The Best Shows to Watch With Your Parents Without Wanting to Die

Put Slow Horses on. That's the answer. Gary Oldman plays a farting, drunk MI5 washout babysitting a team of failed spies, it's funny to a 27-year-old and a 67-year-old for the same reasons, and there is no scene where you have to pretend you're not related to the person next to you. Four seasons on Apple TV+, six episodes each, and every one lands. If your parents can operate a remote and don't hate the word "bloody," you're done. Everything below is for the weeks when you've already burned through it.

The rules for this list: no sex scenes in the first twenty minutes, no lore that requires a wiki, and no show that ends on a cliffhanger and then gets cancelled. Your dad will not forgive you.

Tier 1: Cancel the Restaurant Reservation

Slow Horses (2022, 4 seasons, Apple TV+)

Starter episode: S1E1. If the cold open with the airport chase doesn't have your dad leaning forward, he is dead and you should call someone. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: If your parents liked Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or any John le Carré paperback with a cracked spine, this is their Super Bowl. If they need explosions every eight minutes, they'll drift. Time commitment: 24 episodes, ~45 min. A month of Sunday nights. Status: Ongoing, season 5 confirmed, Apple is treating it like their crown jewel, which it is.

Why it works with parents: it's a spy show for adults who remember when spy shows were about talking in cars. Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb is one of the great TV creations of the decade — a man who has weaponized his own contempt — and Kristin Scott Thomas plays the Second Desk villain like she's insulting a waiter. The stakes are real, the deaths hurt, and the jokes are dry enough that your mom will laugh two seconds after you do because she's still processing it. Nothing horny happens. Ever. Praise be.

🏆 DROP EVERYTHING

Tier 2: These Will Get You Through the Visit

Only Murders in the Building (2021, 4 seasons, Hulu)

Starter episode: S1E1, no shortcut, the pilot is the pitch. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: If your mom has ever said the words "Steve Martin is a national treasure," green light. If your dad only watches sports and war documentaries, he'll tolerate it because Martin Short is doing bits. Time commitment: 40 episodes, ~35 min. A comfortable month. Status: Ongoing, Hulu will milk it until Steve Martin literally cannot walk anymore.

It's a cozy murder mystery in a New York apartment building, and the whole gimmick is that Martin Short and Steve Martin have been doing an act together since the 1980s and the show just lets them cook. Selena Gomez is the audience surrogate, doing very little and doing it well. Guest stars keep showing up. Nobody swears much. There's a cat. Parents love the cat.

✅ WORTH IT

The Diplomat (2023, 2 seasons, Netflix)

Starter episode: S1E1. If you're not hooked by the end, bail — the show gets better but the vibe is set. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: If your parents watched every second of The West Wing and still talk about "Two Cathedrals," this is their thing. If they think politics on TV is depressing, skip. Time commitment: 14 episodes, ~50 min. Two long weekends. Status: Ongoing, season 3 filming, Keri Russell is not going anywhere.

Keri Russell plays a US ambassador to the UK who wanted the Kabul posting and got London instead. Rufus Sewell plays her disaster of a husband, and their marriage is the show — a two-hander of two brilliant people who cannot stand each other and also cannot function apart. Fast dialogue, real stakes, no torture scenes. Your mom will start theorizing during the credits.

✅ WORTH IT

Shrinking (2023, 2 seasons, Apple TV+)

Starter episode: S1E1, but the show finds itself around E3 if E1 feels too sitcom-y. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: Harrison Ford is in it, playing a grumpy therapist with Parkinson's, and if that sentence didn't make your dad's eyes light up, nothing will. If your parents hate anything that touches grief, avoid. Time commitment: 22 episodes, ~30 min. A weekend and change. Status: Ongoing, season 3 renewed.

Jason Segel plays a therapist whose wife died and who starts telling his patients what he actually thinks. It's a comedy that isn't afraid of being sad, which used to be normal on television and is now considered radical. Harrison Ford is the best he's been in twenty years. Everyone cries at least once per episode, but in the good way, not the This Is Us way where a crockpot kills the dad.

✅ WORTH IT

Poker Face (2023, 2 seasons, Peacock)

Starter episode: S1E1, then skip to S1E4 ("Rest in Metal") if you want to sample. Every episode stands alone. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: If your parents watched Columbo in real time, they will physically ascend. If they need serialized mysteries with a big finale, they'll be confused by the format. Time commitment: 22 episodes, ~55 min. Perfect for one-a-week viewing. Status: Ongoing, Rian Johnson's baby, going as long as Natasha Lyonne wants.

Natasha Lyonne plays a woman who can tell when anyone is lying, and she drives around America solving murders one episode at a time. The show is a love letter to '70s TV mysteries, and it's shot with guest stars so good you'll pause and go wait, is that — yes, that's Nick Nolte. Yes, that's Cynthia Erivo. Your parents grew up watching this exact rhythm. You are giving them their childhood back with better lighting.

✅ WORTH IT

Reacher (2022, 3 seasons, Prime Video)

Starter episode: S1E1. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: If your dad has ever bought a Lee Child paperback in an airport, he already knows Reacher, and he will watch this show with the joy of a man who has been served the exact thing he ordered. Moms who liked Justified tend to come around. Time commitment: 24 episodes, ~50 min. Long weekend material. Status: Ongoing, season 4 confirmed on Prime.

A giant man walks into a small town and breaks every bone of every bad guy. That's the show. Alan Ritchson is 6'3" of quiet menace, the plotting is airport-thriller clean, and there's a bit of romance but nothing that requires a fast-forward. It's the platonic ideal of dad TV, and dads have earned some platonic ideals. If you want it on Prime, you can start a Prime Video free trial and burn through season 1 in a weekend.

✅ WORTH IT

The Gentlemen (2024, 1 season, Netflix)

Starter episode: S1E1. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: If your parents liked Snatch or Lock, Stock or they just enjoy watching British aristocrats swear at each other, yes. If your mom hates violence and drug plots, this one is not for her. Time commitment: 8 episodes, ~50 min. A weekend. Status: Renewed for season 2, filming.

Guy Ritchie's Netflix show is way better than it has any right to be. Theo James inherits a dukedom and also, unfortunately, a massive weed operation on the estate. It's twisty, well-cast, and shot like every frame costs money. Some rough moments but the tone stays fun. Parents who love Downton with a body count will inhale it.

✅ WORTH IT

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017, 5 seasons, Prime Video)

Starter episode: S1E1. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: If your mom likes fashion, sharp writing, and Jewish family dinners that end in someone yelling about a brisket, unanimous yes. Dads either love it or check out in episode two — no in between. Time commitment: 43 episodes, ~55 min. A whole season of your life. Status: Ended. Complete run, no cliffhanger, they landed the plane.

Rachel Brosnahan plays a 1950s Upper West Side housewife who discovers she can do stand-up. The show is written by Amy Sherman-Palladino, which means everyone talks at 200 words a minute and half the jokes are period references your parents will get and you won't. Tony Shalhoub as her father does the best acting on the show. Watch it with your mom. This is a mom show. Own it.

✅ WORTH IT

Tier 3: Fine for Background While Cards Are Played

Bosch (2014, 7 seasons + Legacy spinoff, Prime Video)

Starter episode: S1E1. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: If your dad reads Michael Connelly, this show already lives in his head rent-free. If your mom wants character depth over procedure, she'll drift. Time commitment: 68 episodes with the spinoff, ~50 min. A full winter. Status: Bosch ended, Bosch: Legacy ongoing — no gaps, no cancellation trauma.

A gruff LA detective solves cases. That's it. That's the show. Titus Welliver looks like he was carved from a phone book. The plots are meat-and-potatoes police work, the jazz soundtrack is your dad's exact vibe, and there are seven seasons of it. It's not going to change your life. It doesn't want to. Perfect for a Tuesday night when nobody has the energy for prestige.

🛋️ BACKGROUND TV

Ted Lasso (2020, 3 seasons, Apple TV+)

Starter episode: S1E1. Bail after S1 if you want — that season is the whole show, and seasons 2 and 3 sprawl. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: Parents who like earnest, decent people being kind. Anyone allergic to sports metaphors will vibrate out of the room. Time commitment: S1 is 10 episodes, ~30 min. A weekend. Full run is 34. Status: Ended. Season 4 is reportedly coming, which nobody asked for.

Jason Sudeikis coaches British soccer, is nice to everyone, and slowly heals a broken team by being nice to them. Season 1 is genuinely a small miracle. Season 2 loses the plot in a therapist subplot that goes nowhere. Season 3 is 12 hours long for no reason. Watch season 1 with your parents, tell them the show ends there, and they'll never know.

🛋️ BACKGROUND TV

The Crown (2016, 6 seasons, Netflix)

Starter episode: S1E1. Or, if your parents just want the good stuff, S4E1 — the Diana era. Who'll love it, who'll bounce: Anglophile moms, history-buff dads, and anyone who thinks the royal family is a fascinating soap opera. Republicans in the small-r sense may roll their eyes. Time commitment: 60 episodes, ~55 min. A commitment. Status: Ended.

Production value that makes you feel guilty for streaming it, three different casts playing the same queen as she ages, and enough backstabbing British politeness to power a small country. It's slow in the way parents like slow — meaning "actually letting a scene breathe." Nothing racy. Some wars, handled tastefully.

🛋️ BACKGROUND TV

The Ones Everyone Recommends That You Should Actually Avoid

Bridgerton — a real thing that happens is your mom asks what all the moaning is, and now you're explaining a corset scene to the woman who raised you. Not the vibe. 🐍 SLOP

The Bear — genuinely great TV, but the whole show is people screaming at each other in a kitchen for 30 minutes, and your parents will ask you three separate times if the son is okay. He is not. That's the show. Watch it alone. ✅ WORTH IT (just not for this)

House of the Dragon — same problem as Bridgerton but with dragons. Please. ✅ WORTH IT (still, not for this)

Emily in Paris — do this to yourself if you must, do not do it to your parents. 🐍 SLOP

FAQ

What's a safe show for really conservative parents?

Slow Horses, Poker Face, Only Murders in the Building, Bosch. All four have zero explicit sex, minimal swearing outside of British "bloody hell" territory, and plots that don't turn on trauma reveals. The Crown is the safest of the safe.

What if my parents fall asleep during shows?

Go procedural. Poker Face and Bosch reset every episode or two, so a nap costs them nothing. Avoid anything serialized like The Diplomat where a 20-minute snooze means you're rewinding tomorrow night. Your mom will not admit she slept and this will cause a fight.

Is there anything they'll like that isn't 20 hours long?

The Gentlemen is 8 episodes and done. Season 1 of Slow Horses is 6 episodes. Ted Lasso S1 is 10 half-hours. If your parents are visiting for a weekend, one of these three fills every hour without leaving you stranded mid-arc when they fly home.

What if my dad only watches sports?

Reacher. It's the closest thing on TV to a fistfight and a football game combined. If he won't do that, put on the Beckham documentary on Netflix — four episodes, universally liked, and there's soccer in it. If he still says no, respect his boundaries.

What to Do Right Now

Open Apple TV+. Put on Slow Horses, season 1, episode 1. Make popcorn. Do not check your phone during the cold open — you'll miss the whole reason your dad is about to become obsessed with this show for the next month. That's the plan. You're welcome.

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