How to Share a Screen With a Teenager: Your TV Questions Answered

Jul 10, 2019 · 23 comments
joebrue1 (Texas)
You and your teenager will LOVE Veronica Mars!
BB (CT)
Schitt's Creek is the best thing I've seen. I discovered it about 6 weeks ago and have already watched it from start to finish 3 times. I got my 15 year old to watch it and she loves it too. But give Parks & Rec another chance. If you don't like the early seasons, skip to the end of Season 2 when Rob Lowe and Adam Scott join . It gets better from there. All characters get more depth and it's really great.
JT (New Jersey)
My 13 year old and I really liked “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” on Netflix. I appreciate all of the comments, because I am always looking for good shows for us to watch together. We also have watched every episode of “The Office”.
Rev Peaches (Buffalo)
If you liked “Parks and Recreation,” my suggestion would be to try "Newsradio," a wonderful ensemble comedy series headed up by "Kids in the Hall's" the brilliant Stephen Root, who plays an eccentric billionaire who owns a radio station in New York, with a marvelous cast of characters which includes Dave Foley, Phil Hartman, Andy Dick, Maura Tierney, Vicki Lewis. Very funny, full of eccentric characters and memorable plots.
Rev Peaches (Buffalo)
@Rev Peaches Whoops! I meant to say "Kids in the Hall's" Dave Foley.
Vanessa (San Francisco Bay Area)
Stranger Things! What about cooking? My 18 yo daughter and I watch The Chef Show together lately - it’s Jon Favreau’s cooking show loosely based on the movie, Samin Nosrat’s 4 episode Netflix able Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat - beautifully produced and Samin is a joy; all the seasons of the British Baking Show which is everything American competitive cooking shows are not!
Joy (CO)
Reaper was a great show if you liked Pushing Daisies. People of Earth is another one of my daughter's faves - not sure if it's being renewed. Jeeves and Wooster had the very clever banter that your daughter may have been attracted to in Monty Python.
Shellbrav (Arizona)
People of Earth was cancelled. I thought it was a hoot.
Deborah Murchison (Monterey)
Forgot to add Red Oaks-
Boris and Natasha (97 degrees west)
You will be greatly rewarded if you dig deeper into what British/Australian TV has to offer. Here's a few shows to get you started: Foyle's War Last Tango in Halifax Happy Valley Grantchester Broadchurch Doc Martin A Place to Call Home Jack Irish And of course, there's always Downton Abbey and Upstairs/Downstairs. It's unbelievable to me how much better British TV is than what we have available in the US. Smart, character-driven shows with intelligent plotting and very little, if any, gratuitous sex and violence.
Jennifer B. (Enfield, CT)
@Boris and Natasha We recommend adding to that excellent list the New Zealand/Australian show "800 Words." Everyone in my family looks forward to watching it together Thursday nights as soon as it airs on our public television station (my family has children ages 8, 12, and 14). It's the first time we have all watched together in ages, and we talk about the latest episode all week!
kandis (NYC)
excuse me!.......start Schitts Creek on Season 1. Not sure what shout-y mean......but Season 1 is brilliant and funny and the family is completely out of sorts because they are in the town and adjusting. It is clever,funny, and is most definitely MUST watch.
Dan (New York City)
Bon App's "[Person] Makes [Recipe]" series is simply titled "From the Test Kitchen", and it's amazing.
Steve Cohn (Left Coast)
Atypical
DI (SoCal)
My wife and I enjoy the Bon Appetit channel (I guess it's just their YouTube channel, but we watch it through a Roku connected to our TV). It's light-hearted, but it's very informative. Check out their four part mini-series on making the perfect pizza, which brings together most of their personnel on a joint quest for the ideal pie.
Calleendeoliveira (FL)
Met the owner of Kim’s Convenience last weekend in Toronto. I love this show. No violence not vulgar just plain love it. So far everyone I recommend to has enjoyed it too.
David Kleeman (Chevy Chase, MD)
The writer didn't specifically ask about scripted programming, though that's where the response went. The company I work for conducts a global trends survey of 2-18 year olds, and we're seeing quite a rise in parent-child co-viewing of series like MasterChef, Top Chef, Dancing With the Stars, America's Got Talent, and similar. They're watching together on the big screen. They have drama, rooting interest, suspense, humor and they're generally wholesome. In some ways, these shows are like the "unboxing videos" that small kids are watching - you know in general what to expect, but there's enjoyment and surprise in the specifics.
Deborah Murchison (Monterey)
We are watching Schitt’s Creek again! We missed so much the first time around. LOVE it! Also liked Doc Martin.
Douglas Stone (Englewood Florida)
I think you would like The Durrell’s in Corfu. Not many made of the USA version but there is considerable backstory from the original English family. A bit sweet at the beginning but quirky and a fun surprise travel adventure.
Aimee A. (Montana)
Schitt's Creek is some of the best TV I have seen. It's smart and funny and you'll find yourself immersed. The Marvelous Ms. Maisal is also great!
BKLYNJ (Union County)
I have no idea exactly how old Zane's teenager is, but both of my girls (11.5 and not quite 8) LOVE "Schitt's Creek." I do, however, pre-screen via DVR, but don't believe I've ever done more than fast-forward through a scene with questionable content. I was just about their ages when I discovered Monty Python (Sunday nights on PBS) and soon graduated to sneaking out of bed to watch "Fernwood Tonight" and "SCTV" (both of which my mother disapproved of highly). Thank you, Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, for sticking around long enough to entertain my kids.
Aimee A. (Montana)
@BKLYNJ I totally forgot about great documentaries on Netflix. "The September Issue" and "The First Monday In May" are awesome if the daughter is into fashion or just curious about Anna Wintour's focus.
BKLYNJ (Union County)
@Aimee A. Thank you. My younger one is very much into fashion (and loves Alexis).