Knitting to TV: 7 Shows to Commit to

I watch a lot of shows. There is nothing I love more than hearing a series has 5+ seasons. It’s why I watched every Real Housewives franchise—I don’t want to keep making decisions.

Compared to the newer, shorter shows I was watching when I wrote my last Knitting to TV post, these are more of a commitment—the kind of show you can really settle into and fall in love with the characters.

I’ve compiled a list of 7 long-running shows I genuinely enjoyed knitting to recently. Most of them follow a case-by-case procedural format, which makes them easy to drift in and out of while you’re knitting and still stay entertained. They’re listed from longest total runtime to shortest, with the exception of…

• Honorable mention: Burn Notice 

I need to mention this one first because otherwise it would be somewhere in the middle of this list, and this show is far too important to me for that.

It’s about Michael Westen, a spy who suddenly gets burned—basically blacklisted and dumped in Miami with no explanation. While he tries to figure out who did it, he starts taking freelance jobs using all his spy skills and the help of some old friends.

I seriously can’t recommend this show to enough people, but it’s especially perfect if you knit or crochet or do whatever kind of craft. Michael narrates almost every episode, breaking down whatever spy tactic he’s about to use—usually something like, “Guns make you stupid. Duct tape makes you smart.” The narration cues the action, so you know when to look up.

Right off the bat, Fiona is one of the most iconic female characters of all time. The rest of the characters earn your love slowly, at different paces, which makes the attachment feel deeper in the end. Madeline, especially, starts out as the nagging mom and ends as my favorite character in the whole show.

The finale might be the best I’ve seen. It feels complete in a way a lot of long shows don’t. I knew as soon as it ended that I’d rewatch it someday—I finished it months ago and I still miss the characters.

• Bones

With 12 seasons, this is the longest show on the list. It follows forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan and FBI agent Seeley Booth as they solve murders using skeletal remains.

There’s a lot of technical dialogue, but you don’t have to understand every detail to enjoy it. You stay for Brennan and Booth (and everyone else). Brennan is wildly intelligent and completely herself. She says exactly what she means without softening it for anyone, even when it makes things awkward, and there’s something really refreshing about watching that.

The final episode was complete in a way that felt like it honored the 12-season commitment. 

• Castle

Castle is just easy to watch and it sucks you in right away. Nathan Fillion plays mystery novelist Richard Castle, who ends up working alongside Detective Kate Beckett of the NYPD. It has fun murder mystery vibes with a little bit of grammar nerd energy thrown in. 

If you pay attention at the beginning of each episode when they set everything up, you’ll usually be able to follow the rest without looking up much from your knitting.

• The Mentalist

The Mentalist is another show that sucks you in right away. It follows Patrick Jane, a former fake psychic who began working as a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation after his wife and daughter were murdered by a serial killer he publicly taunted.

It balances weekly cases with a long-running story that keeps you hooked, but really, you keep watching for Patrick Jane. He’s brilliant, charming, and always ten steps ahead.

• Psych

You hear about Pluto? That's messed up... 

Psych follows Shawn Spencer, who pretends to be a psychic and helps police solve crimes alongside his best friend Gus. It gets compared to the Mentalist a lot, since both shows revolve around a “psychic” consultant helping law enforcement. But Psych is much sillier and never takes itself too seriously. At its core, it’s just as much about Shawn and Gus’s friendship as it is about solving cases. 

It’s just an easy, enjoyable watch while knitting. The ridiculous nicknames, hyper-specific references, and long-running bits are at least half the fun. Gus is definitely my favorite.

Fun fact: The Mentalist is canonically Shawn’s favorite show, which was especially funny since I watched the Mentalist right before this.

• The Resident

The Resident is one of those shows where I never stopped feeling excited to put it on. The type of show that makes me naturally grab for my knitting project like a bucket of popcorn. 

It’s a medical drama centered around the doctors at Chastain Park Memorial, but it leans heavily into hospital politics and fighting for patients. The characters are what really carry it—Conrad, Nic, Mina, the Raptor. It has more of a justice-driven edge than a typical medical show.

The ending is a little unsatisfying—not bad like a cliffhanger, just a little abrupt and incomplete. But still, I loved it and definitely think it’s worth the watch.

• White Collar

I decided to watch White Collar because I kept thinking, who is this fine man in my Hulu recommendations? And the answer to that is Matt Bomer.

He plays Neal Caffrey, a con artist who ends up working with the FBI to catch other white-collar criminals. Prime Matt Bomer in tailored suits. That’s the show. 

P.S. I burn through shows fast, so if you’ve got recommendations, I’m listening.