10 Items or Less
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Shop of goofballs makes groceries funny. Teens+.
Why We Rated This
for Ages 14–18
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of 10 Items or Less was written by Sierra Filucci
Parents need to know that this irreverent, partially improvised sitcom has plenty of adult-skewed humor, including jokes about casual sex and Jesus. Ethnicity and sexual orientation are the basis of some jokes, though the treatment is generally respectful. Some crude language pops up.
Families Can Talk About
- Families can talk about improvisation. Can you tell what parts of the show are improvised? What makes improv good or bad? Under what circumstances do you get to exercise your own "improv" skills? Families can also talk about workplace behavior. Why is it important to do a good job at work? (Or, for teens, at school.)
More on 10 Items or Less
What’s the Story?
Is It Any Good?
Like the hugely successful British (and now American) series, The Office, 10 Items or Less is only partially scripted. The rest is left up to the largely talented cast. The result can be cleverly funny, like when Pool refers to a note he wrote a girl in high school, saying he signed off with "WBS, write back soon; SSS, sorry so sloppy." But it can also result in some uneven comedy. The fact that the show is filmed in an actual grocery store adds another opportunity for spontaneity in the plot -- some of the real customers appear in the show (a tactic similar to that used by fellow improv sitcom Dog Bites Man, in which a fake news crew interviews real, unsuspecting people).
The humor is mostly adult-oriented, such as one storyline revolving around a one-night-stand between two employees that resulted in a baby. But there's a lot of physical, slapstick humor that will appeal to teens. Some moments are intentionally awkward and might make some viewers uncomfortable. Parents may want to watch with teens or preview an episode to see if it's OK for their kids.

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