When I was ill recently I spent a lot of time propped up with cushions, listlessly staring at my laptop screen. I get hopelessly bored when I'm forced to stay still and the only way I can get through it while simultaneously achieving at least some rest is by stacking up the DVDs.
It made me wonder - are some films and TV shows better suited for sickness? As a child, if I stayed off school ill there was only daytime telly to provide a backdrop to my strawberry jam on toast and Logic Problems books (thanks, Mum!). Cue This Morning, gardening shows and a variety of then (and very likely now) incomprehensible and pretty stuffy programmes about business. These days I can sit in bed with my laptop on my knee and have a bit more control over what I watch.
More after the jump:
Here are my top five viewing choices when I'm ill:
1. Peep Show - because no matter how many times I watch them Mark and Jeremy's hapless japes always make me laugh, and however rubbish I feel, I will always be able to handle myself better than they can. Favourite quote: Mark - "I've done running today!"
2. Sliding Doors - and I'm not entirely sure why. Is it Gwyneth Paltrow's plucky bleached crop, her cute British accent or John Hanna's lovely Scottish one, the fact that the action hops clumsily from one London area to another each time the characters travel round a corner or the message of romantic hope at the end? I don't know, but it's the only rom-com I've been able to watch more than twice without getting bored and always cheers me up.
3. Friends - am I the only person who doesn't mind the constant repeats? That *may* be down to not having a TV, but I am the proud owner of every episode on DVD and have enjoyed many a humorous hour over the years in the company of that ridiculously well dressed gang of New Yorkers. The familiar plotlines and jokes are comforting; texting my sister with random, oblique quotes may be taking it a little far. But she always texts back.
4. Spaced - mainly for the super weird supporting characters and the geeky recreations of scenes from sci-fi movies. And yes, there's a Schnauzer in the cast.
5. The Dog Whisperer - not just because I think I might learn some useful techniques for the day Benji turns in to a snarling beast, but because watching clueless humans is both annoying and hopelessly addictive. And how could anyone watch Cesar Millan being pulled along on rollerblades by a pack of dogs and not laugh their head off?
What do you watch when you're ill?
Image courtesy of joeywan's Flickr stream.