Feeling blue? Take a few hours and indulge in some comedy therapy. The following streaming TV comedies are available to stream and will help get you out of your funk by the third episode.

Streaming on Netflix

1. “Parks and Recreation”: “Parks and Rec” is probably my favorite network comedy. I’m a huge fan of Amy Poehler and her incredibly earnest character, Leslie Knope. The cast of characters in this small town political comedy show is top notch, and every season is just as good, or better than the last. This is one of those shows that you can pick up at the very beginning because it was great from the get go. Sit back, relax and get ready to laugh. Free with a subscription.

2. “The Andy Griffith Show”: While this show is a blast from the past (it first aired in 1960!), it’s still as funny today as it was then. While the first season takes a while to get rolling, the laughs and life lessons are worth watching up until season six. Free streaming with a subscription.

Streaming on Amazon Prime

3. “Chappelle’s Show”: Oh, Dave Chappelle. How I love thee. This classic show’s three seasons are all worth watching. This man’s brand of comedy is biting and smart, and fun to watch over and over again. All season are streaming for free with an Amazon Prime account.

4. “Frasier”: Travel back to the early ’90s and watch the first season of this popular show about a psychiatrist and his friends. When I recently revisited this show it was much funnier than I remembered. And since the shows are only 20-ish minutes sans commercials, you can speed through the season. Free streaming with Amazon Prime.

Streaming on Vudu

5. “Girls”: If you don’t have an HBO subscription (or aren’t using your buddy’s HBOGo login) and you want to see what “Girls” is all about, now’s your time. Step into the incredibly awkward lives of a handful of millennials for the price of $18.99 (for the whole season, to buy).

Streaming on Hulu

6. “The Mindy Project”: Enter my second favorite network show leading a funny woman. “The Mindy Project” follows Mindy, a doctor who has a bit of an ego issue. Her adventures in the dating and work world are pretty hilarious, albeit a little awkward. Stream a few issues for free, or subscribe to Hulu Plus for the current season the day after it airs.

7. “I Love Lucy”: Who doesn’t love her, really? She’s the original funny lady who had no fear when it came to laughing at herself. Most episodes of this classic show are available to stream on Hulu.

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Image: Lucy Gray

The post From ‘Chappelle’s Show’ to ‘Girls’: 7 Streaming TV Comedies for When You’re Feeling Blue appeared first on EcoSalon.

Get out of that movie rut and watch these 3 genre-defining classic movies.

Let’s face it, we don’t necessarily have a lot of time to watch movies and when we do it’s just too easy to watch whatever is the latest on Netflix, iTunes, HuluPlus or your cable provider. When we do that, we are all missing out on on some great classic movies that set the stage for, well, all movies. Not that there aren’t good movies being released today, but there are some real overlooked classic treasures out there.

One reason to look towards films from the past is that by watching only contemporary films we are getting modern culture and society mirrored back to us. When we watch classic movies, we get not just the content but the context as well–the historical and cultural backdrop of when the film was created–and that can help us see things we may not have seen before about our current slice of time.

And there’s such a breadth of classic movies available to us that it’s really impossible to run out of original content to enjoy.

Here are 3 genre-defining classic movies you may have overlooked that you should really add to your queue.

“To Kill A Mockingbird” – 1962 Genre: Courtroom Drama

Based on the classic novel by Harper Lee, “To Kill A Mockingbird” is a powerful film about race, power, justice, family, duty and more. Gregory Peck’s portrayal of the small town lawyer defending a man unjustly accused of a crime is one of the best film performances of all time. The courtroom scenes are among the best of the genre and really set the bar for all other courtroom dramas.

“City Lights” – 1931 Genre: Romantic Comedy

Like romantic comedies? Forget anything with Matthew McConaughey in it and instead watch “City Lights.” Written, produced, directed and acted in by Charlie Chaplin, it’s a real treat. It tells the story of Chaplin’s Tramp falling in love with a blind shop girl. In typical Chaplin fashion lots of hijinks, miscommunication and adventure follow. The ending is one of the most sadly poignant endings of all time and it’s pretty much the measure against which all other films of its genre are based.

“Chinatown” – 1974 Genre: Neo-Noir

“Chinatown” is a riveting neo-noir mystery starring Jack Nicholson. The Roman Polanski film is considered to be one of the best examples of noir and is also featured on many best film lists. It’s pretty much got everything that you could want in a dramatic film: mystery, psychological drama, intrigue, great one-liners and more. It details the corruption of the California Water Wars, which has far reaching implications to this day.

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image: ginnerobot

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