Each weekday afternoon I go for a walk with one of my best friends. He’s retired. This walk is known as the “old man walk”. I don’t consider myself old (I’m only 49), but so be it, it’s a cute name. This walk has been going on for upwards of 8 years. Almost every time we talk about which TV episodes we’ve seen recently. Consequently, I’ve ended up talking about my preferences in TV shows a lot more than I ever thought I would.

I’ve come to realize I consider some shows objectively “good”, in the sense I think our society would benefit from everyone watching them. They’re not necessarily my favourite shows, but are among them. Each of them is highly empathic, and I think empathy is in short supply. They almost all feature seniors, but all focus on family, mental health, and usually death. I’m not going to say too much about each one, as I don’t want to spoil them, but I do really want you to watch each of these shows.

The first “good for society” show, which I just finished, is A Man on the Inside (2024) by Netflix, starring Ted Danson and many other famous actors from yesteryear. Absolutely charming. The treatment of folks with dementia and of loneliness in general is beyond admirable.

The two next shows are actually fairly similar, and also happen to be on Netflix. They’re both shows written by and starring Ricky Gervais. If Derek (2012-14) doesn’t make you cry, ask your doctor to fix your broken tear ducts. They never explicitly say Adrian Monk has OCD, and similarly, they never explicitly say Derek is mentally challenged. The point is it shouldn’t matter, and we’re challenged to see past those traits. Also from Ricky Gervais is After Life (2019-22), another show featuring death, the elderly, dementia, loneliness, drug abuse, mental health, and much, much more. It’s even more tear-jerking than Derek. In fact, so much so it could be considered a painful watch. When I was deeply depressed in 2019 prior to changing jobs, I watched the first season of After Life countless times in the same month. At six 30-minute episodes, a whole season can be finished in 3 hours, and that’s usually what I did after work that month. It was deeply theraputic and exactly what I needed at the time. Thank you, Mr. Gervais.

Next on the list is Ted Lasso (2020-), from Apple TV+. This show is quite different than the first three on my list, as it doesn’t focus on the elderly or death. But it does focus on loss, on family, and mental health. One thing that makes me happy about Ted Lasso is just how famous it is. It has been seen by many, many people. And people noticed this show was different than most shows. I hope that it inspires many people to make more shows that are good in the way that Ted Lasso is good. I genuinely hope Jason Sudekis and his crew get to as well.

The last show (for now) on my list, is coincidentally (or perhaps not) another show starring Ted Danson! It’s also the first show that I thought was meaningfully better than other shows in the way these shows are. And that is, of course, The Good Place (2016-2020). It’s different than the rest in that it aired on netowrk television. Admirably, it quite overtly tried to teach ethics to Americans, at a time when that was critically important, and the show’s creators deserve a lot of respect for that.

Now that I’ve seen A Man on the Inside, my opinion of Ted Danson has risen tremendously. I’m going to seek interviews to learn more about him.

At this point, maybe you’re curious about which shows I love I don’t categorize this way. Here’s an incomplete list:

• The Expanse
• Battlestar Galactica
• Red Dwarf
• Black Adder
• The IT Crowd
• Psych
• Star Trek (every series)
• The Mandalorian
• Breaking Bad
• Ozark (or, Breaking Bad 2.0)
• Dexter
• Loudermilk (it almost belongs on the list of “good” shows)
• Shoresy (same)

Do you know of any shows that belong on my “good” list, or shows you think I’d like given either of these lists? If so, please let me know!