Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Beyond unfunny animated Aussie import full of stereotypes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Pacific Heat
What's the Story?
PACIFIC HEAT is an Australian adult-oriented animated comedy series about a group of undercover detectives charged with bringing down international organizations. It's set in the Queensland city of Gold Coast, and Special Agent Todd Sommerville (voiced by Rob Sitch) leads his quirky team, including his dim-witted sidekick, Agent Zac Valentic (Santo Cilauro), Agent Maddie Riggs (Rebecca Massey), and Agent Veronica V.J. Deane (Lucia Mastrantone). As they set out to investigate crimes of all sorts, they rely on the intelligence provided by a computer expert and the support of the Chief (voiced by Tom Gleaner). Sometimes things get messy, but they always manage to catch the bad guys.
Is It Any Good?
This Australian sitcom tries to deliver but never manages to be funny. The overall concept is similar to the stateside animated series Archer, which makes it feel unoriginal aside from being devoid of humor. Thanks to a combination of bad writing and underdeveloped characters, the show doesn't come close to offering the smart, irreverent humor its American cousin is celebrated for.
The cast of characters isn't developed enough to help viewers navigate the show's overabundance of one-liners. Meanwhile, the endless use of obvious stereotypes feels more gratuitous than irreverent, sometimes to the point of being outright racist. Chances are that even the biggest fans of this kind of show will find that Pacific Heat just doesn't work.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Pacific Heat's use of stereotypes as a way of being funny. Should they ever be used? When they are, where is the line between being humorous and being flat-out offensive?
What are the challenges that come with showing a TV show from one country to the audience of another? Because Pacific Heat is from Australia, is it possible that some of its content may be less offensive to people there than to people in the U.S.? Why?
TV Details
- Premiere date : November 27, 2016
- Cast : Rob Sitch , Santo Ciulauro , Rebecca Massey
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Comedy
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 10, 2022
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