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FutureCar (Discovery Channel)

common sense media says

Tomorrow's cars entertain and inform.

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this documentary-style series is about cars, trucks, and alternative transportation of the future. It features people who are passionate about their work and successful at imagining, planning, and constructing vehicles and other transportation-related structures. While the show feeds America's fascination with car culture, it also offers alternative energy concepts. And the focus isn't just on high-priced luxury vehicles, but on public transportation options, too.

Positive messages: Shows people working passionately, sharing their knowledge and their creations. Some engineers are working to improve vehicle safety or lessen a car's impact on the environment.
Violence & scariness: Some segments focus on vehicle safety, and one episode showed repeated clips of crash test dummies.
Sexy stuff: Not applicable.
Language: Not applicable.
Consumerism: Car-related brands -- as well as car brands themselves -- are featured prominently, such as Shell and Ferrari. Each episode checks in with a team of interns at GM who are working to design the car of the future.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Not common, though one episode showed a car designer puffing flamboyantly on a cigar.
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More on FutureCar

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about their ideal form of transportation. What would your "perfect" car look like? What features would it have? What could improve the public transportation options near you? What's the wildest transportation concept you can think of? How do you think life will change in the future? How accurate do you think TV and movie versions of the future are?

What's the story?

What's the story?
Documentary-style series FUTURECAR introduces viewers to the world of alternative energy vehicles -- as well as hyper-luxury and super-speed cars (some of which look as dramatic as the Batmobile) -- through interviews with car designers and engineers from around the world, as well as a team of design interns working at GM. Episode topics include innovative car materials, alternative fuels, cars that push the limits of speed (including a battery-boosted vehicle that can travel at up to 350 miles per hour), and the future of public transportation and ground shipping. For example, one episode featured an idea for a taxi that would travel along special tracks built alongside existing streets and could be scheduled via touch screen in the taxi stand, reducing the average wait time to about 15 seconds. This concept will be put to the real-world test at London's Heathrow Airport.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

Getting a glimpse of the future is entertaining, and learning about the ideas that might soon become part of daily life can be exciting. FutureCar maintains a good pace and features a variety of subjects per episode to keep things interesting. Some of the designers and engineers are colorful characters, which can be fun to watch, though others fall a little flat. While anyone with an interest in cars will probably enjoy the series, those with a particular interest in transportation, futurism, design, city planning, and engineering will get the most out of it.

TV themes & details

TV Details
TV Rating: TV-G
Network: Discovery Channel
Cast: Jay Simon, Mason Pettit
Genre: Reality TV
Where to watch: Discovery Channel
This review was written by Sierra Filucci
 
 

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M2007
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The world needs MORE of this...
Our ecology is in trouble, this show looks at mobility to solve some of the problems.
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