Brothers & Sisters, a drama from the mid-2000s about a group of adult siblings getting hugged and yelled at by Sally Field in equal measure, is the show you should start bingeing immediately. The series, which premiered 10 years ago on ABC, has the perfect mix of barely plausible twists and completely believable familial love. Stressed that the stranger thing from Stranger Things is possibly hiding in your closet? Watch as the brothers and sisters talk about their love lives next to a beautiful pool. Worried about who's going to die on The Walking Dead? Tune into an episode of Brothers & Sisters, where many people will almost die, but usually death is just a tool to create longer, more intense group hugs.
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The Walker siblings, overseen by matriarch Nora (Sally Field), have a variety of professions that aren't really important to keep track of, because most of their lives are taken up by being the Walker siblings. In the pilot, youngest sister Kitty (Calista Flockhart) is interrupted by all four of her siblings during an attempt to make out with her boyfriend. It's a funny scene that quickly introduces the show's main players, but it's also foreshadowing the fact that the Walkers are less a family tree and more a family of nesting dolls. They're never getting away from each other, and they're not really trying that hard to, either.
Field won an Emmy for her performance as the leader of the codependent California brood. I live for her badass moments as a recent widow who's forced to face not only her husband's long-time mistress, but also his illegitimate child. Many of the episodes revolve around the not-so-grown-up kids' attempts to "handle" their mother, each time forgetting that their mother doesn't need to be dealt with. She's the one who saves them from their own bad decisions — and always, always has homemade snacks on her kitchen island, along with omnipresent glasses of wine.
Another perk? The Walker siblings have the kind of broad characteristics that make them easy to assign to your friends, like Disney princesses or Sex and the City characters. Sarah (Rachel Griffiths), the "mom" of the group, is the workaholic trying to have it all. And because this show was made for cheering at the screen, not inspiring contemplation about the mommy wars, she gets it all. Tommy (Balthazar Getty) is an aspiring businessman who's always having to play catch-up. He is also a middle-aged man who does not insist on being called "Tom." Kevin (Matthew Rhys) is a lawyer who handles the many, many legal questions that come up in his siblings' daily lives, and is part of what Glee's Chris Colfer once called a portrayal of a gay marriage that's "a great one to look up to." Plus, it's just fun to see The Americans' hardened Russian spy act so goofy. Justin (Dave Annable), the baby, is a war vet, a recovering drug addict, and an aspiring doctor. He's also the family's biggest source of stress and its most effective comic relief. Oh, and Kitty (Calista Flockhart) is a Republican.
When you're looking for a show to fill a few mindless afternoons (or a whole winter's worth of mindless afternoons), it's important to know what exactly you're looking for. If you want to binge-watch and window shop, Sex & The City should be your go-to. If you're looking for comedy and aspirational NYC real estate, check out How I Met Your Mother. And if you want to watch family drama that always ends in family resolution, all with a Pottery Barn backdrop, you can't do better than Brothers & Sisters.