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Parents' Guide to

Channel Zero

By Melissa Camacho, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Internet-inspired fantasy horror has cursing, violence.

TV Syfy Science Fiction 2016
Channel Zero Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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age 16+

Based on 4 parent reviews

BeckettTheTeach
BeckettTheTeach Adult
September 9, 2023
age 15+

Great Series, watch out for sensitive material in later seasons

Awesome series! The first season is pretty clean. But in season 3 there is graphic blood and gore (including cannibalism). If you get offended by sexual content, watch out for season 4. There is several sex scenes, no full-frontal but there is thrusting and moaning. You can see their butts, but nothing extremely sensitive.
Brendan M.
Brendan M. Adult
January 18, 2020
age 16+

Excellent Internet-based Surreal Horror Anthology is Very Scary and Mature

Show (4.5/5.0): Channel Zero is a horror anthology show similar to American Horror Story, in which It's a self contained story each season. The difference however is that these stories are adaptations of internet horror fiction called Creepypastas/No-Sleep stories. Also, unlike American Horror Story; each season is only 6 episodes long, only has 1 single director for the whole the season, and focuses more on surrealism horror. This series is absolutely fantastic for the most part; having a unique cinematic style, fantastic acting (especially from the late great Rutger Hauer in Season 3), great writing, and fantastically tightly told stories. The only downside is the weak season 4, which starts off strong but unfortunately ends bad enough to ruin the whole season. However, with that said, the show is some of the best horror filmmaking of the 2010's with true focus slow burn disturbing material to scare you instead of jump scares. I knew this show was something special when the second episode of season 1 gave me a nightmare (something the horror genre hasn't given me in a long time), it's very effective but absolutely not for the faint of heart. If you feel like you can take it, Channel Zero is absolutely worth your time. Depends on the season of how explicit the show gets. Violence (4.5/5.0): Varying levels of gory horror violence. Graphic scenes of cannibalism, stabbings, shootings, full body explosions, child death, and much more. Language (4.0/5.0): Season 1 has 2 f bombs (both censored, even on home media). Other seasons use the f bomb more often (and are uncensored on home media). Other language includes s--t, hell, damn, and more. Sex (3.0/5.0): Some sexual content, however nudity only gets as graphic as bare butts. Drinking/Drugs/Smoking (3.5/5.0): Use of weed. A character takes their prescription medication by crushing it and snorting it. Smoking throughout. Some drinking.
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What's the Story?

Based on an online story, CHANNEL ZERO is a show about a man's obsession with a mysterious children's TV show and its link to a series of child murders. Child psychologist Mike Painter (Paul Schneider) is haunted by death of his twin brother Eddie, the only unrecovered victim of the horrific Iron Hill murders that took place 28 years ago. He returns to his childhood home to see his mom, Marla Painter (Fiona Shaw), and to learn more about what happened, including why teeth were missing from the bodies of the recovered children. As he begins to interact with childhood friends, including Gary Yolen (Shaun Benson), now the local Sheriff, and his wife Jessica (Natalie Brown), strange things start to happen, including the random reappearance of Candle Cove, a creepy puppet-driven tv show that only aired during the time of the murders. Soon people question Mike's connection to the odd (and sometimes frightening) happenings, which sparks an investigation led by Deputy Amy Welsh (Luisa D'Oliveira), and forces him to face his monsters head on.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (5 ):

This dark series combines fantasy and horror to create a intense, bizarre, and definitely scary viewing experience. This is no surprise, given that it's adapted from creepypasta, or a short, internet-driven, user-generated horror story that's copied and pasted from site to site in order to scare people (think Slenderman). Using seemingly random flashbacks to parallel the events of Mike's childhood with the present, the show often gives viewers a false sense of understanding, only to surprise them later on.

Channel Zero's story is a solid blend of supernatural scares and real-life mystery -- It also does a decent job at adapting the original creepypasta, which comes with its own unique narrative format and audience. It's not for everyone, but folks who enjoy these kinds of scares may find themselves getting shivers.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Channel Zero's inspiration. Have you ever read any creepypasta? Why do you think some people like to be scared?

  • Families can also talk about how the internet can influence popular culture. Can you think of any other examples of this happening?

TV Details

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