By Vlad Zakh · August 25, 2026
This Is Us and Six Feet Under prove the format works, but This Close and Rectify show it doesn’t need a big network budget to land just as hard. Sorry for Your Loss is a tightly focused, understated look at early widowhood, Friday Night Lights is really about family, failure and second chances, and A Million Little Things leans on loss and friendship. Brothers & Sisters, Parenthood, The Leftovers and This Is Us round out the list.
01 A tightly focused, understated look at early widowhood that never overplays its hand.
Directed by Collin Friesen · 1h 40m
Stream: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video
Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Sky Store
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
02 A small-town football drama that's really about family, failure and second chances.
03 An ensemble drama about loss and how a group of friends carries each other through it.
04 An ensemble family drama built on loss that holds up better than its reputation suggests.
05 A quieter, more personal drama about friendship and loss that deserves a wider audience.
06 Rarely mentioned in 'best of' lists, but may be the most reliably devastating family drama of its era.
07 One of the most devastating shows about grief ever made for television.
08 Slow, patient, and one of the more underrated meditations on grief and time in recent TV.
09 Built an entire series around a family funeral home, and never once treated death as background noise.
10 Structured almost entirely around the emotional gut-punch reveal, and it rarely misses.
Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.
