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Parents' Guide to

Black Monday

By Jenny Nixon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Strong performances buoy uneven, mature Wall Street comedy.

TV Showtime Comedy 2019
Black Monday Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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What's the Story?

BLACK MONDAY follows the story of Maurice "Mo" Monroe (Don Cheadle, House of Lies), the cocaine-addicted and cocky head of Wall Street's 11th most successful brokerage firm, the Jammer Group. The series title refers to Monday, October 19, 1987 -- the date that marks the real-life worst stock market crash in the history of Wall Street -- and serves up a satirical, fictionalized take on the secret events that may have led to this fateful day. Rounding out Mo the Marauder's ragtag group of outsiders are his long-suffering ex-girlfriend and top broker, Dawn Darcy (Regina Hall, Support the Girls), dorky newcomer Blair Pfaff (Andrew Rannells, Girls), and toupeé-clad Keith (Paul Scheer, Veep), whose over-the-top frat boy persona hides a conflicted soul.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Those with little patience for period-specific sight gags and raunchy punchlines may be turned off, but the dynamic performances -- particularly by Regina Hall and Don Cheadle -- really help sell it. Black Monday is hardly the first time Hollywood has depicted 1980s excess, and at times the show seems to have trouble maintaining focus, but the rapid-fire relentlessness of the humor definitely helps set it apart. The jokes are off-color to be sure, but can also be oddly inventive and at times even veer into slapstick. The show revels in skewering the greedy, amoral behavior of these ragtag misfits of Wall Street, but there are occasional hints of something deeper that give it potential to be more than just another drug-induced walk down memory lane.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the methods Black Monday's creators use to indicate the time period they're portraying in the show. From visual cues such as clothing, cars, and electronics to frequent pop-culture references -- do these moments help or hinder your enjoyment of the series?

  • Talk about the character of Dawn, and the challenges she would have faced as an African American businesswoman in the 1980s. How much do you think things have changed since then, if at all?

  • Why do people enjoy watching shows like Black Monday, about people who do bad things?

TV Details

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