Common Sense Media Review
By Marty Brown
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Police procedural comedy as bland as they come.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Carter
What's the Story?
Harley Carter (Jerry O'Connell), the star of popular TV cop show Call Carter, has a public meltdown and runs away to his hometown in Canada, where he reunites with his old friends Sam (Sydney Poitier Heartsong) and Dave (Kristian Bruun). He begins to tag along with Sam, a police detective and former military officer, on murder investigations, thinking that his experience as a TV detective will help him solve crimes.
Is It Any Good?
The last decade-plus has been overrun with detective shows where a complete outsider joins up with the police to solve crimes, and Carter doesn't add much to the genre. The twist here is that Harley Carter (Jerry O'Connell) is an actor who is constantly discovering the hard way that there's a huge difference between exciting Hollywood police work and mundane "real life" detection, so there's at least a little bit of meta-commentary on the clichéd setup the show falls into. But the crimes are recycled, the clues are obvious, the characters have no distinguishing characteristics, and the jokes are paper thin.
There's at least some precedent of a show this bland eventually finding its own voice: Psych started out similarly but eventually developed its own unique -- and genuinely funny -- method of storytelling. But the odds of Carter ever becoming anything more than replacement-level television are low.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the difference between police work on TV and in real life. Carter is often surprised to discover that solving crime in "real life" is much less glamorous and exciting than in scripted television. What are the differences between the two? What do you imagine the life of a detective is like on a day-to-day basis?
Do you like watching mysteries get solved on TV? Why do you think this is such a popular genre?
How do you feel about Harley Carter? Is he a good person? What are his likable qualities? What are his faults?
TV Details
- Premiere date : August 7, 2018
- Cast : Jerry O'Connell , Sydney Poitier Heartsong , Kristian Bruun
- Network : WGN
- Genre : Drama
- TV rating :
- Last updated : March 13, 2020
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