Parents' Guide to

EastSiders

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Lots of sex, drinking in soapy LA-set LGBTQ comedy.

TV Netflix Drama 2016
EastSiders Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 15+

Based on 3 parent reviews

age 13+

I wish this was around for me as a young teenager

I was stuck in a very dark home. Just the thought that people like this existed would have improved my life considerably. Just because they drink too much and are sex addicts would/could not have changed my predilections in these areas. The positive image I would have taken away from this is there are people like me who exist somewhere -- and I will be able to escape the abuse, mental and physical, I underwent for 18 years -- having no hope it would ever end. This is a POSITIVE show with a POSITIVE message to young people.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
1 person found this helpful.
age 18+

Very self centered characters

There is nothing deep or complex with the script or character portrayals in Eastsiders. The self centredness of the gay characters filled me with despair and after a few episodes I was quickly turning off the banality of the dialogue and storyline. Nothing else seemed to matter between the characters other than their selfish emotional needs. As one character remarked: "It's ok to be selfish if it makes you happy." Therein lies the message woven through this endlessly tedious script. It's about time gay characters were portrayed in a more inclusive light of being truly part of the greater community and far more three dimensional than this series portrays. Unfortunately, a big thumbs down for me.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (2 ):

Lusty, quippy, and frequently bored out of their minds, the LA hipsters who inhabit the world of this meandering, enjoyable series are intriguingly imperfect. They cheat, they lie, they sneak around, and in between they lounge around in various living rooms gossiping about all of it with a tall glass of straight whiskey and maybe an Ambien or two. Thom, Cal, and the rest would be hateable if they weren't so funny -- they do twee, charming things like going to End of the World parties or standing underneath a street lamp eating ice cream out of a Chinese takeout container. Kathy, though, has an irritating attention-seeking vibe that's particularly hard to take.

However, the great gags in EastSiders will make you reconsider bailing. "If I give up on this relationship, Chick-fil-A wins," says Cal about his foundering partnership with Thom. Quincy (Stephen Guarino) brags about his oversized jewelry at a party: "My earrings are made out of the Rent musical, deluxe edition." Even when life events take a more serious turn, everything is processed in wry, smart conversation. The cast has charm, they sound and act like real people (even if most of them could pass for runway models), and it's fun to hang out for a while in their small slice of sunny gay LA.

TV Details

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