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January’s tough enough without worthy TV – try Cobra Kai instead

The continued adventures of The Karate Kid’s Daniel-san in Cobra Kai are more than just meaningless distractions – they enrich the soul and provide much-needed joy without taxing the brain excessively

January is miserable at the best of times and this is a particularly tough one for most of us. We are all haunted by a particularly strong sense of uncertainty about the months that lie ahead. Being locked down, unable to distract yourself with socialising, commuting, going up the zoo or whatever bollocks it is you usually do to fill your time. It can be taxing. 

We are all addicted to mental distractions. From a young age we learn how to use them to avoid the irritating ‘feelings’ and ‘emotions’ that bubble away in the background. Like most kids of the 1980s, I watched anything and everything that the four terrestrial channels of the era could throw at me.

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Most of it was mad escapist serials from America, about talking cars or vigilante army veterans or men who could morph into animals. At other times it would be sitcoms and dramas about cockney spivs and conmen. Then there were kids’ shows about dysfunctional comprehensive schools or gangs of creepy puppets living inside a cult run by a man in colourful dungarees.

It was perfect to distract the mind from processing anything remotely uncomfortable and saw us through those years in a numbing state of fantasy. I pity the kids of today who have to watch shows that place such emphasis on authenticity, emotions and challenging social issues.

Yes, watching American TV shows where all of the characters are constantly engaged in heartfelt exchanges about their feelings has taught young viewers the language of mental health. It has encouraged them to address bigger human issues and discuss them eloquently. But where’s the fun in that?

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Surely there is still room for escapism in our lives? January is a time to swerve all the horrible shit that might be bugging your mind and soul and just immerse yourself in lovely, comforting nonsense. 

It doesn’t have to just be meaningless distraction (although I can thoroughly recommend series three of Cobra Kai on Netflix, which provides exactly that). It can be stuff that enriches the soul and provides much-needed joy without taxing the brain excessively. 

Surely there is still room for escapism in our lives?

Music is the very best thing for this. I switched off news radio long ago, tired of the incessant whirlwind of anxiety and ugly debate.

As I have written before, BBC Radio 6 Music is my daily anti-depressant, the gentle passion of its excellent hosts punctuating the vast landscape of brilliant music. On TV, I watch music docs.

Over Christmas I caught up with the Bee Gees film How Can You Mend a Broken Hearton Sky Documentaries, which was originally released in early December. An epic tale of master songwriters, cutting a swathe through the pop scene over four decades dressed at almost all times in shirts undone to the navel. If that can’t cheer you up, what will?

Anyway, if the January blues have got you by the balls, stick your favourite record on. Life is short and you should not waste it fretting about stuff that probably won’t ever happen. As the Gibb brothers so enticingly put it, you should be dancing.

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