Parents' Guide to

Splitting Up Together

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Divorced but still loving family works to figure it out.

TV ABC Comedy 2018
Splitting Up Together Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 3 parent reviews

age 16+

Don’t think Hollywood has kids...or they just don’t care

If you think talking about and encouraging your teens masturbation practices, their friends getting Syphyllis from the hot girl at school, like it’s a good thing, STD’s, teen sex, etc with your young kids and especially your teenagers friends, then this is the show for you and your family.
age 14+

Very realistic view of parents doing the best they can in a rotten situation

I think it’s a great show. The kids are the most realistic bit. They all have their own personalities and instead of the same weird roles and typecasts they always seem to throw sitcom kids into, these kids have realistic reactions to adult situations, interact with one another realistically, and are a good focus for what divorced couples should really focus on; the well-being of the children. The adults get into funny ADULT situations. They make mistakes like ANY other parent. The fact they addressed 21st century dating for newly divorced couples is hilarious. The dad dating the younger woman (nailed it). Its not “seventh heaven” because its not meant to be. Its meant to lightheartedly show how people attempt to coparent when their marriage falls apart and i think its doing an excellent job. The adult issues and situations my be too much for younger kids, but if you have your kids in the living room duringf 90% of other primetime shows, this is nothing. I’d give it a 10/10, but i have a feeling this is going to fall into the “theyre together, now their not” plot loophole that destroys most sitcom plotlines.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much sex

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (4):

When a miserable couple decides to call it quits on their marriage but not their co-parenting partnership, an enjoyable something-for-everybody comedy is born. Watching a show about a family that's breaking apart sounds like a great big bummer, but Splitting Up Together manages to lighten the tension with great gags. Mae, Lena and Martin's acerbic teenage daughter, gets some of the best lines. When her mother discovers that Martin has been sending the kids to school with money to buy lunch instead of packing it for them, Mae cops to saving her money to buy a cup from the "Young Feminist Caucus" (which reads "Male Tears"). For his part, Martin's been enjoying his freedom from Lena's demands by rediscovering his "collection of ugly hats," and turning off the dehumidifier she insists be left constantly running.

Raising kids together without being together is a natural source of comedic complications: Who takes care of what? Where does the responsibility of one parent end and another begin? Is it even possible to start dating again when your ex lives just a couple of hundred feet away and knows your every coming and going? Should this couple even be splitting up at all, given that their new living arrangement is forcing them to communicate and work with each other even more than they did before? But make no mistake, this show is no "will they or won't they?" sitcom scenario. Together, Lena and Martin are far less interesting than struggling apart -- and the more they struggle, the more you'll enjoy watching. Try this one on with your teens and/or mature tweens; it just may catch on.

TV Details

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