Parents' Guide to

Runaway Squad

By Kari Croop, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Raw-but-real series gets to the heart of why teens run away.

TV A&E Reality TV 2010
Runaway Squad Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

See all

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

What's the Story?

Backed by hard-working members of his New York-based RUNAWAY SQUAD, police veteran Joe Mazzilli tracks down missing teens and tries his best to return them to their parents. But the squad isn't satisfied with tearful reunions; Mazilli also sticks around to make sure teens are really talking to their parents about the issues that drove them away in the first place. The squad includes Mazilli's wife, Gemma, along with others who specialize in technology and old-fashioned investigation techniques.

Is It Any Good?

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

With his arm-baring muscle shirts and tough-guy talk, Joe Mazzilli is quite a character. But Runaway Squad never forgets that he's got a job to do -- and neither does Joe. After all, as a former member of a police-led pimp squad that rescued teen girls -- many of them runaways -- from forced prostitution, he's seen a lot. And he knows that every second counts.

At times, Runaway Squad is so real that it borders on bleak (much like another unscripted A&E series, Intervention), and it would be tempting to cut it down to a half-hour series. No one wants to accept, for example, that a 15-year-old girl who once collected awards for singing in her school's choir could become a sex slave in a matter of months, although statistics reveal her situation is much more common than you'd think. What's refreshing here is the show's emphasis on meaningful reconciliation between runaway teens and their parents, and long-term resolution of the issues that made running away seem like a teen's only option in the first place.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the role violence plays in the teen runaway problem and discuss how the show handles it onscreen. Does the show pump up violent scenes for the sake of ratings, or is merely showing the realities of the teens' harsh environments?

  • If you were a teen who was thinking of running away, would watching this show discourage you from doing it? Why or why not?

  • How real are the scenarios you're seeing? Do you think producers play a big role in shaping the arc of the storyline?

TV Details

  • Premiere date: April 5, 2010
  • Cast: Joe Mazzilli
  • Network: A&E
  • Genre: Reality TV
  • TV rating: TV-PG
  • Last updated: March 2, 2022

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.

See all recommended tv lists

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