Parents' Guide to

Nash Bridges

By Scout Davidson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

San Francisco-set whodunit is mostly syndicated TV filler.

TV Syndicated Drama 1996
Nash Bridges Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 2+

Based on 1 parent review

heartbreakhotel
heartbreakhotel Adult
September 19, 2022
age 2+

I pray every day for amnesia from what I saw on this show. Proceed at your own risk.

Please, tv fans, Do Not watch this show if you have ANY children in your family, ANY friends with children, ANY empaths in your circle of friends, or even a roommate with an actual heart. Because of This HORRENDOUSLY VIOLENT show, we have ALL thrown our TV’s away, convinced others to do same. After a YEAR and A HALF, STILL having nightmares. In this age of school shootings, this show should be BANNED for having the Daughter SHOT at school. But that wasn’t even CLOSE to the WORST part. If you choose to watch it, of course it Is your choice. But I consider it my Duty to warn Everyone I can. I have Never seen One television show put so many people in PAIN, people who saw it YEARS ago. Thanks to CBS, I now have #ptsd and Constant #television #grief #migraines that are basically 24/7. Proceed at your own risk.

This title has:

Too much violence
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

NASH BRIDGES follows a ragtag group of detectives that's part of the "Special Investigations Unit" -- an advanced (and fictional) division of the San Francisco Police Department. The SIU is led by colorful Nash (Don Johnson) and his equally quirky partner/best pal Joe Dominguez (Cheech Marin). While there's no real overall plot arc to the series -- each episode is a self-contained whodunit crime story in the vein of classic 1970s TV cop shows -- character development does link from season to season. \

Is It Any Good?

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

Nash Bridges ran for six seasons (1996-2001) before being cancelled; it's frankly remarkable that the show could be stretched out that long. It chiefly traffics in tired TV cliches: several characters begin and end romantic relationships; a long-lost brother returns from 24 years of self-imposed exile; beloved characters are killed just before being married; the main characters leave the force and start their own detective agency, etc. The dialogue is either tired or forced, and sometimes both simultaneously.

One way the show maintained fair ratings throughout its run was through inspired stunt casting; in one episode, both Philip Michael Thomas (Johnson's co-star in Miami Vice) and Tommy Chong (Cheech's partner through the drug-addled 70s) guest starred. Other notable guest appearances included author Hunter S. Thompson, baseball legend Barry Bonds, and Glenn Frey of The Eagles. But none of them could disguise the fact that the stock characters display no real motivation for their actions, the bad guys are usually laughable, and the recurring jokes are groan-inducingly lame. The charcters' fashions, attitudes, and even hairstyles seemed silly even back in the late '90s; at this point, the show's only really useful function is as a time capsule of what network TV once considered "edgy."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the different types of crime dramas -- lighthearted ones like this and darker shows along the lines of CSI. Which do you prefer, and why? Which do you think is more realistic? Families can also discuss what it's really like to work in law enforcement. Why do some men and women choose to risk their lives to keep our communities safe? How does the media typically portray them? Is that accurate?

TV Details

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