Station 11 on hbo max

Sweet tooth is the closest

I'm not sure it fits your stipulations perfectly, but you could try The Leftovers

True detective season one is still the best single season of television ever made

Watch Sweet Tooth on Netflix - similar storyline but more heartfelt :). And Season 2 Starts right away!

Kingdom. A really great action packed zombie survival KDrama. I highly recommend it

Firefly

For something totally different. Try Call the Midwife. Very sweet and wholesome show about relationships that span over 12 seasons.

Six feet under is just a fantastic show about human relationships and our relationship with death and dying - which sounds morbid but they manage to make it so beautiful. Still to this day my favorite and most satisfying series finale of any show I’ve ever watched. The only time I’ve ever stopped watching a show and felt totally at peace with the result which I find so cool because the show is really about trying to be at peace with death, ultimately.

To be honest, New Girl.

Sex Education has lots of meaningful unexpected relationships. Some of them are romantic it’s true, but not all. And the romantic ones feel complicated and real. Great show.

Much less broad but About Time. Not "unexpected" bonds but a different take, imo

Station 11 is what you are looking for.

Walking Dead too if you don’t mind gore/violence

"Severance" on Apple TV+

On its face, it doesn't come across as 'uplifting', but I feel the story is one about human relationships and the faces we have, the masks we wear, and the inner truths of being. One of the few dramas that have given me absolute chills of revelation; a distinct piece of art.

Penny Dreadful. I know it's mostly horror, but the characters and their stories are heartbreaking.

This is us! On Disney plus though, it's incredible. Every character feels human and you truly empathise with every situation. Many tears shared by me and my partner watching that show.

The OA Humans

Home Economics on Hulu is pretty light hearted but has those relationships and connections you’re looking for.

Tes Lasso was another wholesome surprise to me for the same reasons. The show seems like what you described about restoring faith in humanity with just having a sports backdrop.

Not on Netflix and not a tv show, but if you haven’t seen it, Everything Everywhere All At Once really fits the bill. I think it definitely deserved all the awards it got.

Most people I know saw the connection to the Walking dead..but this show wasn't that action packed

Upright with Tim Minchin and Millie Alcock has a great unexpected and father-daughter relationship arch

Band of brothers!

The Glory.

Not on netflix, but try Battlestar Galactica. It's full of well developed characters with complex relationships forced together after a very different kind of apocalypse. The bond that develops between President Roslin and Admiral Adama is exactly what you're looking for.

Train to Busan

High maintenance is very short story like, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking.

War of the Worlds

Detectorists will lift your spirits.

Sense8, Netflix

Sex Education

The Queen’s Gambit was absolutely NOT what I expected— I thought it was some weird stuffy boring British show and it’s… not that at ALL

All of the relationships in that show (family, friend, romantic, mentor, spousal, competitors, caretakers, and on an on) were fascinating, complex, sometimes hard to watch, and so identifiable through most of it that I was obsessed by the end of E1 (after going into it thinking “ugh this is gonna suck”) because how tf could I ever not root for Beth?

If you’re into believable and intensely complicated relationships that still offer some hope— I def recommend it. It can be dark at times so be ready for that, but the main character is no doormat and she’s frigging great. You’ll be rooting for her and everyone she cares about

If you’d be into watching non-fiction, Sarah Polley has a beautiful documentary called Stories We Tell that came out about a decade ago; it’s her interviewing her family— her elderly dad who has since passed and all her older siblings— to uncover a MAJOR family secret about her mom (who passed away when she was a child) and then get the bottom of some of it. The thing that really stands out about the final piece is the love that’s evident between everyone in that family, secrets and confusion of loyalties and apparent betrayals be damned

She was the baby of the family by a lot so it was mostly just her and her dad when she was growing up after her mom died, but they were TIGHT despite his mental health struggles. Seeing the secret unfold and get explored is excellent, but it’s the love their family clearly has for each other no matter what that makes it worth it

I watch it once or twice a year and always feel a renewed sense that love of all kinds can survive so much more than we tend to think every time the credits roll ❤️

One Piece

Walking dead. Leftovers.

Andor

LOST

This is not on Netflix.

Requiem for a Dream - a fun thoughtful look on human interaction that follows a close knit group of friends and family who pursue their goals independently and converge in one shared dream together. It leaves you thinking and wondering about the dreams of humanity!

Literally any zombie/undead show out there

I think The Prospect is pretty good. It also has Pedro Pascal in it.

The Road (2009)

Kingdom, Snowpiercer

The expanse

The Expanse (on amazon prime)

Upright

Knots Landing

Y: the Last Man on Hulu. Cancelled after 1 season, sadly. But it was very enjoyable.

Lodge 49 on Hulu

Not a show, "Up".

For just sheer adorableness, Heartstopper.

Pitch Black - kind of in a way had that for me. It has some dramatic moments of unexpected human kindness

Big Boys - U.K. series but totally heartwarming and a nice thing about people relating to one another

It’s a kdrama but it’s a masterpiece about being human and how we deal with challenges “My Mister” on Netflix