A request for cozy media

[evelyn_b]

There's been some prolonged ill health in my household, which means we've burned through all seven available seasons of All Creatures Great and Small and are looking for a suitable replacement.

If the ill health were mine, I'd just bury myself in 6000 episodes of Poirot and Columbo, but I've been specifically asked for "no murders."

Is there anything out there approximately as cozy and low-key as the Country Vet Adventures, but not about people killing each other for inheritance money? It would help if it were available for free on YouTube, but this is not completely necessary.

Do you think The Durrells would work? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

I'm probably not the person to ask here, but here are some suggestions:

In modern TV, I found Jane the Virgin delightful, although maybe not as low-key as needed given that old tv is by itself automatically low key.

From the 70s:
The Good Life - can be found here (there are more episodes posted by someone else as well) - 1/2 comedy about a suburban couple who decide to become green and self-sufficient while staying in their semi-detached house next to the posh neighbours. (Being 1970s, I can't vouch for never making non-PC jokes, but overall v natural, low-key engaging humour - v gentle.)

Upstairs Downstairs - I haven't watched this (yet) but it was the long-running 1970s London town house Downton Abbey, so presumably ought to work in the reassuring/cosy stakes: here (There seem to be plenty of eps around).

The House of Eliott (1990s, so less, restful, but not murderous and fairly addictive historical drama about two sisters who set up a London fashion house. BBC Worldwide have it up for free, but I think it's region locked, so have the link above, although they've had to go to make the picture small to escape detection!)

I did think of Campion, but there would be murders! However, it is very whimsical and full of Peter Davison...

Also there is Adam Adamant Lives! which is ridiculous and delightful. I don't know if it qualifies on the no murders - more sort of shenanigans and people plotting to take over the country with washing powder and music and balldowns and then Adam has to sword fight them? Pretty much Avengers-colour level of stuff only not as pretty and without any Mrs Peel (also reccing the colour Mrs Peels for the same purpose if you haven't already watched them as they are also witty, ridiculous and delightful and much easier on the eye, being on film - the b&w ones are just as great but can be a little more serious. Er, sometimes...) Anyway, the good thing about AAL! is that you will know exactly what it is in about 10 minutes or so of it, so here for it on YT. (Only watch out for/don't watch eps 3 & 5 which feature terrible 60s stereotypes unless you're feeling up to it.)

I hope you find something good - probably better if it's not 70s and odd!!!

ETA: I also hope the person who is ill gets better soon, though!

[evelyn_b]

Thank you, me too! <3

Someday the murder ban will be lifted and I'll give TV Campion a fair shake, but it is not this day. The House of Eliot looks like it might work, and my public library has it (in non-shrunken form)! We'll see.

[thisbluespirit]

What is funny is how hard it is to marry up cosy TV with 'no murders'. Those things ought to be far away from each other, AND YET...

Oh, good luck with HoE! I'm still rather fond of it from my teenages watches, especially S1. (There is a cliffhanger ending for S3, which is the one downside. They originally meant to make it all right again with a Christmas special, but we're 24 years on and it's not yet happened.) But lots of building up a business and then worrying about the Collection a lot at least once a series.

[osprey_archer]

I can't think of anything right now (maybe Bewitched? The original TV show, not the godawful movie version), but I'm totally stalking this post to see what other people suggest. It's always good to have a backlog of low-key TV for tough days!

I strongly suspect I will think of something once I post this. Will be back to let you know if I do.

[evelyn_b]

I wish I'd thought to make a list years ago! What's really called for is The Adventures of Dr Tricky, MD, an All Creatures spinoff show about a series of non-life-threatening animal emergencies that are inexplicably solved by a small fluffy dog wearing a stethoscope. Unfortunately this spinoff was never made, probably because the BBC lacked vision, and so here we are. We found The Mary Tyler Moore Show at the library and it looks promising, though it suffers from a discouraging lack of dogs of any size.

[ladyherenya]

From what I've seen of the The Durrells, it'd qualify. Low stakes, no murder.

Kingdom (ITV), in which Stephen Fry is a small town solicitor, is possibly the lawyer-equivalent of All Creatures.
There's also the 90s Australian drama, SeaChange, about a lawyer who accepts a position as the magistrate of a small coastal town. That one might be harder to find.

Two BBC adaptations set in the late 19th century: Larkrise to Candleford, about a market post office and the surrounding community, and The Paradise, about a department store.

[evelyn_b]

These small-town lawyer shows sound very promising! Larkrise to Candleford is the one the library actually had, though, so that's where we'll start. Thank you!

[pocketbookangel.wordpress.com]

I started watching The Durrells yesterday. So far, it's been pleasant, and even when there's drama, it's not super high stakes--Larry has a medical crisis in episode 2, but we all know he survives and continues to be Guy In Your MFA before the MFA was invented, and they balance it out with puppies. Now that I think about it, it would be a better show with more puppies.

The two coziest shows I can think of are The Vicar of Dibley and Great British Bake Off. Everyone is kind (mostly) and no one gets murdered.

How about the bonnet shows? Cranford, Larkrise to Candleford, North and South, Austen adaptations?

(I'm sorry to hear that things aren't going well--I hope everything gets better soon.)

[evelyn_b]

The puppy balance is crucial during this difficult time. Thank you! I saw one and a half episodes of The Vicar of Dibley once and thought it might do well based on that, but unfortunately the library didn't have any. However! Dawn French is in Lark Rise to Candleford, so maybe that bodes well?

[thisbluespirit]

I also thought of the 90s Jeeves & Wooster, and it seems to be up on YT here. No murders! (Btw, Cranford is lovely, but the death count is high, if that would bother the patient in question. Ditto, to a certain extent N&S, because Elizabeth Gaskell.)

[evelyn_b]

Do you remember which J&W is the blackface one? I can't keep the Woosters straight in my head, alas.

[thisbluespirit]

I've no idea, I'm afraid. It's been long enough that I had no idea that there was, but the internet would probably know if you gave it a poke!

[evelyn_b]

No worries! I'll ask my smart friend Wikipedia.

[liadt]

How about children's programmes? The nostalgia can be comforting. The first series of Catweazle is lovely, although Catweazle's 'fizzing' can be annoying/distressing if sound is an issue and Geoffrey Bayldon in a bath. Catweazle is an old kid's comedy which can be a bit slap sticky about a medieval wizard who ends up in late 60s Britain. Each ep is 25 mins long. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF6085C063662F262. The end of series ep is a tear jerker though.

People do tend to come down with illnesses/injury in the 'Durrells' if
that's a problem.

Seconding Jeeves and Wooster.

All I can think of is things with murders in!

[liadt]

Also 'Lovejoy' an early 90s TV series starring Ian McShane as a antiques dealer. I'd avoid the first series as it's seedier and jump to the second. I don't recall any murders. It's more exciting than ACGAS as the plots largely revolve around Lovejoy and co making fake antiques to scam baddies who have conned little old ladies/down on their luck aristos/old army vets etc because Lovejoy is a rogue with a heart of gold. And he's not any old antiques dealer he's a divvy and is in to the romance of antiques. Other characters are his apprentice Eric who was replaced by a cheeky, chirpy young lass, Lady Jane Felsham (<3 Phyllis Logan) who is Lovejoy's will they won't they love interest and Tinker who likes gin. They also have a cute retro car with a name for a few series and I would say it has a slant to the American market with it's down on their luck aristos, stately homes and great British eccentrics. The cast are fab, I'd like to live in 'Lovejoy' land and it's easy tv.
First ep of season 2: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x39y6fr

I think there are some deaths in the BBC's 1997 adaptation of 'Tom Jones' with Max Beezley that Tom is blamed for (he's that kind of character) and it's more saucy (nudity) than cozy but it is happy making and has a happy ending (bit diff from the book). I can't find all the eps on the net but the dvd is cheap over here so it might be over there. I'm thinking of re-watching it now I've mentioned it!

[evelyn_b]

These sound interesting, thank you! We enjoyed White Collar way back when before it got too repetitive, so fake antiques to counter-scam scammers might be a good bet.

[liadt]

I hope you enjoy! There's also 'Hustle' if you like scammers scamming the scammers but it's flashy and not very restful.

Yes, poor Catweazle he doesn't like the C20th but in his own time the Normans keep trying to kill him!

[evelyn_b]

I don't know if Catweazle will work for the present but I am very happy to learn about it! Poor old guy. <3