Parents' Guide to

Mary Knows Best

By Will Wade, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Psychic mom knows all on reality series about quirky family.

TV Syfy Reality TV 2010
Mary Knows Best Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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Is It Any Good?

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Mary and her relatives are interesting, but aside from her psychic gifts, they actually aren't especially unusual. There are plenty of outspoken families who bicker over the dinner table and make fun of each other's romantic choices. So why does she get to star in a reality show? Well, because she's psychic. But viewers mostly know she has these gifts because people on the show tell us, not because we actually see her in action.

And that's the show's problem. Viewers are happy to watch rock star Ozzy Osbourne engaged in mundane activities because there's such a contrast between his hard-core rocker persona and his average-guy behavior. But Occhino isn't famous. All we know is her average mom behavior and the few glimpses we get of her actually being psychic. Average moms are common on TV -- we need to see more of her being psychic.

TV Details

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