In this piece · 20 sections+
The Best Rainy Day Shows to Watch When You're Sick, Sad, or Just Hiding From Your Life
If you only read the first paragraph: watch Detectorists. It's a gentle British comedy about two guys with metal detectors in an English field, and it is the single most soothing show ever committed to television. No stakes. No one screams. Two idiots look for Saxon gold and mostly find bottle caps. If you're sick, sad, hungover, or watching the rain hit the window and questioning your life choices, this is the one. Three short seasons plus a special. You'll finish it and feel like someone wrapped you in a blanket.
Everything else on this list earns its spot by doing one specific job: keeping you company without demanding anything back. No prestige gauntlets. No shows where the main character gets kidnapped in episode one and you have to feel tense for forty hours. The reader searched best rainy day shows because they're horizontal. We respect that.
Must-Watch Tier
Detectorists (2014, 3 seasons + special, streaming varies, check Prime Video)
Start with S1E1. If you don't feel something by the end of that episode, this show is not for you and you should move on without guilt. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you liked Schitt's Creek's warmth or Ted Lasso season 1, yes. If you need plot twists or a body in the first ten minutes, no. Time commitment: 19 episodes, 30 min each. A long weekend. Status: ended, but they did a 2022 special, and it's perfect. Why it works: because nothing happens and that's the point. Two friends wander fields. The sun is always kind of out. Someone's aunt brings tea. It is the television equivalent of a weighted blanket, and it's on Prime Video in most regions. Put it on, fall asleep halfway through, rewind tomorrow. No one will die while you nap.
🏆 DROP EVERYTHING
The Great British Bake Off (2010–, 16+ seasons, Netflix in the US)
Start with the Collection 3 / Series 4 era. Mary Berry, Mel and Sue, peak vibes. Skip the first two seasons, they're rough. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: everyone who has ever been tired. Bounces: people who need conflict, which, frankly, maybe go outside. Time commitment: 10 episodes per season, 60 min. Infinite supply. Status: ongoing, quality has dipped post-Mary Berry but still works. Prue Leith stepped down after last year's run and Nigella Lawson is taking the second judge chair for series 17, which lands on Netflix later this year. Why it works: the worst thing that can happen is a cake falls over. A grandmother from Yorkshire cries because her meringue didn't set and a man in a wool sweater tells her she's wonderful. That's the entire show. If you have the flu, this is medicine. If your ex just moved out, this is a friend.
✅ WORTH IT
Fleabag (2016–2019, 2 seasons, Prime Video)
Yes, everyone's told you to watch it. They were right. Start with S1E1. The show is 12 episodes total, you'll know in 25 minutes if you're in. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you laugh at dark stuff and cry at small stuff, yes. If you want comfort TV that stays comfort, be warned: season 2 will ambush you emotionally. Time commitment: 12 episodes, 25 min. One Saturday. Status: ended, perfectly. Phoebe Waller-Bridge wisely refused to make more. Why it works: it's the rare show that takes loneliness seriously without being a bummer. Also it's very funny, which is no small thing. On Prime Video, and the stage play recording is also out there if you fall in love.
🏆 DROP EVERYTHING
Worth Your Time
Slow Horses (2022–, 5 seasons, Apple TV+)
Start with S1E1, and commit to the full first season. It's a slow build, and the payoff is the best espionage drama currently on TV. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you liked Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or any John le Carré adaptation, yes. If you want action every five minutes, no. This is mostly Gary Oldman being a disgusting genius in a rumpled suit. Time commitment: 6 episodes per season, 45 min. A weekend gets you through two seasons. Status: ongoing, five seasons out (season 5 wrapped last October), and season 6 is set for September. Why it works: it's competent. That's the whole thing. When you're sick, you don't want to watch idiots make bad decisions. You want to watch professionals who are tired and good at their jobs. It's based on the Mick Herron novels, which are also excellent for the rainy-day bedside table.
✅ WORTH IT
Poker Face (2023–2025, 2 seasons, Peacock)
Start with S1E1. Every episode is standalone. If you don't like one, the next one is a totally different story with a new cast. The bail-early test is built in. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you grew up on Columbo or you like Rian Johnson's Knives Out stuff, yes. If you need serialized mystery with a season-long arc, no. This is old-school mystery-of-the-week. Time commitment: 20 episodes across two seasons, 60 min. Pick at it over a couple weeks. Status: Peacock pulled the plug after season 2 last November. Rian Johnson is shopping a reboot with Peter Dinklage in the lead, but for now, the two seasons on Peacock are what you get. Why it works: Natasha Lyonne in a cowboy boot rolling around America solving murders. You can drop in anywhere. You can miss half an episode answering the door for soup and still follow along. Rainy-day TV's main requirement is forgiveness, and this show forgives you.
✅ WORTH IT
Parks and Recreation (2009–2015, 7 seasons, Peacock/Netflix depending on region)
Start with S2E1. Season 1 is six episodes and it's bad. Everyone who loves this show will tell you to skip it. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you want the warmest sitcom of the last twenty years, yes. If you need edge, bounce. This show fundamentally believes people are good, which is either medicine or poison depending on your mood. Time commitment: 125 episodes, 22 min each. An entire winter. Status: ended, plus a 2020 reunion special. Why it works: it is the pillow of television. You cannot be stressed while watching Leslie Knope plan a harvest festival. It's illegal in six states to feel bad during season 3.
✅ WORTH IT
Taskmaster (2015–, 21+ series, YouTube free / Prime Video)
Start with Series 7. This is the received wisdom and the received wisdom is correct. Don't start with Series 1, the show hadn't figured itself out. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you like British comedy, yes. If you need a plot, no. This is just five comedians doing stupid tasks for a bald man in a suit. Time commitment: 10 episodes per series, 60 min. There are 21 series and Channel 4 just renewed it out through series 27. You will not run out. Status: ongoing forever, apparently, god bless. Why it works: zero stakes, maximum stupidity, and you can watch any series in any order. Greg Davies laughs at a man trying to eat a watermelon fast. You laugh too. The rain keeps falling. Time passes gently.
🛋️ BACKGROUND TV
Only for Fans
The Bear (2022–2026, 5 seasons, Hulu)
Caveat upfront: this is not a comfort show and do not watch it with the flu. But if your rainy day is the "I want something intense to match my mood" kind of rainy day, specifically the breakup kind, The Bear understands. Start with S1E1, and if you're still in after episode 2, you'll finish the season. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you liked Uncut Gems and enjoy being mildly anxious, yes. If you want calm, absolutely not. Season 1 is basically a panic attack with good music. Time commitment: 8–10 episodes per season, 30 min. A day. Status: finished. The fifth and final season dropped on Hulu in June and stuck the landing better than the middle stretch had any right to expect. Why it works for the sad rainy day: sometimes you don't want to feel better, you want to feel seen. This show is about people drowning in grief and still going to work. If that's where you are today, okay.
✅ WORTH IT
Halt and Catch Fire (2014–2017, 4 seasons, AMC+/Prime Video)
Nobody watched this when it aired and everyone who watches it now tells everyone they know. Start with S1E1, but if you're not hooked, jump to S2E1. The show massively improves and the second season is where it becomes one of the best dramas of the 2010s. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you liked Mad Men, yes. If you need prestige TV to have lots of murders, no. Time commitment: 40 episodes, 45 min. A chunk of the week. Status: ended, and it sticks the landing. The finale is one of the best ever. Why it works: it's about people building something and mostly failing. For a rainy Sunday where you're thinking about your career, this hits. It's on Prime Video to rent or via AMC+.
✅ WORTH IT
Off the Beaten Path
Flowers (2016–2018, 2 seasons, streaming varies, Prime Video via Channel 4)
You have not heard of this. That's fine. Start with S1E1. It's six 22-minute episodes, you'll know immediately. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you liked Fleabag and Fishing with John had a baby, yes. If you want a normal show, no. This one's deeply weird, with Olivia Colman and Julian Barratt as a collapsing marriage in a rotting English house. Time commitment: 12 episodes, 22 min. A single rainy afternoon. Status: ended, two seasons, complete story. Why it works: it is the exact texture of a gray day. Depression but funny. Gothic but gentle. You'll never see it recommended in a listicle because the algorithm doesn't know what to do with it, and that's exactly why it belongs on yours.
✅ WORTH IT
Pushing Daisies (2007–2009, 2 seasons, rent on Prime Video / Apple TV)
Start with S1E1. The pilot tells you everything you need to know about whether the show's tone works for you. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you like Wes Anderson, Amélie, storybook-colored everything, yes. If whimsy makes you itch, hard no. Time commitment: 22 episodes, 42 min. A long weekend. Status: cancelled by the 2007 writers' strike, ends mid-arc. Fair warning, but the journey's worth it, and Bryan Fuller has an actual season 3 pitch circulating with the original cast, which is either a miracle or a mirage, we'll see. Where to watch: HBO Max dropped it in January, so for now you're renting individual episodes on Prime Video or Apple TV. Annoying but cheap enough. Why it works: the show looks like a pie. Every frame is warm. A man touches dead things and they come alive. It's absurd and it's kind and it's the most visually comforting hour of television ever made. If you have a fever, this is what you should be hallucinating.
✅ WORTH IT
Terriers (2010, 1 season, Hulu)
One season. Thirteen episodes. Cancelled because FX gave it the worst marketing campaign in television history and nobody knew what it was. Start with S1E1. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: if you like shaggy detective stories with great chemistry, yes. If you need prestige polish, no. This one's loose and warm and sun-bleached. Time commitment: 13 episodes, 45 min. A weekend. Status: cancelled, but the season is a complete story, nothing left hanging. Why it works: two broke guys in San Diego running an unlicensed PI shop. It's one of the best shows nobody watched, and if you're on the couch trying to remember what TV used to feel like before every show was a 10-episode murder trilogy with a budget the size of Luxembourg, Terriers is that feeling. Still parked on Hulu; the DVD's on Amazon as a backup if it ever gets pulled.
✅ WORTH IT
Skip Tier (we'll save you the time)
- Any true-crime docuseries. You are sick. You do not need to hear about a woman who was murdered in Idaho. Put it down.
- Yellowstone. Too much yelling. The rain needs a quieter show.
- New prestige dramas you haven't started yet. Severance and Succession are great but they demand attention. Rainy-day TV should let you zone out and come back.
- Emily in Paris. You are worth more than this, even today.
FAQ
What's the best show to watch when you have the flu?
Detectorists or The Great British Bake Off. Both have a warm, low-stakes rhythm that lets you drift in and out of sleep without losing the plot. If your fever wants something more colorful, Pushing Daisies is basically TV Tylenol. Just note you're renting episodes now that it left HBO Max.
What should I watch after a breakup?
Fleabag if you're ready to feel things and laugh about them in the same sentence. Parks and Recreation if you need to borrow someone else's optimism for a while. Avoid The Bear for the first 72 hours unless your specific coping strategy is "feel worse on purpose."
What's a good rainy day show that isn't super long?
Fleabag (12 episodes), Flowers (12 episodes), Terriers (13 episodes). All complete, all under seven hours total, all finishable in one dedicated weekend. Perfect when you don't want to commit to a 70-episode relationship.
Are there good rainy day shows on Prime Video specifically?
Yes: Fleabag, Detectorists (in most regions), and Slow Horses if you have a Prime + Apple TV+ combo via Prime Channels. Start a Prime Video free trial if you're not already in, and you'll have enough on there to cover a week of weather.
What to do tonight
Start Detectorists, season 1, episode 1. Make tea. If you don't have tea, make whatever. Wrap up in something. Give it 30 minutes. If it's not for you, switch to Poker Face S1E1. Totally different energy, same low-ask commitment. One of them will hit. The rain's not going anywhere, and neither are you, and that's fine. That's the whole point of a rainy day.
Related guides
- The Best Shows to Watch High, Ranked by a Guy Who Watches Too Much TV
- The Best Comedy Shows Right Now: 12 Picks That Actually Make You Laugh
- The Best Drama TV Shows of All Time: A Ranked Guide That Won't Waste Your Weekend
- The Best Sci Fi Shows to Watch Right Now, Ranked by a Guy Who's Seen Too Much
- The Best Shows on Prime Video Right Now (July 2026): What to Actually Watch