3AM
By Joyce Slaton,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Graphic sex, drinking, raunchy antics mark reality.
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What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.
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3AM
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What's the Story?
At an hour when most people are sleeping deeply, the people depicted in Dick Wolf's docuseries 3AM are in full flower. DJs, prostitutes, club kids, bouncers -- the characters we meet are busy entertaining themselves, making a living, looking for love, and getting in trouble. We see these colorful New York City characters going on dates (or "dates"), cavorting in clubs, zipping around town in cabs, and doing plenty of things parents might wish their teens wouldn't see.
Is It Any Good?
Much like any other docuseries depicting the more sordid side of life, 3AM is interesting, all right. Though viewers might not themselves enjoy being screamed at by drunken shoeless women in the middle of the night or having sex with strangers for money, it's great viewing, particularly from the vantage point of a big, comfy couch. Clearly, 3AM's participants are hamming it up for the camera, though the camera takes pains to distance itself. We're often watching the subjects from behind an obstacle -- a parking meter, a tree -- after which they talk about themselves and their lives in close-up interviews. It never feels as if we're penetrating into the inner essence of what makes each person tick, but watching them go to all-night secret raves or pick up strangers at a corner market is good, naughty viewing. Parents may not appreciate teens watching, however -- there are a lot of questionable activities pictured, including a prostitute's "date" with a client and a photographer who tricks/begs/coerces women into posing for suggestive shots. If teens must watch, parents have some work to do countering the show's conflicting messages.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Besides the colorful types of professions you see on 3AM, what other kinds of people work at night?
What do you suppose happens at 3 a.m. in your town? Is it anything like what you see in 3AM?
TV Details
- Premiere date: May 28, 2015
- Network: Showtime
- Genre: Reality TV
- TV rating: TV-MA
- Last updated: February 26, 2022
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