LOS ANGELES (AP) — Josh Gad had a notion about what might soothe the kid in him during a scary time and maybe do the same for others. The actor got to work organizing an online reunion of the cast and creators of the 1985 movie "The Goonies," which quickly tallied a million-plus views.

Gad's YouTube effort isn't alone in providing a screen version of comfort food for the housebound. With an uncertain future defined by coronavirus and its fallout, old movies, TV reruns and favorite characters offer a way to briefly swap current woes for familiar happy endings.

"It is the absolute right place, r...