15 Best Comfort Shows to Rewatch When You Need a Pick-Me-Up (2026)

Some days you don’t want to think. You don’t want to be challenged, surprised, or emotionally devastated. You want to curl up on the couch, wrap yourself in a blanket, and watch something that feels like a warm hug from an old friend. These are those shows — the ones you’ve seen before, possibly multiple times, and love more with every rewatch. Here are the 15 best comfort shows streaming in Australia right now.

1. Bluey

Yes, it’s a children’s show about a family of animated Blue Heelers in Brisbane. Yes, it will make you cry more than any prestige drama. Bluey is the most emotionally intelligent show on Australian television — each seven-minute episode captures something true about family life, growing up, and the bittersweet passage of time. “Sleepytime,” “Grandad,” and “The Sign” are legitimate masterpieces. It’s comfort viewing that also makes you a better person.

Stream it on: ABC iview (free) or Disney+

2. The Office (US)

There’s a reason The Office has been the most-rewatched show in the English-speaking world for years. Michael Scott’s cringe-inducing management style, Jim and Pam’s slow-burn romance, Dwight’s unhinged dedication — it’s a show where every character becomes family. Skip the rough first few episodes if you must, but by season two you’ll never want to leave Dunder Mifflin. The ultimate background show that also rewards your full attention.

Stream it on: Stan

3. Parks and Recreation

If The Office is comfort food, Parks and Rec is comfort food that also makes you believe in the fundamental goodness of humanity. Leslie Knope’s relentless optimism, Ron Swanson’s perfect deadpan, the entire ensemble of Pawnee weirdos — this is a show that genuinely loves its characters and wants you to love them too. Start from season two (trust me) and let the warmth wash over you.

Stream it on: Stan

4. Ted Lasso

An American football coach takes over a struggling English football club and wins everyone over with kindness, biscuits, and relentless positivity. Ted Lasso arrived during the pandemic and felt like exactly what everyone needed — proof that decency isn’t weakness, that curiosity beats cynicism, and that believing in people is never a waste of time. The first two seasons are near-perfect comfort viewing.

Stream it on: Apple TV+

5. Schitt’s Creek

The Rose family loses everything and is forced to live in a small town they once bought as a joke. What starts as fish-out-of-water comedy slowly transforms into one of the most heartfelt, inclusive, and genuinely lovely shows ever made. David and Patrick’s relationship is one of television’s great love stories, and the final season earns every tear. Six seasons of pure warmth.

Stream it on: Netflix

6. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

A workplace comedy set in a New York police precinct that manages to be consistently funny across eight seasons while also handling serious topics — racism, homophobia, police reform — with genuine care. Jake and Amy’s relationship is adorable, Captain Holt is one of the greatest sitcom characters ever written, and the Halloween heist episodes are annual traditions in many households.

Stream it on: Stan

7. Gilmore Girls

Stars Hollow, Connecticut is the most comforting fictional town in television history. Lorelai and Rory Gilmore’s rapid-fire banter, the quirky townspeople, Luke’s Diner, the cosy small-town atmosphere — it’s a show that feels like autumn in New England even when you’re watching it in a sweltering Aussie summer. Seven seasons of witty dialogue and mother-daughter warmth. The 2016 revival is optional.

Stream it on: Netflix

8. Fisk

Kitty Flanagan plays Helen Tudor-Fisk, a down-on-her-luck lawyer working in a shabby suburban law firm specialising in wills and probate. It’s a uniquely Australian comedy — dry, awkward, and hilariously specific about the mundanity of professional life in the suburbs. Each episode is a tight 25 minutes of perfectly observed cringe comedy. Proudly local and genuinely funny.

Stream it on: ABC iview (free)

9. Detectorists

If you’ve never heard of Detectorists, you’re about to discover something special. Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones play two mates in the Danebury Metal Detecting Club, wandering Essex fields with metal detectors looking for buried treasure. Almost nothing happens, and it’s absolutely beautiful. The gentlest, most peaceful show ever made — like a cup of tea for your brain. Three seasons and a special, all perfect.

Stream it on: ABC iview (free) or BritBox (via Prime Video)

10. Kath & Kim

Australia’s greatest sitcom, and I won’t hear arguments. Kath and Kim captures suburban Melbourne with a precision and affection that’s never been matched — the Fountain Gate shopping centre, the chardonnay, the malapropisms, the desperate aspiration. It’s comfort viewing that’s also a perfect sociological document of a specific time and place in Australian culture. “Look at moi” is carved into the national psyche.

Stream it on: Netflix or ABC iview (free, selected episodes)

11. New Girl

Jess moves in with three guys in an LA loft, and what follows is seven seasons of one of the most consistently charming ensemble comedies of the 2010s. The Nick and Jess romance is excellent, Schmidt’s evolution from douchebag to devoted husband is a joy, and Winston’s increasingly bizarre pranks become genuinely legendary. Comfort viewing that stays funny on the fifth rewatch.

Stream it on: Disney+

12. Ghosts (BBC)

A young couple inherits a crumbling English country house, only to discover it’s haunted by ghosts from every era of British history — a caveman, a Regency poet, a World War II officer, a 1990s politician who died in a scandal. It’s warm, clever, and endlessly inventive, with each ghost’s backstory providing surprisingly emotional moments amid the silliness. Gentle humour at its finest.

Stream it on: ABC iview (free) or BritBox (via Prime Video)

13. Seinfeld

The show about nothing is really a show about everything — specifically, the petty frustrations, social obligations, and minor humiliations that define modern life. Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer are terrible people, and watching them navigate New York with zero personal growth across nine seasons is endlessly rewatchable. Every episode has at least one line that’s entered your everyday vocabulary.

Stream it on: Stan

14. Good Omens

An angel and a demon who’ve grown rather fond of Earth team up to prevent the apocalypse. David Tennant and Michael Sheen have extraordinary chemistry, the Neil Gaiman source material is delightful, and the whole thing radiates warmth, wit, and a deep love of humanity’s messy imperfection. The first season is a complete, self-contained story that works as perfect comfort viewing. Cosy apocalypse fiction at its best.

Stream it on: Prime Video

15. Neighbours (Revival)

Yes, really. The revived Neighbours on Amazon Freevee (via Prime Video) brought Ramsay Street back to life, and there’s something deeply comforting about returning to Erinsborough. It’s not prestige television and it doesn’t pretend to be — it’s warm, familiar, slightly absurd Australian soap opera that’s been part of the national furniture for decades. Perfect for having on in the background while you cook dinner or fold laundry.

Stream it on: Prime Video (Amazon Freevee, free with ads) or 10 Play (free)

Building Your Comfort Rotation

The beauty of comfort shows is that you don’t watch them once — you rotate through them like favourite albums. Here’s how to build a cost-effective comfort rotation using Australian services:

Free tier (ABC iview + SBS On Demand): Bluey, Fisk, Detectorists, Ghosts, Kath & Kim Stan ($12/month): The Office, Parks and Rec, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Seinfeld Netflix ($18.99/month): Schitt’s Creek, Gilmore Girls, Kath & Kim Disney+ ($13.99/month): Bluey, New Girl Apple TV+ ($12.99/month): Ted Lasso Prime Video ($9.99/month): Good Omens, Detectorists, Neighbours

The free platforms alone give you five of the fifteen shows on this list. Add a single Stan subscription and you’ve got nine shows covered. That’s an awful lot of comfort for very little money.

The most important thing about comfort shows isn’t the show itself — it’s the ritual. The familiar opening theme, the characters you know like old mates, the knowledge that everything is going to be okay for the next 25 minutes. In a world that feels increasingly chaotic, that’s worth more than any prestige drama.