Parents' Guide to I Ship It

TV CW Comedy 2019
I Ship It Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Melissa Camacho By Melissa Camacho , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 14+

Fandom-inspired musical comedy has innuendo, drinking.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 13+

Based on 1 kid review

What's the Story?

Based on a 2014 digital short of the same name, I SHIP IT is a musical comedy series about a young woman who uses her fangirl fantasies to pursue her dreams. After being dumped by her boyfriend, fangirl and aspiring writer Ella (Helen Highfield) is looking for ways to create meaningful work. Her always supportive roommate and best friend Tim (Riley Neldam) agrees to start a band with her in order to participate in a battle of the bands, and compete against her now ex-boyfriend. Joined by interns Sasha (Yasmine Al-Bustami) and Denver (Jacqui Calloway), the gang engages in some musical creativity. But soon the relationships (aka "ships") she builds in her fan art have some interesting consequences, and sometimes collide with real-life ones.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say ( 1 ):

This lighthearted and upbeat show offers an entertaining look at fandom, which has inspired people to write stories based on popular fictional universes, and create unique relationships within them. This culture is a backdrop to the romantic comedy story world that's also presented here. Highlighting these "ships" (a term made popular on Tumblr ​​​​​) in musical form is a little quirky, but each 30-minute episode is written tightly enough to keep the plot going without allowing the singing to bog it down. As a result, I Ship It is a fun, breezy series that teens might appreciate.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how the meaning of the word "ship" evolved into a popular term about creating relationships. Where is this term used the most?

  • What does I Ship It show us about the role that fan fiction and fan art play in popular culture today? Can you think of popular shows or movies that evolved from fan-inspired work?

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

I Ship It Poster Image

What to Watch Next

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate