafael, Jane’s crush from high school, and the richest man in town! And the gynecologist who accidentally inseminated her? Rafael’s sister! And Rafael’s sister’s girlfriend? His father’s wife, and also a notorious crime lord! If that all sounds confusing and more than a bit unrealistic, that’s the point — this is escapist television at its finest. The good guys are good, the bad guys are (mostly) bad, and there’s almost always a happy ending (usually after many bizarre cliffhangers). Jane the Virgin will make you laugh, gasp, and forget all of your own troubles for a little while, which is what soap operas are for, right?
Grace and Frankie (Netflix)
This show is, hands down, one of the freshest and most original comedies to have debuted in the past decade. In a sea full of mediocre comedies about hot 20-somethings griping about their dating difficulties from the confines of their unrealistically enormous apartments, Grace and Frankie is a hilarious and sexy beacon of age-inclusive realness. It follows Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as Grace and Frankie, the wives of two aging lawyers who decide to leave the women for each other. Grace and Frankie are forced into an unlikely friendship as they move out of their respective homes and into a shared beach house. The chemistry between the actresses is palpable, and it’s clear that their BFF status extends far beyond the screen. Fonda is wonderful as the uptight Grace, but the show proves that Tomlin is one of the most brilliant comedic actresses of our time. When you’re not watching, you’ll find yourself daydreaming about how to get this perfect pair of women to adopt you and let you move into their lovely cottage by the sea.
Chewing Gum (HBO Max)
This show is certainly a bit more R-rated than Ted Lasso, but it’s got just as much heart. It follows a 24-year-old Christian virgin named Tracey (played by Michaela Coel, the brilliant star and creator of I May Destroy You) as she struggles to reconcile her religious beliefs with her blossoming sexual desires. Having been raised in a close-knit housing project by a Pentacostal sidewalk minister, Tracey’s knowledge of sex is negligible, and even thinking about it gives her a nosebleed. But there is a silly, endearing joy about Tracey that will make you forgive even her most cringe-worthy blunders as she attempts to navigate the seemingly impossible task of losing her virginity.
Schitt’s Creek (Hulu)
It almost seems too obvious to put Schitt’s Creek on this list, but just in case you’re the world’s last holdout, let this be the sign for you to start watching. Watching an episode of Schitt’s Creek is like eating a bowl of warm chicken soup: it will comfort you, fill you up, and make you see the world in a more positive light. The characters are so delightfully original and you’ll be surprised by how emotionally invested you’ll get in their lives: when Patrick serenades David with a Tina Turner classic, when Moira performs at Alexis’s graduation, when Johnny defends Roland and Jocelyn at dinner with their fancy friends…you just might find your eyes welling with happy tears.
Parks and Recreation (Peacock TV)
Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler) is Ted Lasso, if Ted Lasso were a bit more neurotic and had a deep and undying love for the town of Pawnee, Indiana. Unlike Ted Lasso, Parks and Recreation (or, Parks and Rec as the fans call it) didn’t really find its groove right away (we actually suggest just skipping the first season and starting right off with season 2), but thank goodness that it did because it’s now one of the funniest and most heartfelt shows that’s ever been made. There isn’t a single main character from Parks and Rec who won’t win you over, and each episode will make you feel like you’re rooting for your own friends to succeed. Like Schitt’s Creek, Parks and Rec is good for the soul, and you’ll find comfort in revisiting your favorite episodes over and over again.
I Love Lucy (Paramount+)
I Love Lucy is delightfully clever and holds up surprisingly well almost 70 years after it first premiered. Lucille Ball is a comedic genius, and her ability to make an audience burst out laughing simply by raising an eyebrow or pouting her lips is something most comedians would kill for. The most hysterical, memorable scenes from the show generally involve Lucy losing her cool in a high-stakes situation — like when she accidentally gets drunk when filming a commercial for a new supplement called Vitameatavegamin, or when she falls behind on the assembly line while working at a chocolate factory. But like most shows on this list, the power that I Love Lucy has to emotionally transcend other sitcoms is through Lucy’s relationships- primarily her friendship with her loyal neighbor and ride-or-die BFF Ethel Mertz, and her marriage to real-life husband Desi Arnaz.
Queer Eye (Netflix)
Part of the reason why it’s sort of fun watching reality stars like The Real Housewives or the cast of Bachelor in Paradise go slightly off the deep end is that their lives are so absurd that we can’t relate to them at all. Generally, reality TV hasn’t been a genre that’s inspired the best in humanity… until Queer Eye came along. Each episode of Queer Eye is like a mini-lesson in the healing power of kindness. It’s a show that inspires positive self-reflection and recognizes that a true makeover requires more than just a new haircut and a wardrobe upgrade (although those things certainly don’t hurt).
Black-ish (Hulu)
Black-ish is the show that made Yara Shahidi a star, and reminded us why Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson were stars in the first place. It follows Anderson and Ross as Dre and Rainbow Johnson, a highly successful Black couple raising their four children in a rich white suburban neighborhood. Although stylistically it looks like a very cookie-cutter sitcom, the show manages to gently address some very serious issues without beating the viewer over the head with them. Some episodes will make you think, but they will all leave you feeling hopeful.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
Like most characters Ellie Kemper plays, Kimmy Schmidt has the heart of a child…which sometimes gets her into trouble. But like all the shows on this list, it’s always good fun, and you know that Kimmy will come out on top in the end. The show follows a young woman who escapes from a cult after 15 years (it’s very light and silly, we promise!) and is thrilled to catch up on all of the time she’s missed. The show is co-written and produced by Tina Fey so it will leave you in stitches, but it’s a lot more lighthearted than 30 Rock. Kimmy and her unlikely group of friends will quickly invite you into their dumpy basement apartment, and you’ll cheer at their every success. We also have a feeling Ted and Kimmy would really get along.
The Good Place (Netflix)
When Kristen Bell and Ted Danson headline a show, you know it’s going to make you smile. The Good Place follows Kristen as Eleanor Shellstrop, a degenerate young woman who dies suddenly and ends up in “The Good Place.” Except Eleanor knows that based on her behavior in life, she most certainly is not Good Place material. So she concocts some elaborate schemes to make sure that the architect of her own personal heaven, played by Danson, doesn’t find out that there’s been a mixup. This show manages to be incredibly clever yet entirely family-friendly, which is a tough feat to pull off.
Friday Night Lights (Peacock, Hulu)
Like Ted Lasso, you don’t need to be a football fan or even really know anything about the sport to fall in love with Friday Night Lights. While this is the only true drama on our list, we think it deserves a spot as it has a lot in common with Lasso — wholesome, slightly fish-out-of-water, hardworking white guy trying to make things better. It’s also a show that will have you bursting with pride as you watch beloved Coach Eric Taylor (played by Kyle Chandler, who is quite easy on the eyes in the series if you don’t mind our saying so) guide the players of the Dillon High Panthers Football team both on and off the field. The second season, which was written during the 2007 writers strike, goes slightly off the rails, but we implore you to stick with it. As the Panthers say…Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can’t Lose. Texas forever.
New Girl (Hulu)
Zooey Deschanel is a quirky little treasure of an actress, and she absolutely shines as Jess in New Girl. A dorky, peppy elementary school teacher in need of a place to live, Jess moves into a new apartment with three man-children, and the four quickly become best friends. There’s very little drama, lots of laughs, and endless heartwarming moments.
Kim’s Convenience (Netflix)
Unlike just about every show that films in Toronto, Kim’s Convenience actually takes place in Toronto, so we already love it for its honesty. It follows a Korean-Canadian family who owns a convenience store as they navigate the changing world around them. Unfortunately, it ended way too soon, surrounded by scandal.
Never Have I Ever (Netflix)
Never Have I Ever technically falls into the “young adult” television category, but we promise that no matter your age, within the first five minutes of this show you’ll be hanging off of our high school heroine Devi’s every word. Written and created by Mindy Kaling and narrated absolutely brilliantly by tennis legend John McEnroe, Never Have I Ever manages to perfectly toe the line between sitcom sap and real emotion. It’s certainly some of Netflix’s most impressive original content, and the second season may be even better than the first.
