Cozy up with the Best Shows on Hulu this Winter
Must-watch Shows Perfect for Cuddling up on the Couch
As fall threatens to transition to winter here in the Northern hemisphere, many of us TV-watchers are busy preparing for the cold months that are to come. With our Hulu subscriptions in hand, it can often be daunting to pick something to watch. We’ve got you covered. See, with temperatures dropping and fewer sunny hours in the day, we believe a past time for the winter months is a good set of feel-good shows ready to rock in your back pocket. With the mood of coziness and chilliness in the air, we’ve collected a list of the best shows to watch this winter that will make you feel good and kill time while we collectively wait for springtime.
Fixer Upper
Fan-favorite show Fixer Upper aired new episodes on HGTV from 2013 to 2018. Now, you can stream all 5 seasons on Hulu, making this show a perfect binge-worthy title for you and your family this winter. Chip and Joanna Gaines are a dynamic duo on Fixer Upper and have made a name with fans for their natural chemistry and playful teasing on the show. But they aren’t just a fun married couple looking at some houses; these two are experts in their entrepreneurial and daring craft. Joanna and Chip purchase run down homes in Waco, Texas with the intention of transforming them into beautiful homes to put on the market. Making back their investment is dependent on their ability to stay on budget and succeed in completely renovating these fixer-uppers with good bones into beautiful homes that will yield profit for the couple. Hulu currently has all five seasons available for streaming, and with episodes clocking in at just about 45 minutes each, you’ve got a solid 60 hours of Fixer Upper at your fingertips right now.
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother began its first season on CBS in 2005 where its unique style and loveable characters made a splash in the comedy genre at the time. TV back then was still dominated by classic sit-com style comedies like Friends which aired its final episode just a year before HIMYM came onto the scene. With its ensemble cast and unique sense of humor, How I Met Your Mother quickly became known in the media as “Friends for the new generation of TV-watchers.”
Stars on the show include Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, and Jason Segel, who make up the five main characters over the nine seasons of HIMYM. The show follows Ted Mosby, a hopeless romantic architect with a crew of close friends and love interests in their late twenties. Over nine seasons, Ted tells the story of how he fell in love with his wife to his two children. By the time the show aired its final episode in 2014, it had developed a cult following due to its larger-than-life characters and mastery of the running gag. Hulu has the complete 9-season series available on its service. At right around 22 minutes per episode, Hulu has over 75 hours of HIMYM available for streaming right now.
Love it or List it
A new twist on the classic home-renovation format, Love It or List It pits interior designer Hilary Farr against real estate agent David Visentin. Couples and families on each episode of the show are dissatisfied with their home and are looking to make a big change. Hilary promises to completely renovate and redesign their home into something the homeowners will love and wish to stay living in, while David takes them around the local area to see what else is on the market. Hilary hopes her clients will love the transformed home, while David hopes they will choose to list it on the market and move in somewhere else.
The hybridized format of a home-renovation show and a house-shopping show makes Love It or List It one of the most attention-holding and successful real estate shows ever made. Between 2008 and 2015, LILI made 9 seasons of competition between Hilary and David. Their competitions also make this show great fodder for winning bets with loved ones, as smart money’s always on Hilary. Over the 9 seasons made, Hilary wins 89 times, while David only wins 65. Hulu has 57 episodes available for streaming at about 45 minutes each. This translates to well over 40 hours of content for Hulu subscribers.
Property Brothers
Property Brothers began its run on the W Network in 2011, where brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott quickly became superstars of the real estate TV show genre. On Property Brothers, real estate agent Drew Scott finds low-value homes for clients and negotiates down the price. Meanwhile, his brother Jonathan makes plans to completely renovate the space into something the new homeowners will want to call home, tearing down entire walls if necessary.
This show became a hit in the genre both for its then-new format of buy-then-renovate, but also due to the brothers’ natural charm and rugged good looks. Fans are split to this day on who’s the bigger heartthrob; real estate dynamo Drew or crafty renovation master Jonathan. The brothers work together to win the trust of their clients and achieve dramatic changes in homes while managing to stay within (or at least near) their stated budget. With nine seasons of episodes at about 45 minutes each, you’ll have right around 90 hours of watching to do on Hulu this winter. That’s not even mentioning Property Brothers: Buying & Selling, Property Brothers: Forever Home, or Property Brothers at Home. Best start watching right now. Or keep reading for even more hand-selected recommendations.
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Hulu has just rolled out its new original series, a romantic comedy mini-series taking on the same name as classic 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral. Created by Matt Warburton and famed The Office writer Mindy Kaling, FWF follows four Americans as they travel to London for a friend’s wedding. Of course, no romantic comedy would exist without something going wrong. For those who haven’t seen the 1994 source material for this modern-day take, we won’t spoil anything for you. We recommend you go check out the 10 episodes on Hulu yourself. At about 45 minutes per episode, you’ve got just about eight hours of content to work with—and binge in one long evening if you so desire.
House Hunters
No list of binge-worthy cozy shows would be complete without the mention of the classic real estate superpower that is HGTV’s House Hunters. Since its first airing in 1999, this show has exploded into a brand that encompasses over a dozen independent shows. These spin-offs include House Hunters International, House Hunters on Vacation, House Hunters: Where are they Now, House Hunters Renovation, House Hunters: Million Dollar Homes, and so, so many more.
The classic show takes aspiring homeowners around their chosen city to see three homes that fit their stated specifications. The problem is, no house is perfect. Real estate agents work to juggle couples’ competing wish lists, budget constraints, and personal tastes as they handpick three houses for their clients to choose from. The show boasts over 1,000 episodes, and Hulu has only a sampling of this complete collection. Yet, with about 100 22-minute episodes available adding up to over 40 hours of content, we don’t think you’ll run out of House Hunters any time soon.
These shows made our list because of their fun casts and addictive natures that leave us always wanting to click forward to the next episode. Winter and Hulu go together like hot chocolate and marshmallows, and these shows are perfect for binging or just catching an episode of during a free afternoon. Taste in TV shows is an extremely individualistic trait in all of us. Whatever your favorite show is right now, we hope you’ll give a few of our favorites a try. Also feel free to tell us some good shows we missed down in the comments below.