10 Mindless TV Shows to Stream When You Want to Shut Off Your Brain
Courtesy of Netflix
Life is tiring. Work is hard. It’s an election year. It makes sense to unwind from it all with some truly mind-numbing television.
The thing is, when you’re in the mood to couch or bed rot and stream your troubles away, having to make a choice just doesn’t appeal. What you really want is to relax, perhaps grab a snack, and let go—to stop thinking as much as possible. Deciding what to watch (or rewatch) can be a whole thing due to sheer volume. Plus, there are some seemingly chill shows out there that fall below the threshold of brain rot into “questioning your whole life” territory (looking at you, Is It Cake?).
So what exactly makes a series ideal for shutting your mind off? The greatest brain-rot shows have a perfect blend of stimulation and sedation. They’re not dull like your (my) Instagram story feed after an especially vivid sunset (already saw it, people—I have a window too!), but they don’t really require much from you in terms of attention or emotion, either.
With those metrics in mind, I assembled a list of 10 tried-and-true brain-rot TV shows you can throw on when you’re exhausted and trying to forget about your workday, or find a respite from your existential dread, or entertain yourself when you’re trapped in that “can’t follow a story more complex than The Very Hungry Caterpillar” phase of being sick in bed—in other words, when you need to tune in and tune out
1. Sex and the City
This groundbreaking (for the late ’90s) romantic dramedy is brain candy in the best way. There’s just enough plot to hook you, but the show also has plenty of one-off, self-contained storylines—which means you can dip in or out whenever you feel like it. The word “iconic” gets tossed around a lot these days, but Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) are iconic—their glossy lives in idyllic Manhattan, their apartments, their outfits, and their romantic antics are only slightly less relatable than they must have been when the show first aired on HBO from 1998 to 2004. (It’s now on Netflix too, FYI).
But if you’ve already watched Sex and the City to death and don’t want to tarnish the memory with the controversial And Just Like That… might I suggest…
2. Girlfriends
Like Sex and the City, this beloved series—which is now on Netlifx too—features a close-knit group of four friends, but there are two key differences: Sweet, anxious Joan (a luminescent Tracee Ellis Ross) and her eponymous girlfriends Maya (Golden Brooks), Toni (Jill Marie Jones), and Lynn (Persia White) live in Los Angeles, and they’re navigating the early 2000s as Black women. Girlfriends also has more of a ’90s sitcom feel to it than Sex and the City—there’s a laugh track, and the way it’s shot is more reminiscent of Friends than a slick HBO show. It ran longer than SATC too (eight seasons to SATC’s six), and while it riffs on the same themes of love and friendship, the women’s lives feel a little more grounded and realistic, while bringing the same level of outfit inspiration to boot.
3. The Great British Baking Show
A great brain-rot reality series has stakes, but not very high ones. That’s exactly what you get in The Great British Baking Show, which is as deliciously formulaic as the recipes its contestants must follow. Everyone on this English export is so nice, so happy to be there, so self-effacing, and so genuinely thrilled to receive compliments from the judges—it’s basically the TV show version of a hug from your favorite elementary school teacher. Whether you’re an avid baker yourself or just have an appetite for a low-effort, high-reward comfort watch, The Great British Baking Show should satisfy your craving.
4. Too Hot to Handle
This six-season reality series is spiritually the opposite of The Great British Baking Show, but it’s similarly soothing for a totally different reason: The “competition” in question is unbelievably silly. Hot singles, placed in a house on a tropical island, competing in various sexually charged challenges, sharing beds with other contestants, and dressing up for BDSM-themed “parties”—but they can only win the hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money if they don’t hook up. JUST DON’T HOOK UP, THEN. But for these people, keeping their hands to themselves is seemingly impossible in a way that’s incredibly entertaining to watch without requiring a single brain cell’s worth of critical thought. I dare you to watch a grown man yell at two other adults for doing hand stuff in the shower without at least cracking a smile, no matter how burned out, sad, or sick, you might be feeling while you watch.
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
If you’re looking for something with plot, pizazz, a heart of gold, and some schlocky monster-of-the-week action, then Buffy the Vampire Slayer has your name all over it. Part teen comedy, part procedural, part horror-fantasy, the show’s lore gets complicated but rarely heavy. It’s engaging, it’ll make you laugh, and it might make you cry, but it definitely won’t stress you out—unless, that is, you’ve got a particularly strong aversion to late ’90s/early 2000s fashion.
6. Physical 100
There are only two seasons of this Korean reality TV competition show out right now, and that’s a shame because it is awesome. Basically, one hundred contestants from various walks of life—some are professional athletes, others are influencers or models, and a few are just regular people in amazing shape—compete in various feats of strength, agility, and endurance to determine who is the strongest person in the nation. Going into detail about any of the challenges would spoil the fun, but it’s a lot of keep-away, lift this, hang off that—simple games, reminiscent of Survivor or American Ninja Warrior, most of which wouldn’t make the cut for the Olympics. And one of its most watchable qualities? There’s no dead air, no time spent on fleshing out contestants’ backstories—so it’s as easy to follow as any live basketball or football game.
7. Monk
Adrian Monk (played by Emmy winner Tony Shaloub) is a detective whose life is ruled by fear and grief—he’s got tons of phobias that make it hard for him to function and he’s still grieving the death of his wife, Trudy, whose murder triggered a mental breakdown that forced him to resign from the San Francisco Police Department. Sounds gloomy, but Monk is far from sad—it’s an incredibly sweet, laugh-out-loud funny show about resilience, the power of friendship, and, yeah, okay, murder. Sometimes predictable, always charming, it follows a pattern that makes it eminently watchable—even when the titular character and his friends are thrown into some pretty desperate and absurd situations, the mood never truly darkens. On Monk, even if you’re scared, it’s all going to be alright.
8. Grey’s Anatomy
If your goal is to fully surrender yourself to a long, long watch, why not go for gold with Grey’s Anatomy? At 20 seasons, it’s basically a bottomless well of a show. But, thank the TV gods, no actual plot can run that long, which makes Grey’s perfect for a mindless escape. It’s an endless loop of hot MDs saving lives, while in a permanent state of workplace romantic intrigue—could be just what the doctor ordered.
9. Couples Therapy
Do you read r/AmItheAsshole and r/relationships like they’re the front page of the New York Times? If so, Couples Therapy will absolutely be your jam. On each of the show’s four seasons, viewers follow four or five couples as they work with the endlessly patient and extremely stylish New York—based therapist Orna Guralnik, PsyD. Couples Therapy feels especially indulgent because you get to gawk at the granular, sometimes juicy, drama without having to actually participate, so you’re free from the pressure of, say, weighing in on a friend’s latest dating woes. It’s also a really humane portrayal of what happens when a relationship stops working—people who seem like the obvious villain initially get a chance to explain, and sometimes redeem, themselves. Conflicts are inevitably revealed as complicated and murky, and unlike on Reddit, there’s no gimmicky verdict. It’s just…life, man.
10. Bob’s Burgers
Nothing says brain rot like an entire evening (or morning, or afternoon) of cartoons and Bob’s Burgers is one of the best—a goofy animated comedy with serious heart. In case you haven’t seen it (you’re missing out!), the series centers around Bob and Linda Belcher and their three kids, Gene, Tina, and Louise, a loving family of true weirdos who run a burger joint in a bizarre little seaside town. Packed with nonstop jokes, stellar voice-acting, genuinely inspired pop culture references, and some of the best recurring characters of any modern comedy (Jimmy Pesto Sr., Bob’s rival, and Jimmy Pesto Jr., most beloved of Tina’s myriad crushes, both hold a special place in my heart), the show’s 15 seasons and counting are full of gems that’ll meet you where you’re at—depleted and in need of an entertaining outlet.
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