Sometimes you just need a good laugh, especially in these tough times. If you’re in need of some levity we recommend these three shows.
No matter what time of the year it is, if you’re reading this chances are you’re looking for a good laugh. These three sci-fi shows come highly recommended and you’re encouraged to give them a shot and see if they tickle your funny bone. Why these three shows, though? Well, they all do one thing very well. They offer such unique takes on a variety of issues but none of them will remind you too much of real-world issues. Simply a good time.
That’s part of the problem with some modern entertainment, the need to force-feed personal points of view down the viewers’ throats. More and more creators are taking a holier than though stance and sometimes you just want some good laughs. That’s what these shows offer. Good, ol fashion, fun.
Granted, the third one on this list features an episode of nepoticide. So, maybe not all fun but believe me, it’s played for laughs. Especially because it happens off-screen and in a blink of an eye. It’s fantastically dark but still so hilarious.
Hilarious inside jokes aside, each of these shows should provide you the warm and fuzzies you need, with a healthy dose of laughter mixed in. Two of the shows you’ll need some type of streaming service or the ability to purchase DVDs to view but the third, luckily enough, remains free for all to watch in its entirety.
Chuck
Easily one of the best sci-fi shows in the last decade. The series started in 2007 on NBC and ran for five seasons. It featured Serenity’s Adam Baldwin, Shazam’s Zachary Levi, and The Handmaid’s Tale’s Yvonne Strahovski.
The series was about a young slacker who works at a Buy More (the universes Best Buy) as part of their Nerd Herd (Geek Squad). Having been kicked out of Stanford for cheating, a claim he denies, and not being able to get over being dumped by his then-girlfriend, the titular Chuck Bartowski (Levi) finds himself involved in a life of spies and espionage after accidentally downloading a computer into his brain.
Now the show says ‘computer’ a lot, there’s no actual hardware. It’s more of a program that remaps the brain and how it functions, though that’s a boring description. Computer just sounds better. Because he downloaded the computer, Chuck is now in constant danger and has to have the CIA’s Sarah Walker (Strahovski) and the NSA’s John Casey (Baldwin) watch him practically at all times.
The series flips the script, having Chuck often as the damsel in distress, and in constant need of rescuing, with a recurring inside joke early on involving Chuck being told to stay the car time after time. The series does evolve past this in season three, and again in season four and five, making it one of the more adaptable franchises out there.
The show also features a wide range of amazing side characters from Buy More employees, to Chuck’s sister Ellie and her boyfriend Devin Woodcomb, who everyone just calls Captain Awesome. The series does a great job of giving characters depth beyond the standard stock personalities that they originally arrived with. Two of which end up being Devon and one of the Buy More employees named Jeff.
They’re series highlights.
The show also has numerous cameos and guest spots from the likes of Chevy Chase, Linda Hamilton, Dave Bautista, Summer Glau, Olivia Munn and even former athletes like Jerome Bettis of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Eureka
The series title, Eureka, comes not just from the name of the fictional town the series takes place in (Eureka) but also after the famous exclamation of Albert Einstein, who in the show helped start the town. The series revolves around everyman Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson), a U.S. Marshall who while transporting his run-away daughter back to L.A. gets into an accident in a strange little town called Eureka. While there, he finds out the town is filled with the nation’s best and brightest, who have come together to form a city that is all about scientific exploration and advancement.
When you give a bunch of super-geniuses the proverbial keys to the city, whacky and dangerous hijinks abound. That’s how the series kicks off, with Carter having to fill in for Eureka’s injured sheriff. Since the city is under the DOD jurisdiction after a need arises for a new full-time sheriff comes up, the city put in a request to have Carter move from his L.A. based marshall’s office to the city where he will time and time again stop geniuses from destroying the world; or at the very least Christmas.
The series uses a lot of mid-2000 SyFy ideas in its show, like impossible to believe science, as well as the use of SyFy favorite, swear words like “frak” and FTL space flight. Both staples in Battlestar Galactica, which was finishing it’s run near about the time Eureka was starting.
The show features Carter and his wild group of scientists doing everything from re-creating the big bang, time travel, to a house with hurt feelings and a robot dog murder mystery. It’s got everything, and that can’t be understated enough. It does have everything.
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast
Nepoticide, to kill one’s nephew. Like Zorak did when he ate his nephew Raymond. Now you can relive every moment for free, as Adult Swim has all of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast up on their website to watch.
For those who are unaware of what Space Ghost: Coast to Coast is, let’s go through it real fast. In the ’60s and ’70’s Hanna Barbera produced a lot of early morning cartoons. Scooby-Doo, Jabberjaw, Wacky Races, and others. While most were fun, silly shows like Scooby-Doo, some were action themed. This was before Warner Media acquired DC Comics and other properties, forcing Hanna Barbera to produce their own line of superhero series. There biggest ones were Birdman and Space Ghost.
Well in the ’90s, Space Ghost was reimagined, using mostly animation from the original series and repurposing it as a late-night talk show. This leads to some great low-budget hilarity as you watch characters changing colors and positions all the time while the guests watch on from a video monitor bemusingly.
The series never takes itself to seriously and often times the characters crack jokes about the low budget nature of the show. The three main characters are the host of the show, Space Ghost, Zorak, and Moltar. Unlike Space Ghost, Zorak and Moltar were villains on the original series and now serve as the bandleader (Zorak) and director (Moltar) of the series. Neither of whom is paid for their jobs and it’s often referenced that this part of their punishment for being evil-doers.
The show features amazing guests ranging from icons like Mark Hamil and Alice Cooper to more ’90s-centric pop culture figures. It’s over the top and whacky but the revolving cast of characters that surround the three main, and the amazing cameos make it all worth it.
Especially if you think Rany “Macho Man” Savage playing Space Ghost’s grandpa is high comedy.