25 feel-good shows to start 2018 off right

The Golden Girls

The premise: Four older women move to a home in Miami, and share their lives as they figure out the new phase in their life. Bea Arthur plays Dorothy, the tough talking, ex-New Yorker who moved to Florida after her louse of a husband cheated and divorced her. Her mother, Sophia (Estelle Getty), moved with her, fresh out of a nursing home that was apparently comically terrible. Betty White is Rose Nylund, an innocent, golden-hearted Minnesota transplant who is far sweeter than she is smart. The homeowner is Blanche Devereaux, the Southern beauty, convinced she is in her sexual prime and a gift to the male population.

Why it’s so good: If you need to be convinced why Golden Girls is so good, then I’m not sure how to help you. And, by the way, it’s not just good, it’s divine. The show exclusively tells the story of four women, without their connection to husband or children. We receive their stories purely through their own point of view, and it’s always about how well they want to live. The women, almost to retirement age, are presented as viable, contributing, sexual beings with value and worth. If this sounds like I’m being dramatic, take a look at how women (besides the Netflix show, Grace and Frankie) present women of a certain age.

It also tackles a lot of major issues that were far ahead of its mid-’80s time. Things from AIDS to menopause to immigration to same-sex marriage became working plotlines for the show, and the show was unafraid to take a stand. The show holds up today, and is mostly on the right side of history on almost all of the controversies it presented.

How to watch: Hulu has the entire series available to watch.