Parents' Guide to

Succession

By Martin Brown, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Biting, profane satire about the obscenely wealthy.

TV HBO Drama 2018
Succession Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 14+

Based on 8 parent reviews

age 13+

Excellent satire okay for teens

Succession is an intense drama about familial relations and power in the modern world. It has strong language, but little to no violence or sexual content. Children might not understand, however teenagers possibly could appreciate the program.

This title has:

Educational value
Too much swearing
age 13+

This title has:

Too much consumerism

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8):
Kids say (8):

This dark but very funny series is an American comedy of manners as entertaining as Veep or its British predecessor, The Thick of It. The comedy comes from the fact that each member of the Roy family is a profoundly terrible person that is consciously manipulative and money-hungry, but also stunningly socially awkward.

It's worth wondering what's the point of watching a show about obscenely wealthy people doing terrible, sometimes cruel, things with money. How much mileage is there in laughing at terrible people that, nonetheless, are thriving in America? From the start, the jokes are funny, and the performances are on point. But the ongoing success of Succession's satire depends on the viewer's appetite for seeing how pathetic rich people can be when it comes to money.

TV Details

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.

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