The Stylist team’s favourite nostalgic TV shows and films that we go back to time and time again

With so many shows and streaming platforms to pick from, it can be tricky attempting to find something new to watch. The decision fatigue is very real. There are lots of factors to consider before you even press play on a show: your mood, whether you want to commit to a show with several seasons and even what day of the week it is. And so, it’s probably no surprise that many of us have our favourite comfort TV shows and films that we always go back to – our failsafes, if you will.

Team Stylist is no different. We all have our comfort shows that we’re constantly going back to, whether to feel at ease or just to have on in the background while pottering around at home. Nostalgia is as good a reason as any to go back and rewatch an old favourite, especially when you’re craving some familiar comfort – it’s the TV version of a hug from your mum.

It seems we’re not alone in our craving for nostalgia, either: the trend currently doing the rounds on social media is to post throwback photos of yourself from 2016, to see what you were doing, wearing and how badly you were filling in your eyebrows (just me?) in the mid-2010s. So, while we’re all hopped up on the potent drug that is nostalgia, Team Stylist shares our favourite go-to TV series and films that we love to revisit again and again.

Georgia Green, Schitt’s Creek

Whenever I’m ill, I turn to this heartwarming riches-to-rags tale, and it always makes me feel better. I must have rewatched it in its entirety at least five times now, and I’ll definitely do it again. You start by laughing and cringing at the Rose family and their complete disconnect from reality, but by the end, you’re sobbing with them and cheering David, Alexis, Johnny and Moira on all the way. I wish I could move to Schitt’s Creek and be Twyla’s best friend, eat at the Café Tropical and mooch around David’s apothecary store, but I’ll settle for watching the whole thing again and again for now.

Susanne Norris, Arrested Development

I must have rewatched Arrested Development at least seven times, but about a month ago, my fiancé told me he’d never seen it. Convinced he’d love it, I decided that an eighth rewatch couldn’t hurt. Honestly, even though I know all the barbed comments and witty quips off by heart at this point, it will always be my go-to nostalgia comedy watch. Watching the Bluth family descend from filthy rich to losing it all was the blueprint for Schitt’s Creek (a show I have also rewatched several times), and it will never not be a laugh-out-loud satire of wealth and family dynamics. And, safe to say, my partner is absolutely loving it, too.

Helen Bownass, This Country

Sometimes I go on iPlayer and scour it to see if there’s an episode or even a moment of This Country that I’ve missed! There isn’t. I’ve seen all three series a hundred times. And yet I never tire of it. Created by siblings Daisy May and Charlie Cooper, the perfectly observed mockumentary about cousins Kerry and Kurtan and their small lives in their dull village makes me howl with laughter like no other show on Earth, despite knowing every beat and joke. Because it’s also beautifully human and heartbreaking – subtly, deftly taking on poverty and boredom, confronting the desire to be loved and wanting to break out of your world, but being scared to. I’m thrilled when I see the cast on other shows: I screeched when the vicar (Paul Chahidi) appeared in the second season of The Night Manager, and despite my hatred of anything spooky or ghostly, I devoured Daisy May and Charlie Cooper’s NightWatch. This Country is a gem that doesn’t age, and could only be better if they gave me one more series.

Amy Beecham, New Girl

Forget Friends, How I Met Your Mother or The Big Bang Theory. New Girl reigns supreme as the ultimate ensemble cast comedy. It’s the show I turn on when I don’t know what to watch or need a pick-me-up after a long day, and it never fails to lift me out of a bad mood. Granted, you may have to wince through scenes of Jessica Day meddling – once again – in her friends’ lives, but it’s worth it for Schmidt’s one-liners, Nick’s moonwalk and classic Cece and Winston mess-arounds.

Holly Bullock, Motherland

Despite definitely not being the target demographic (I am neither a mother nor do I own a three-storey terrace in west London), Motherland is my ultimate repeat watch. When thrillers feel too stressful, there’s nothing more soothing than switching on a light-hearted 30 minutes of low-stakes drama among a group of parents – the breakout star of which is undoubtedly Diane Morgan’s Liz. Full of heartwarming chaos, it’s got everything from nightmare swimming parties to fraught weekends away in wifi-less holiday cottages… and somehow I am obsessed.

Shahed Ezaydi, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

It may be in the title, but this show truly does make me feel sunny and warm, and with episodes under 30 minutes, it doesn’t require much focus or commitment, which is ideal for me. Not only is it perfect background TV now that I’ve watched it over five times the whole way through (there are 16 seasons and counting…), but it also still makes me laugh out loud every time. Danny DeVito’s Frank is Oscar-worthy, in my humble opinion.

Lucy Reber, You’ve Got Mail

It’s peak cosy. I’ve always loved the idea of owning a cute bookshop like Meg Ryan, and I love her flat, her wardrobe and the PG13 way she and Tom Hanks got together. Aside from some questionable morals around her having a boyfriend while they’re both getting together, it’s the perfect film.

Ellen Scott, Love

It’s a romcom series but nothing like what that label makes you imagine, with seriously quite hate-able characters (Gus! Randy! Dr Greg!) and endless bad behaviour. But the thing that I truly love about Love is its representation of addiction in the form of Mickey (side note: great outfits). There are times rewatching Love that I cry, times when I can’t help saying ‘stop’ at the screen and times I laugh out loud – every scene with Bertie, for example, is pure gold.

Annie Simpson, Peep Show

Whenever I find myself aimlessly scrolling through Netflix, Disney+, iPlayer (and the countless other streaming platforms we now have), and I still can’t decide on something to watch, it’s likely that I’ll end up reverting to Peep Show. It’s the kind of show that I put on when I’m not in the mood to tackle yet another gritty true crime drama or don’t have the headspace to get stuck into the new series that everyone’s talking about. It’s one that never fails to conjure a laugh with its signature cringe-inducing humour. I’ve rewatched the entirety of the nine seasons countless times since it came to its conclusion in 2015, and with the show turning 20 this year, it’s probably time that I make yet another visit to Mark and Jeremy’s Croydon flat before too long.

Image: BBC; Netflix; Disney+; Getty