Podcast Summary: All Of It – "What is Your Comfort Television Show?"

Date: August 26, 2024
Host: Alison Stewart, WNYC
Guest: Katherine Van Arendonk (Vulture TV Critic)
Episode Theme: Exploring the phenomenon of "comfort television"—what makes certain shows so soothing and why people keep returning to them.

Overview

In this episode, host Alison Stewart and Vulture TV critic Katherine Van Arendonk delve into the concept of "comfort TV." They examine why classic sitcoms, procedurals, and even shows about crime can feel so comforting, and discuss how television viewing habits—especially among Gen Z—have shifted towards completed shows. Listeners call in with their personal favorites, while Katherine offers insights and fresh recommendations across genres.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why Do We Seek Comfort TV?

• Familiarity as the Core of Comfort:

  • Katherine emphasizes that comfort TV is about a sense of familiarity, though that can appear in many ways. It’s not always about rewatching shows you’ve already seen, but about certain structural or emotional patterns that feel recognizable and safe.
    • “For me, a comfort show has some element of familiar to it... maybe slightly modified into a different form so that you get that really excellent, super satisfying TV mix of a thing that you know and feels new at the same time.” (02:01)

• The Procedural Formula:

  • Many find comfort in crime procedurals (like Law & Order: SVU) due to their reliable structure—even if the content is dark.
    • “You know exactly the shape of it... That structural repetition is the comforting familiarity there.” (02:01)

• Desire for Completed Stories:

  • Viewers, especially Gen Z, prefer finished series to avoid the anxiety of unresolved or canceled stories.
    • “That sense of like, I don't want to get invested in something and not know that it will have an ending.” (04:09)

• Old TV vs. Streaming Shows:

  • Older shows typically mean more episodes and seasons, allowing for deeper, long-term connections with characters versus today’s shorter, briefer series.
    • “It is very uncommon for a show to have more than eight episodes in a season... there are very few shows out there that have that same kind of long-term relationship.” (04:11)

Listener Favorites & Calls (08:20–22:14)

• Comedies: Arrested Development, Everybody Loves Raymond, Schitt’s Creek, Space Force, Lady Dynamite, Grace and Frankie
• Dramedies & Quirky TV: Northern Exposure, Will & Grace
• Reality & Competition: Antiques Roadshow, The Traitors
• Classic Series: MASH, The Exes, The Office
• Prestige TV & PBS: All Creatures Great and Small, The West Wing, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Bureau, Monk
• Animated & Sci-Fi: Star Trek (texted in as "ultimate comfort television")

Genre Deep-Dives & Recommendations

Northern Exposure (06:29–08:14)

• Log line: New York doctor relocates to a quirky Alaskan town; embraces small-town rhythm and eccentric characters.
• Quote:
  • “Northern Exposure to me is just this ultimate sense of the rhythm of this place... It's the kind of model of thing that I feel like TV is not good at making now, and I really miss.” (06:35)

Evil (10:08–12:07)

• Genre: Paranormal procedural/horror-drama
• What Makes it Comforting?: Reliable, well-crafted episodes, mix of procedural familiarity with growing weirdness and humor.
• Quote:
  • “For me, it also has this incredibly important quality that a comfort TV show has to have, which is that I turn that TV show on and I know that it is going to be competently and carefully made in every single episode.” (11:44)

Poker Face (15:19–18:03)

• Format: “Mystery-of-the-week” in the Columbo tradition
• Lead: Natasha Lyonne as a human lie detector, traveling and solving crimes
• Comfort Element: Competence, clear structure, and process-driven storytelling
• Quote:
  • “Columbo structure in particular means that you see the crime at the beginning of the episode, and then what you're watching... is just her solving it. So it has this real competence element to it...” (15:35)

All Creatures Great and Small (18:21–20:22)

• Type: British period drama based on James Herriot’s books
• Why It Works: Beautiful performances, humor, humanity, and scenery, deeply comforting for “PBS moms and dads.”
• Quote:
  • “It is just the performances are beautiful. The balance of kind of humor and humanity... And it is just such a reliable standby for me.” (18:46)

The Traitors (Reality TV, 20:48–21:38)

• Premise: Contestants in a castle, traitors vs. faithful, nightly “murders,” hosted by Alan Cumming in kilts.
• Comfort Element: “Low stakes, high drama” – engaging but not distressing.
• Quote:
  • “There's a lot that is comforting about this show. Mostly that it's sort of low stakes, high drama, which is... what reality TV does the best.” (20:48)

Colin from Accounts (Australian Sitcom, 22:22–23:07)

• Charming, funny, “bright Britishy feeling,” sharply witty but emotionally warm underneath.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Guilty Pleasures vs. Comfort TV:

  • “What exactly is the friction there? Because I think often people think of those things in the same way. I think sometimes the guilty pleasure is comforting partly because it has that little edge of naughtiness…” (14:10, Katherine)

• Cultural Reflection in Old Shows:

  • “I think it's really important not to sort of put earlier works of media in this box that says, like, it was exactly perfect or it was completely terrible. And to really think about, like, what that... what any of those comedies say about that moment.” (13:22, Katherine)

• Listener Joan’s Analogy:

  • “It's very much like when you have a young child and the child wants to hear the same book over and over and over again... I think that's what comfort TV is.” (21:42, Joan)

Notable Timestamps

• 02:01 – Katherine defines comfort TV and discusses the procedural formula
• 04:09 – Discussion on how streaming changed comfort TV and the importance of endings
• 06:29 – Dive into Northern Exposure as a comfort show
• 10:08 – Analyzing the horror show Evil as comfort television
• 12:38 – Callers share their comfort watches (The Office, Arrested Development, etc.)
• 13:22 – Talking about viewing "problematic" favorites as cultural artifacts
• 15:19 – Poker Face and the legacy of Columbo-style mysteries
• 18:21 – Historical comfort: All Creatures Great and Small
• 20:48 – Reality comfort: The Traitors Series
• 21:42 – Listener Joan reflects on rewatching as akin to children’s repeat storytelling
• 22:22 – Bonus sitcom rec: Colin from Accounts

Takeaways

• Comfort television is deeply personal, rooted in familiarity, structure, and often competence.
• Older and longer-running shows offer immersive worlds and long-term bonds with characters—an increasingly rare TV experience today.
• “Guilty pleasure” and “comfort” may overlap, with nostalgia and a dash of naughtiness providing soothing escape.
• Reality shows, historical dramas, sitcoms, and even horror can all be unexpectedly comforting—the key is how they make you feel.

Final Recommendation:
Katherine urges listeners to try the Australian sitcom Colin from Accounts (Paramount+), describing it as “an ideal kind of sitcom” with wit and warmth.

“These things are so personal, and I think it’s so good to kind of look within yourself and be like, all right, what is it exactly that I find comforting? Like, I wonder why that is.”
— Katherine Van Arendonk (14:27)

Episode Tone

Inviting, thoughtful, curious, and lightly humorous—reflecting the everyday pleasures and quirks of cultural consumption, perfect for a community-minded, culture-loving NYC audience.