Common Sense Media Review
By Sierra Filucci
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Greed begets violence in graphic true-crime show.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Through interviews and dramatic reenactments, RICH AND RECKLESS tells the real-life tales of wealthy businesspeople, Hollywood players, and heirs and heiresses who encounter danger in the hands of ruthless criminals. Their stories -- from crime to courtroom -- are told and shown in graphic detail, with plenty of violence, drugs, alcohol, and sexual content. The thread that ties the show together is money. The victims in the show have it, and the criminals want it. So, for example, the story of a rich Miami businessman kidnapped and tortured by a group of greedy muscle-heads focused on how much cash the criminals extracted from the victim and how they did it (the grim details include a gun to the head, forced drug consumption, setting fire to a car, and more).
Is It Any Good?
Following the standard true-crime reality show format -- which relies heavily on dramatizations -- Rich and Reckless does little to improve on the genre. The gruesome stories are outlined by interviews with people close to the crime or the victims. While the family, media, and legal commentators speak with appropriate gravity, host Mark Ebner -- in a cross between America's Most Wanted's John Walsh and Tom Arnold -- pokes fun at the criminals, makes exaggerated faces, and speaks in corny metaphors that seem out of sync with the show's violence.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about money driving people to violence. What's so powerful about money? What would you do for money? Have you ever done anything you shouldn't have for a little cash? How does the media typically portray wealthy people? Do you think that could influence anyone to go to extremes to get that lifestyle for themselves? What else, besides money, drives people to commit violent crimes?
TV Details
- Premiere date : June 6, 2008
- Cast : Mark Ebner
- Network : truTV
- Genre : Reality TV
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 20, 2019
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