Check Out a List of Shows and Movies to Stream Instead of the Election
Check Out a List of Shows and Movies to Stream Instead of the Election
If you’re too stressed to watch election returns tonight, check out these TV shows and movies instead.
No matter who you’re voting for, tonight promises to be a stressful one. The 2024 U.S. presidential election promises to be one of the closest in history, and there will be anxieties to go around as the results come in on Tuesday evening.
If you’ve cast your vote and are ready to take a break from the worries, you can browse a curated list of shows and movies with a political theme below. And if you’d rather take a break from politics altogether, I’ve also got a selection of feel-good-only titles that will help you put the stress in the rearview mirror, at least for tonight.
Related: Everything You Need to Know to Watch 2024 United States Election Night Coverage
What Can You Watch Instead of Election Coverage on Tuesday, Nov. 5?
Political Movies
This list will range from more historically focused titles to irreverent ones so that everyone searching for a film to stream tonight will find something to their taste as they seek out a way to distract themselves from politics.
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All the King's Men
November 16, 1949A man of humble beginnings and honest intentions rises to power by nefarious means. Along for the wild ride are an earnest reporter, a heretofore classy society girl, and a too-clever-for-her-own-good political flack.
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The American President
November 17, 1995Widowed U.S. president Andrew Shepherd, one of the world’s most powerful men, can have anything he wants — and what he covets most is Sydney Ellen Wade, a Washington lobbyist. But Shepherd’s attempts at courting her spark wild rumors and decimate his approval ratings.
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Bob Roberts
September 4, 1992Millionaire conservative Bob Roberts launches an insurgent campaign against incumbent senator Brickley Paiste, firing up crowds at his rallies by singing ’60s-style acoustic folk songs with lyrics espousing far-right conservative social and economic views.
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Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
January 29, 1964After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop it.
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Election
April 23, 1999A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.
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Idiocracy
September 1, 2006To test its top-secret Human Hibernation Project, the Pentagon picks the most average European-Americans it can find - an Army private and a prostitute - and sends them to the year 2505 after a series of freak events. But when they arrive, they find a civilization so dumbed-down that they’re the smartest people around.
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Lincoln
November 9, 2012The revealing story of the 16th US President’s tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
October 19, 1939After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.
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Primary Colors
March 20, 1998In this adaptation of the best-selling roman à clef about Bill Clinton’s 1992 run for the White House, the young and gifted Henry Burton is tapped to oversee the presidential campaign of Governor Jack Stanton. Burton is pulled into the politician’s colorful world and looks on as Stanton — who has a wandering eye that could be his downfall — contends with his ambitious wife, Susan, and an outspoken adviser, Richard Jemmons.
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Swing Vote
August 1, 2008In a remarkable turn of events, the result of the presidential election comes down to one man’s vote.
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Political TV Shows
There’s a wide range of political-themed TV shows to stream as well, and much like the movies list the following selection will include some more serious shows, as well as ones that will have you laughing until you cry.
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The Good Wife
September 22, 2009Alicia Florrick boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husband’s very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail.
- DIRECTV MySports
- $44.99 / month
- Paramount Plus Premium
- $13.99 / month
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John Adams
March 16, 2008Adapted from David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, this lavish seven-part miniseries chronicles the life of Founding Father John Adams, starting with the Boston Massacre of 1770 through his years as an ambassador in Europe, then his terms as vice president and president of the United States, up to his death on July 4, 1826.
- DIRECTV Entertainment + HBO
- $74.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $89.99 / month
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Madam Secretary
September 21, 2014After years away from the CIA, Elizabeth McCord is pulled back into the political arena. The newly appointed Secretary of State is tough, fair, and smart, driving international diplomacy, wrangling office politics, and circumventing protocol as she negotiates global and domestic issues, both at the White House and at home.
- DIRECTV MySports
- $44.99 / month
- Paramount Plus Premium
- $13.99 / month
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Parks and Recreation
April 9, 2009In an attempt to beautify her town — and advance her career — Leslie Knope, a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana, takes on bureaucrats, cranky neighbors, and single-issue fanatics whose weapons are lawsuits, the jumble of city codes, and the democratic process she loves so much.
- DIRECTV MyNews
- $39.99 / month
- Peacock Premium Plus
- $19.99 / month
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The Politician
September 27, 2019Payton has known since childhood that he’s going to be president. First he’ll have to navigate the most treacherous political landscape: high school.
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The Thick of It
May 19, 2005Set in the corridors of power and spin, the Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10’s policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.
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Veep
April 22, 2012A look into American politics, revolving around former Senator Selina Meyer who finds being Vice President of the United States is nothing like she expected and everything everyone ever warned her about.
- DIRECTV Entertainment + HBO
- $74.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $89.99 / month
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The West Wing
September 22, 1999The West Wing provides a glimpse into presidential politics in the nation’s capital as it tells the stories of the members of a fictional presidential administration. These interesting characters have humor and dedication that touches the heart while the politics that they discuss touch on everyday life.
- DIRECTV MyNews
- $39.99 / month
- Peacock Premium Plus
- $19.99 / month
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White House Plumbers
May 1, 2023The true story of how Nixon’s own political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds accidentally toppled the Presidency they were zealously trying to protect.
- DIRECTV Entertainment + HBO
- $74.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $89.99 / month
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Wolf Hall
January 21, 2015England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the King dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The Pope and most of Europe oppose him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer, and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
Titles That Have Nothing to Do With Politics
Now in fairness, this list is going to be fairly subjective. It’s pure comfort TV as far as I’m concerned, but if there’s nothing quite to your taste on it I won’t be offended. The real point here is that if you want to tune out of politics altogether, you should turn to the shows and movies you can always count on to make you laugh, cry, or simply help you escape for a bit. You can always search The Streamable to find out where your favorite title is streaming if you’re not sure!
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Back to the Future
July 3, 1985Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents’ first meeting and attracting his mother’s romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents’ romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.
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Ferris Bueller's Day Off
June 11, 1986After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.
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The Good Place
September 19, 2016Eleanor Shellstrop, an ordinary woman who, through an extraordinary string of events, enters the afterlife where she comes to realize that she hasn’t been a very good person. With the help of her wise afterlife mentor, she’s determined to shed her old way of living and discover the awesome (or at least the pretty good) person within.
- DIRECTV MyNews
- $39.99 / month
- Peacock Premium Plus
- $19.99 / month
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The Great British Bake Off
August 17, 2010This British television baking competition selects from amongst its competitors the best amateur baker. The series is credited with reinvigorating interest in baking throughout the UK, and many of its participants, including winners, have gone on to start a career based on baking.
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My Neighbor Totoro
April 16, 1988Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.
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The Office
March 24, 2005The everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
- DIRECTV MyNews
- $39.99 / month
- Peacock Premium Plus
- $19.99 / month
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The Princess Bride
September 25, 1987In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murderous princes, Sicilians and rodents of unusual size. But even death can’t stop these true lovebirds from triumphing.
This is an endlessly quotable classic. It’s a perfect blend of comedy, fantasy, action, and love conquering all odds.
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Schitt's Creek
January 13, 2015Formerly filthy rich video store magnate Johnny Rose, his soap star wife Moira, and their two kids, über-hipster son David and socialite daughter Alexis, suddenly find themselves broke and forced to live in Schitt’s Creek, a small depressing town they once bought as a joke.
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Ted Lasso
August 14, 2020Ted Lasso, an American football coach, moves to England when he’s hired to manage a soccer team—despite having no experience. With cynical players and a doubtful town, will he get them to see the Ted Lasso Way?
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When Harry Met Sally…
July 12, 1989Sex always gets in the way of friendships between men and women. At least, that’s what Harry Burns believes. So when Harry meets Sally Albright and a deep friendship blossoms between them, Harry’s determined not to let his attraction to Sally destroy it. But when a night of weakness ends in a morning of panic, can the pair avoid succumbing to Harry’s fears by remaining friends and admitting they just might be the perfect match for each other?
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