I've just finished watching a "Britcom" from the late 70s called "The Good Life." It consists of four seasons of 7-half hour episodes, and is available on Amazon Prime.
I mostly don't go for shows before the turn of the century anymore. I find then crude, clunky, and irrelevant. Even stuff from the 90s can be too cheesy. I don't even really enjoy them for their kitsch, or even nostalgic value.
One thing was different. When I first got Netflix, I watched every episode of Dick Van Dyke from start to finish, in order. I've seem them all of course, many times, but not for decades.
And I found it clever, charming and pleasing. The characters are well-drawn and engaging. You find yourself really just relating to them, as people.
And it all revolves around Dick, the classic "normal guy" at the center of the whole American sitcom oeuvre. But even he is allowed to good around and act silly, and instead of it chafing, it's charming.
"The Good Life" isn't much like DVD in concept, or even execution. No office gang, but still the neighbors as close friends.
And it was made more than a decade later. But it's got a concept that's just as intriguing today as it ever was.
The main characters are the goofy Tom, and his sharp but loving wife Barbara. It's his birthday, and his corporate job has left him feeling empty and bleak. He stays up late, and a concept comes to him. He is so excited his wakes up his wife to tell her: "I am so tired of working indirectly, doing symbolic things that return symbolic value that we have to decide how to extract meaning from, and it's driving me crazy. I don't WANT to be a cog in a machine whose function I don't even understand."
"Barbara, I want to quit, and become completely SELF-SUFFICIENT."
She fusses and resists for a bit, but slowly the fundamental value of what he is saying gets to her, and she jumps on board. They are going to quit all jobs, and do everything they can to provide for all their needs, with a goal of using as little money as possible. They mostly won't make it, and they mostly won't need it.
The "hobby farm" concept is not new. But when they think about moving to a place better suited for farming and livestock, they realize that they love their house, and their neighbors, and they don't want to go. So they decide that they are going to make a go of it right there in their small suburban home.
Their best friends are their neighbors, Jerry (!) and Margo. Tom and Jerry work at the same company, but Jerry thinks they're buts, and they want to continue working up the corporate ladder, being involved in "society" functions, and so on. They're a little bit upper-crusty and snobbish, especially Margo. But even though they can't really get on board with the "self-sufficiency" idea, they love their friends, and wish to remain close, and be supportive. They very quickly resign themselves to living next door to this mess of dirt, crops, goats and chickens, because it's for their friends.
The self-sufficiency concept is rich enough to drive the plot consistently through every episode. Sometimes it verges on being like a little workshop class, as they install and old wood burning cook stove, and make everything themselves. Tom is inventive so he immediately sets up a generator based on converting the effluence from the pigs into methane. Whether it's really strictly possible is beside the point. It's believable enough, and you want them to succeed.
One of their first breakthrough is making their own "pea pod burgundy" which looks like Alka Seltzer and packs a punch. No lifestyle is worth living with out booze, of course.
As you watch, you gain admiration for the sheer effectiveness of the physical comedy, and how they seem to give life to every scenario. It's always interesting, never overwhelming, and even the tribulations aren't so "dark".
While I'm watching this, I feel soothed by it. It's not edgy, nor challenging, nor controversial. And they do some really bizarre things, like turning their rototiller into a crude but effective powered vehicle so they can pick up supplies.
I can go on and simply describe every episode but instead I urge you to find a way to check it out for yourselves. In this scary-ass world where even the entertainment is often about terrorism, it's like an island. Whatever mood you're in, you can watch it and be soothed and amused, even when you're not laughing out loud.
And really, this world has become so serious, even our favorite comics can be so dark (Louis CK? He's the perfect person to laugh your ass of to while the last bit of blood drains out your wrists), this...is LIGHT, and happy.
That is a giant niche in our lives that needs filling, and The Good Life fills it amiably and satisfyingly.
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