Parents' Guide to Pictionary

TV Fox Game Shows 2022
Pictionary poster

Common Sense Media Review

Stephanie Morgan By Stephanie Morgan , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 5+

Bland game show feels forced instead of fun.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 5+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 2+

Based on 1 parent review

age 2+

Based on 1 kid review

What's the Story?

In PICTIONARY, based on Mattel's party game and hosted by Jerry O'Connell (Billions), celebrity anchored teams of three compete against each other, trying to guess the correct word or phrase represented by the drawings of their fellow teammates.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 1 ):
Kids say ( 1 ):

As proven by Hollywood Game Night, silly games plus raucous celebrities can equal TV gold. Pictionary, however, fails to deliver on any part of this equation. Surprisingly, the show doesn't offer any kind of twist, opting instead to fill all thirty minutes with round after monotonous round of the classic drawing and guessing game -- which show creators failed to realize is way more fun to play than it is to watch. Host Jerry O'Connell doesn't do much and the lack of a studio audience and weird laugh track make the whole thing somehow chaotic and boring at the same time. To add to the forced, cringeworthy feel, the B- and C-list celebrities aren't terribly convincing in their bid to look like they're having fun. Considering there's a whole host of better celebrity game show options out there, this is one to skip.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why the game Pictionary was chosen to be made into a TV game show. How does Mattel, who makes the game, benefit?

  • What's the benefit of a celebrity appearing on a show like this? Do you think it's all about helping win prizes for people they've never met? What could be another motivation?

  • Why do celebrities on game shows always compete for others? What would people think if they won prizes on a game show that they could keep?

TV Details

  • Premiere date : September 12, 2022
  • Cast : Jerry O'Connell
  • Network : Fox
  • Genre : Game Shows
  • TV rating : NR
  • Last updated : September 13, 2022

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