Netflix recommendations please!!
May 7, 2018 6:10 PM   Subscribe

Due to some dental work gone wrong, i’m mildly doped up on painkillers, drooling like an idiot, still in pain and fighting for couch space with the cats. What can i watch on Netflix? Difficulty: looking for content where nothing bad happens while Canadian.

I need cheesy sitcoms or happy rom-com movies where nothing goes wrong to anyone that isnt resolved in 22 min. Fuller House and One Day At A Time were perfect for this. Assume i’ve seen everything already that was made in the 90s, but may have missed a lot from the last 20 years. What else can i watch? Non dark, non-dry stand up is good too (think Jeff Dunham or Russell Peters). Canadian Netflix. Or Amazon Video, but they have even less selection in Canada. Thank you for saving me from clicking around netflix randomly.
posted by cgg to Media & Arts (27 answers total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Good Place and Schitt’s Creek
posted by Clustercuss at 6:23 PM on May 7, 2018 [4 favorites]


Kim's Convenience! Crowd-pleasing sitcom set in Toronto. Bad things are resolved in the same episode. The only thing that is still unresolved is the adult son and father are not talking to each other (but their estrangement started in the past, before the start of the show).
posted by methroach at 6:24 PM on May 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


Do you have access to stream Corner Gas in Canada? It’s very funny. (It’s not streaming in the US but perhaps Canada has it)
posted by bleep at 6:35 PM on May 7, 2018


I’ve found one site that says you can get Fawlty Towers in Canada and one that says you can’t. It’s from the 70s, so perhaps you haven’t seen it.

Looks like you should be able to get The IT Crowd, which is wonderful.
posted by FencingGal at 6:36 PM on May 7, 2018


Community
posted by Sebmojo at 6:40 PM on May 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


New Girl.
posted by Ftsqg at 6:41 PM on May 7, 2018


I don't have access to Netflix Canada, only the US version, but movie wise, you might check and see if they have Ella Enchanted, or Leap Year.
posted by gudrun at 6:43 PM on May 7, 2018


Can you get the CBC app? We have it for Apple TV, it’s free and gives you a lot of shows. Kim’s convenience has an extra season over Netflix. If you want short I recommend the web series “my 90 year old roommate” available on the CBC app
posted by Valancy Rachel at 6:53 PM on May 7, 2018


Jane the Virgin is fun, colorful, rom-commy, and self-consciously soapy. Bad/sad stuff does happen from time to time, but it's not "dark" by any stretch of the imagination. They're 45-minute episodes, but other than that it probably fits your bill.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:56 PM on May 7, 2018 [3 favorites]


Grace and Frankie, the Gilmore Girls, Anne with an E. Planet Earth II is great if you like David Attenborough nature docos. I suspect that (though they are not my cup of tea) you would also enjoy the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Jane the Virgin.

I can't guarantee that things are wrapped up by the end of the show (it's been a while since I watched them) but you may also enjoy Offspring and Please Like Me. Oh, and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries is surprisingly enjoyable and fluffy for a murder mystery.

You guys have heaps on Netflix Canada that we can't get here. Sigh. PSA for anyone not in Canada who doesn't know what is available on Netflix Canada, there is this magical tool which lets you look. There are variations for Australia and the UK too.
posted by Athanassiel at 6:57 PM on May 7, 2018


Sorry, that was very English-language-ist of me; full list of JustWatch countries.
posted by Athanassiel at 7:02 PM on May 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


The IT Crowd!
posted by to recite so charmingly at 7:15 PM on May 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


Prime Video has Parks and Recreation, Netflix has Brooklyn 99. Both awesome comedies.
posted by rozee at 7:17 PM on May 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


If you can get Hulu, the free version last time I checked had all the old Jeeves & Wooster episodes with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. It is excellent, and my husband and I re-watch it every few years when something stressful is going on.

If you haven't seen/heard any, Tig Notaro is hilarious. There's a documentary on Netflix, and she did a stand-up for This American Life. Head's up: her mom dies, she gets cancer, some bad things have happened. She is positive, clean, funny as heck, and everything has since worked out.

On YouTube: Depending on your sense of humor, Wizard People Dear Reader, in which Brad Neely narrates the first Harry Potter movie having never seen it nor read the book. I love HP dearly, and found this hilarious but can also see how it might be a YMMV thing.

I loooooved Parks & Rec.
posted by jrobin276 at 7:20 PM on May 7, 2018


Non dark, non-dry stand up -- John Mulaney?
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:28 PM on May 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


You may want to try Nailed It!, which is a Netflix original. It's a baking show, but none of the contestants know how to bake, and everyone is just having fun.
posted by meese at 7:31 PM on May 7, 2018 [3 favorites]


I also came to suggest Corner Gas. Kim's Convenience is another great choice.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:34 PM on May 7, 2018


Not explicitly a comedy but The Crown is pretty soapy and the protagonist doesn't die in the first couple seasons.
posted by sammyo at 7:37 PM on May 7, 2018


Stand-up: Nearly four hours of James Acaster. His stuff is whimsical and absurd, for the most part.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 7:40 PM on May 7, 2018


All the Python movies and TV shows are on it. There's a good doc about their early days as week.
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:59 PM on May 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


Looking for stuff that wasn't mentioned yet: Prime Video has Mozart in the Jungle, a soapy romp about randy and competitive classical musicians in New York AND all three seasons of Black Books, a British sitcom kind of like The IT Crowd.

Amazon has a bunch of comfort food movies: Clueless, Young Frankenstein, the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice, The Fifth Element, as well as What We Do in the Shadows, the best ever New Zealand vampire comedy starring Taika Waititi. I also loved The Edge of Seventeen, an absolutely charming modern teen comedy that avoids just about all the obvious tropes. (Be warned it starts with the death of a family member, but while this is obviously sad and affects the characters, it's not darkly tragic -- life goes on.) Oh, and Easy A -- why couldn't they make teen comedies like this when I was a teen?
posted by maudlin at 8:05 PM on May 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


If you have not already done so, Steve Martin's Pink Panther (and the sequel) make for a really funny 4 hours. Another of my go-to movies is My Cousin Vinny.

They were on Netflix US/Amazon Prime a couple of months ago, not sure if they are still there though.
posted by theobserver at 8:19 PM on May 7, 2018


There's a cancon YouTube channel, encore+. Highly recommend Slings & Arrows
posted by stray at 9:29 PM on May 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


I personally love Dear White People. I'm nowhere near their demographic but it is entertaining and funny even if you are not a US college student.
posted by rpfields at 4:53 AM on May 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


I cannot nth Brooklyn Nine Nine enough if it's available on Netflix Canada or Amazon. I cannot get over how much I love that show.

And yeah, John Mulaney would be a lot of fun if you like lighter stand up. He just released a new special on Netflix and it's very, very good.
posted by helloimjennsco at 6:27 AM on May 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


I was going to suggest two of my favorite sitcoms, but you used them as your perfect examples.

Note: I am unsure if these are available on Netflix.ca.

Other funny feel-good sitcoms include Parks and Recreation (you have my permission to skip the first season if you're not feeling it) and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

If you can handle a food/travel show, I love I'll Have What Phil's Having and Somebody Feed Phil. They feature Phil Rosenthal traveling around eating foods and then Skyping his octogenarian parents to check in. It's adorable AND I love Phil because he's so earnest and joyful about what he's doing.

Donald Glover's standup special Weirdo is on Netflix and it's lighthearted and goofy. Ali Wong's Baby Cobra is excellent. And yes, both John Mulaney specials are delightful.

Baby Daddy and Young and Hungry are a silly sitcoms that remind me of Fuller House, but the latter has "will they won't they?" relationship stuff happening that can be sad. Same with New Girl - I find that one funny, but there have been times that it's made me cry.

And yes, The IT Crowd is great. Also if you have Hulu, I believe Black Books is on there. Oh, and Prime Video has Father Ted. All three are genius sitcoms by Graham Linehan.

Oh and if you have Hulu? Forget everything I said up there and just watch Bob's Burgers.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:59 AM on May 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


Nthing Nailed It. It's not a sit-com, but it is the funniest reality show of good-hearted attempts from good-hearted people to bake elaborate things. Nicole Byer is hilarious; the cakes made are terrible, and I laughed until I cried watching it.
posted by missmary6 at 10:09 AM on May 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


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