Credit: Netflix

Netflix seems to be going through some sort of existential crisis, because the platform is chucking one rabbit hole after another at us. Seriously, what’s with the blood-splattered series buffet?

Don’t believe us; take a look for yourself: The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare, Maternal Instinct and The Perfect Lie, Death of a Pastor’s Wife, and we even have a new Monster installation coming up. Not that we’re complaining, but enough with the grisly murders and all that true crime giving us nightmares.

Which is precisely why you need a comfort TV series at your fingertips, because it’s been a minute since Netflix gave us something soft or silly. If anything, Netflix took the old favourites like Gilmore Girls, New Girl, and Schitt’s Creek.

So, while Netflix is serving a lot of darkness, here are five palate cleansers.

Five best comfort shows on Netflix to watch right now

Heartstopper (2022–2024)

Heartstopper officially said goodbye this year, and yes, it hurt many. The fan-favourite show wrapped up Nick and Charlie’s story with a Netflix film in 2026, after the series ran from 2022 to 2024. But rewind a bit: it all starts when openly gay student Charlie Spring gets seated next to popular rugby player Nick Nelson. Potentially awkward but hella adorable? For a change, Netflix started this one with a friendship and didn’t turn it into an enemies-to-lovers situation. It soon turns into first love, coming-out nerves, school drama and a friend group.

Based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novels, the show always knew how to make teenage feelings feel huge without making them ridiculous. The soft colours and warm little visual touches help, sure, but the real reason people loved it? It’s the kindness. Things get messy, obviously, but never pointlessly cruel.

Young Sheldon (2017–2024)

So before Sheldon Cooper was doing the three-knocks thing on Penny’s door, he was a nine-year-old genius in Texas trying to survive high school and the famous family dinners and, most importantly, people who, frankly, did not care about his rulebook. Young Sheldon ran from 2017 to 2024, following him as the sweet little obnoxious boy with a heart of an old man.

The biggest reason why Young Sheldon feels so comfortable in the tight-knit family is that they never make you feel that you aren’t a part of it. Watching Mary and George juggle parenthood while dealing with the daily problems, and Sheldon helps you realise that they’re just commoners like us. Oh, and nostalgia plays a huge part too. The nod to the eighties and nineties, and watching people live a simple life, has something satisfying about it. Sure, things get a little heavy later, but it’s the rhythm and familiarity that drag you back. And if you loved The Big Bang Theory, watching Sheldon’s story as a child that led to all the adult shenanigans is wonderful.

Atypical (2017–2021)

Mess up, apologise, learn and mess up again: that’s pretty much the heartbeat of Atypical. The series follows Sam Gardner, an autistic teenager who decides he wants more independence, including dating and eventually figuring out what life beyond high school might look like. Ahh, only if life were that easy. Naturally, that decision pulls the rest of the Gardner family into the process too, including Mom, Elsa, who constantly worries and hovers over him; Dad, Doug, who tries hard to accept and connect with him; and last but not least, his younger sister Casey, who starts figuring out who she is beyond being Sam’s built-in protector.

What makes Atypical comforting is that nobody in this family has everything figured out. Sam becomes more independent and eventually goes to college, while everyone around him is changing too. And then there are penguins! Sam’s obsession with Antarctica gives the show this really sweet emotional thread. But it’s not all sunshine and roses, as it does get messy and bittersweet. But that is kind of the point. Everyone keeps trying, even after blowing it.

Sweet Magnolias (2020–)

Sweet Magnolias is basically a reset button for anyone who doesn’t want to think about a serial killer. Since 2020, the show has followed best friends Maddie, Dana Sue and Helen in Serenity, South Carolina, where they get through normal life things like divorce, romance and parenting. Yeah, but in the town that they live in, gossip spreads faster than a jungle fire. Just know that there is no such thing as small-town privacy.

But that is also where the show gets its charm, and also their friendship, which holds everything and everyone together. Somebody’s relationship crashes? Someone shows up. Life plan falls apart? There is advice and probably a hug. This Netflix show has its ups and downs, but it will make you press play every single time.

Fuller House (2016–2020)

If you grew up with Full House, Fuller House is basically like going back to a house you already know way too well. D.J. Tanner-Fuller is now a widowed mom raising three boys in San Francisco, and then Stephanie and Kimmy move in too, because apparently this family has never heard of something called “personal space”. With this Netflix show, nostalgia will do half the work for you.

It’s fun to watch how a tiny family problem can swallow the house. Someone says the wrong thing, and everybody has an opinion. Guess that’s the Tanner way. Oh, and for those who are here for the nostalgia, faces keep drifting through, so the show feels less like a reboot than a reunion that never ended. Yes, yes, it can get cheesy at times, but isn’t that what you’re here for?