non-violent TV

[snugglekitty]

What are people's favorite nonviolent TV shows?

There may not be anything out there I like. I'm not into reality TV, most TV comedy strikes me as horrifying, and cooking shows don't really do it for me. Is there something I'm missing? I already watch plenty of drama and mystery stuff, I just want something a bit... different. Less depressing, perhaps.

Comments

[cutieperson]

i really like Grey's Anatomy & Desperate Housewives. the new show Windfall isn't bad... but it hasn't entirely pulled me in either.

[zevinboots.livejournal.com]

Grey's Anatomy rocks.

[srl.livejournal.com]

Anything screenwritten by Aaron Sorkin, which is to say Sports Night (not about sports, not a sitcom, but relatively lightweight, which is why it only ran for a season or 2) and West Wing in its early seasons.

[watercolorblue.livejournal.com]

I've seen a few eps of Coupling and I like it a great deal. Veronica Mars is fantastic, but sorta qualifies as mystery/drama...there's a lot of comedy in it anyway.

[hanseth.livejournal.com]

I've been really enjoying Psych, on USA - it's a show about a guy with a photographic memory and a sharp attention to detail, who masquerades as a police department psychic. He's funny, and the shows are decently well-written for the genre, and Dulé Hill (from the West Wing) plays the "comedic straight-man" sidekick brilliantly and adorably.

[goat.livejournal.com]

I've decided to severely limit my intake of TV shows that are violent or deal with people in pain (the one exception is Dr. Who). I'm not sure if you'd like the British version of Whose Line Is It Anyway, but that's what I'm turning to. Not sure what else yet, but I'll let you know if I stumble upon anything good.

[catskillz.livejournal.com]

I enjoy the travel shows *Rick Steves' Europe* and *Smart Travels with Rudi Maxa*. The PBS offshoot cable channel Create shows them every night at 8pm (though sometimes it swaps out *Smart Travels* for another travel show).

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I've been enjoying Eureka (SciFi), which is best described as a humorous drama. Sometimes the science is messy, but I wouldn't call it violent. I love this show because the sheriff is not a rocket scientist (unlike most everyone else in town), but he's a much better creative problem solver. I enjoy watching him figure things out.

Also Psych (USA), which is a mystery, but a humorous one. (They often show the body but it hasn't been gory yet.)

I have a strange liking for Kyle XY (Family), although its target audience is definitely 13 year olds; the arc plot keeps me involved. It's an exploration of what it means to be a teenager via the vehicle of a teenager who is weird enough that he might be an alien or a lab construct, and has no memory before being found by the police. He's become a foster kid in a normal family, and we see the normal through his often-surprised eyes. (For all that, it's not that good. I'm just strangely hypnotized by a family TV show where the 16 year old has sex with her boyfriend, realizes it wasn't that good; meanwhile her mom has figured out she's lost her virginity.)

Dead Like Me, which started on Showtime I think, and is now being stripped on SciFi. The main character is saved from complete loserdom by dying young. And now in the afterlife she's still a loser, but she actually does some things to try to change that. It's a neat variant on getting a second chance; George doesn't really get another chance -- she's undead and life is over. But she acts like it is a second chance anyways.

All Creatures Great & Small. This BBC series is based on the books by James Herriot about life as a vet in Yorkshire in the 1930s-40s. It originally aired twenty-five years ago or so. New Hampshire Public Television (channel 11) shows an episode each weekend. I have fond memories of watching this as a child, and am enjoying watching it again now.

(sorry for stalking your LJ, I'm working on some serious procrastination here.)

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Psych and Eureka both sound fun. Thanks for your recommendations. For my part, since I wrote this post, I have gotten into both The 4400 and 30 Days. The 4400 is a sci fi drama kind of thing. 30 Days is a reality show (normally I hate them) where people with strongly opposing viewpoints are brought together. Ie, atheist mom goes to live with an evangelical family. Stuff like that. I like it because it addresses issues fairly, without bias, even when they're tough issues. It also supports folks' underlying humanity - generally, the participants realize they have more in common than they do differences.

Oh, yes, and Animal Planet. Yay for Backyard Habitat.