Parents' Guide to

One Dollar

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Language, soapy scandals in briskly plotted mystery series.

TV CBS Drama 2018
One Dollar Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Glossy, seamy, and as briskly plotted as an Agatha Christie mystery, this potboiler has potent charms, even if some of the dialogue and characters are a little cheesy. One Dollar stumbles hardest when it attempts to make points about class in the small Rust Belt PA town in which it's set: The rich country clubbers on one side of the (literal) tracks are almost hilariously highfalutin, while the "West side" steel mill workers on the other are outrageously downtrodden, and both are quite silly.

With its fair share of cheesy groaners, this show should be a slog, but it's not. Instead, watching the exposure of Big Shameful Secrets harbored by seemingly everyone in town is quite a lot of fun. There are hidden safes full of ill-gotten money and pools of blood and mysterious late-night phone calls. There are calculating real estate developers, and easily hoodwinked cops, and forbidden romances. It's basically exactly the same "sin & scandal" on the menu in every small-town mystery series from Twin Peaks to Peyton Place to Ozark, but done this well, it's a kick. One final plus is a soundtrack full of underappreciated sonic gems: David Bowie's "It's No Game," The Vanguards' "Somebody Please," Yaz's "Don't Go."

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 suggesting a diversity update.

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