TV depression looks fabulous. I’d love to have that kind of depression. And it’s not just TV depression; any mental illness on-screen looks rather thrilling. Either it’s dark and dramatic — unlike day-to-day depression, which is at best super dull — or it’s quirky and fleeting, like a flash sale of Zooey Deschanel’s wardrobe.

I know there are shows out there that “get mental illness right,” and I enjoy most of them. But for me, the show that most accurately portrays mental illness(es) is “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” The first time I ever saw Rachel Bloom’s character Rebecca sing about “Sexy French Depression” I nearly fell out of bed. It tapped into a very silly yet very real fantasy I have about having sexy, dangerous television depression. I thought I was the only one who yearned for that seductive on-screen sadness, but here was Rebecca Bunch, staggering around Paris in a black dress, sunglasses, and cigarette in hand. The way depression was supposed to be. It was specific and hilarious and even though it was a dream sequence, it was super real.

Read on: Lights, camera, depression: Why does mental illness on TV rarely look like real life? | Salon.com