Fellow DLers, I desperately need your infinite TV knowledge and sage recommendations. I’m visiting my 60-y.o. mom and trying to keep her entertained, and watch some TV shows together, during her recovery from surgery. She LOVES [bold]cheesy, ‘easy-watching’, good-vibe TV shows and romantic daytime soaps[/bold]. Problem is apparently she’s already seen many of the classic ones and I’m running out of fun ideas for her.
I’m a Millennial and usually watch depressing shows like Mad Men and gory ones like GoT - and don’t know what to find for her. Maybe any of you know of some hidden gems or something I’ve overlooked? Could be even one-season ones or good ol’ forgotten ones.
My mother doesn’t really like shows with too much gore, realistic drama, guns, slapstick comedies - she prefers watching very calm, slow-paced shows with beautiful people and elevator music :). Something with an overall soothing vibe, but not to the extreme of Hallmark Xtian eye-rollers. I tried getting her to watch DL-fave sitcoms like Golden Girls, but she said she doesn’t like sitcoms or watching old gals, but prefers ‘nice, escapist’ romantic shows about ‘beautiful, well-dressed people in their late 20s to 40s’.
The types of cheesy shows she’s already seen and loved, in order of preference:
(1) Fun old classics like Dynasty, Dallas, Moonlighting;
(2) Super-cheesy 90s and new daytime soaps where they mix romance and silly magic, like Passions (she was obsessed with its early seasons and loved all the camp ‘evil’ characters), 10th Kingdom, The Good Witch, Smallville.
(3) Post-2000 new shows about beautiful rich kids and their 1st-world problems: Gilmore Girls, 90210, One Tree Hill. She’s seen Beverly Hills, Melrose Place, the OC and thought they were ok but not the best for her taste. She didn’t like most of the leads in Desperate Housewives.
(4) Light-hearted, fun romantic legal comedies like Ally McBeal really pleased her. She also liked some legal dramas (The Good Wife, Billions, Suits), but I’m afraid legal dramas (or hospital soaps) might over-agitate or upset her during her recovery.
(5) The only ‘scary’ shows she liked were shows like Twin Peaks (the original one, not the creepier new one). She liked the original’s strangely soothing Badalamenti soundtrack, relaxed vibe and beautiful cast. She also liked Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries (the first seasons of both shows) - because of the beautiful actors and cheesy plot-lines (which made the gore not so scary), but it quickly got too repetetive and overly gory for her. She liked Lucifer (again, because of the good-looking leads) - but it’s more fun than scary.
She’s retro-watching Santa Barbara right now, but she says it seems too boring and most of the cast isn’t that beautiful.
Anyway, any recommendations?
Strangely, my mother hasn’t watched the big long-running ones: Days of Our Lives or All My Children. But those are such looong shows - which season is best?
If worst comes to worst and we can’t find any other or new shows/soaps to watch, I’m thinking maybe we can re-watch some seasons of Dallas or Dynasty together. But, again, which seasons of those shows are best?
For visual reference, this is the type of show that appeals to her: