comfort TV
n. Television programs with unsophisticated or homespun themes that comfort or provide solace.
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Etymology
Examples
2001
But by mid-September, the Condit story was a faint memory. 'Comfort TV,' fed by nostalgia for more innocent times, came on strong, typified by huge viewership for a Carol Burnett special.
—James Hebert, “The big-budget blowout 'Pearl Harbor' fed into post-Sept. 11 patriotism,” Copley News Service, December 28, 2001
1993 (earliest)
'Truckin' USA,' The Nashville Network, 3 p.m. (also 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. Sundays). Buried among the weekend fishin' and racin' lineup is this little gem, steered by Ed Bruce, a homespun country singer who makes Wilford Brimley look wired. Bruce hosts from behind the wheel of his pickup, journeying Kuralt-style to various outlets of Americana. Other contributors offer repair and renovation tips, usually concluding, oddly enough, with gushy words for some sponsor product. From the tire-tread graphics to the hokey scriptwriting, this is real comfort TV: stilted, but so smooth.
—Darel Jevens, “Uncharted Channels,” Chicago Sun-Times, March 05, 1993
Notes
This phrase is no doubt a play on the familiar comfort food, which entered the language in the mid-70s. This refers to simple fare (especially food loaded with carbohydrates) that's comforting because the eater associates it with their childhood in particular or with home cooking in general.

Although discussions of comfort TV have popped up all over the place since September 11 (or 9-11, which was recently declared the "Word of the Year" by the American Dialect Society), the notion has been around for a few years.