Taskmaster. At least once you've seen them all, it's a great show to tune in and out of.
Mystery science theater is another.
this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2025
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Family Guy is textbook "very lame show that I wouldn't mind watching in the background".
It is... but I do fall off around season 7, then it just becomes annoying for me. Before then was a ton of fun. I've found American Dad holds up better for me, fun but not the annoying side
Trailer Park Boys. Especially as it has a soothing intro so it's peak night watching.
30 Rock has the opposite of that for an intro, but its writing is so good that you don't need to be tuned in long to catch a punchline.
Cheers is a throwback but it holds up well. Also checks the box for a intro that's comfort food.
All three are go-tos for me! Have never finished Cheers, on Season 9 I believe, but I should probably finish
Michael Schur stuff. I’ve seen those shows so many times I don’t need to pay attention and I tune in when I need a little bit of sunshine in my life.
Good news everyone! Futurama is great for this
Well except for a few episodes anyways. His dog and brother's episodes come to mind as ones I can't 'tune' out.
Yeah, it's like we feel the same way about junk and stuff or whatever.
UK Panel Shows that I've already seen. They're great because there is no plot to lose, just a lot of off-the-cuff jokes and nonsense. QI and its podcast No Such Thing as a Fish work really well. Cats does Countdown and WILTY are also good contenders. And there's one from New Zealand (and now Australia) called Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee that makes good background "watching."
Taskmaster always draws my attention, so that's no good.
Would I Lie To You when Bob Mortimer is on, or that blind German comedian, are probably my favourites!
Edit: wait I confused 2 there. The German guy isn't blind. The blind guy's great too (forgot their names)
How I Met Your Mother is goated for this pupose
HIMYM is one of my go-to shows for 8 seasons of background noise now
Red Dwarf, but it may have won awards I'm not aware of.
Back when I first developed depression I'd put on How I Met Your Mother when the brainfog got too bad
HIMYM is a good one for that, for me I like the shows that put you in the middle of a friend group. During depressing times it has really helped. Healthy? Not sure, but it made me feel better.
I was thinking just yesterday that Home Improvement was perfect filler tv
it's not as good as I remembered, and not as bad as I feared. I thought it'd be a very mysoginistic view of a 90s home, and it kind of is, but not a crazy amount. Starts that way, Jill is a stay at home mom, 3 kids, house, dad is the provider, but the show tackles a good chunk of that. Jill wants to get her masters, wants to move out of the house. Tim has to come to terms with it. They tackle rebelling kids, differing views, idk, it's not as bad as I expected it to be.
It's not up to par with today, but I don't think it's bad either. So yeah, good filler
NCIS Los Angeles is the silliest show I enjoyed watching for quite some year. The finale was surprisingly decent and emotionally a little touching. It's a very self-aware show and, if not taken too seriously, can be good fun
The Tom Green Show
2 broke girls, COPS.
Perfect for background watching (if I am not in the mood for music).