There are moments during finals week when your eyes are blurry from staring at textbooks, your body is cramped from sitting at the computer and your brain feels like it’s oozing out your ears. The perfect time for a study break! Escape; stop worrying for a while with one of these TV hits. Dry, hilarious, dramatic – there is a show out there for whatever kind of release you need.
For not giving an F about school: Freaks & Geeks
Live vicariously through these characters as they try to navigate school and social life with overwhelming apathy. Not only does this show provide devastatingly hilarious and sadly relatable moments, but it is a chance to see where some real heavy hitters got their starts. “Freaks & Geeks” boasts names like James Franco, Jason Segel, Seth Rogan and a few secret stars like Martin Starr, John Francis Daley and Linda Cardellini. With such a stacked cast and such a classic premise, it’s hard to believe that it only made it through one season. However, this show will go down in history as one of the greatest portrayals of 80s punk vs. nerd high school culture on screen. It’ll have you at hello with its theme song “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett. The best study break for when the last thing you want to care about it school.
For not giving an F about offending people: Family Guy
Through 11 seasons, this adult animated comedy has become a generational classic. Known for its edgy, racy and downtown offensive subjects (a la “South Park”), “Family Guy” can be an acquired taste. But if you let it, “Family Guy” will lodge itself in your heart and have you laughing until it hurts. It makes light of current events, historical moments and social taboos in such a way that you want to feel bad for laughing, but that just makes you laugh harder. Sometimes it’s a slapstick train wreck that you just can’t look away from, and sometimes its flippant moments of intelligent comedy and social commentary make us second guess the way we treat taboo subjects. “Family Guy” is a classic study break show for everyone who realizes that life is too short to be taken seriously.
For not giving an F about the rules: “Boss”
A political drama/thriller based in Chicago, “Boss” is a cut-throat, fast-paced, sly and secretive show about the power struggle between Chicago and the rest of the state. Kelsey Grammer, whom many probably last saw as a furry, blue Beast in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” plays Chicago’s mayor with depth of emotion and experience. In this show, the characters constantly twist and turn the plot, captivating the audience with the sheer ruthlessness of political and bug business life. For every action in the main plot, there are three in every subplot. Surprisingly though, despite several plot lines, “Boss” is easy to keep track of, because it’s so entrancing. You get into the minds of the characters, and watch the plot unfold with them. Great for a study break that is an all-consuming escape.
For not giving an F about anything you should be doing: “The League”
Honestly, it’s hard to decide if this show is about not caring or caring way too much. The characters all have jobs, families, personal lives and yet, they have seemingly all the time in the world for their fantasy football league – and that’s exactly what makes this show so incredibly funny. The level to which each member of the league is invested in trades, stats and match-ups is equal parts hilarious and mind-boggling. This show, a sitcom that seems like the lovechild between ESPN and “How I Met Your Mother,” is irreverent, sarcastic and oddly relatable. Between football arguments, life crises and crude quips shot at rapid-fire pace, “The League” is a great study break for sports and dry humor fans alike.
After a sufficient respite from the immense stress of finals, your head will be clear and ready to take on whatever the academic world throws at you. Now drink a Red Bull and get back to studying.