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Parents' Guide to

Alien Worlds

By Marty Brown, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Nature show uses aliens to reveal unique life on Earth.

TV Netflix Educational 2020
Alien Worlds Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

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age 10+

Based on 1 parent review

aggmom
aggmom Parent of 8 and 10-year-old
January 19, 2021
age 10+

don't let the title fool you

The tv show uses science of life on earth to predict what life on alien worlds could be like. However, most of the show doesn't even focus on alien life. It just tells the audience facts about earth life that most people probably already know. Each episodes spends about 2-4 minutes on the actual alien planet the rest of the show is just about life on earth. If you still are planing to watch it, you may want to watch out for the violence. Some of the aliens eat each other and blood splatters, but it doesn't last long. In episode 3, you see a close up shot of plant fungus growing out of aliens dead bodies.
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Alien Worlds is a science and nature anthology show that uses science to speculate what life might be like on other planets. The show starts with what's known about these distant planets: what the atmosphere might be like, how gravity might affect life, etc. Then it imagines how life might function in this unique environment, how it might eat, survive, and adapt. Animations of these creatures show what their day-to-day lives might look like, and then examples of life on Earth are shown to illustrate how natural principles can translate even over time and space.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (1 ):

Alien Worlds' animated portrayal of alien life is fun on its own, but the show craftily uses its creations as a way to learn about life here on Earth. It starts with facts about these distant planets, illustrates how nature might exist there, and then doubles back to show how looking closely at things on this planet can help understand even the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Guests on Alien Worlds go paragliding, explore underground caves, and hang out with birds and bugs, and all of these things help illuminate principles of science and nature. Though the aliens are the main attraction, by the end of each episode, viewers should have a better understanding of nature in general, wherever it happens to exist.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about life on other planets. Why does Alien Worlds believe life on other planets exists? How do they go about speculating what life on other planets might be like? What are some example of how science and logic can help imagine alien creatures?

  • What were your favorite alien creatures? Did any of the creatures surprise you? What are some ways the aliens' lives differ from life on Earth?

  • Did you learn anything new about life on Earth? What were some places shown that you didn't know existed? Did you learn anything about animals on Earth that surprised you? Were any of the Earth animals stranger than the alien creatures?

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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