Parents' Guide to

The Flavor of Love

By Lucy Maher, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Cringe-inducing reality show leaves a bad taste.

TV VH1 Reality TV 2006
The Flavor of Love Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 2+

Based on 1 parent review

jean saget
jean saget Parent of 7, 8 and 19-year-old
May 13, 2009
age 2+
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In THE FLAVOR OF LOVE, former Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav puts 20 women vying for his love through a series of challenges before whittling the group down to those who'd be a suitable girlfriend. (Keep in mind that most people have an entirely different definition of what "suitable" is than Flav does.) The women live together in Los Angeles in a house called the "phat crib." They have full access to Flav day and night, and multiple women often end up sleeping in his bed. Flav relies on the help of his chauffeur and bodyguard, Big Rick; his mother; and his ex-girlfriend, Brigitte Nielsen, to administer the challenges and help weed out the women who only want to take advantage of his money and fame. At the end of each episode, one woman is axed from the competition. The ladies always try to find out which of their competitors are in the game for Flav, and which ones just want to be on TV.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Not only does The Flavor of Love paint a demeaning picture of male/female relationships and women in general, it also presents the mostly African-American contestants in an embarrassing light (none of them objects to being asked to cook a stereotypically "black" dish in the episode mentioned above, etc.). What's more, the women's sexually charged comments lend a seedy feel to an already smarmy show. There's really nothing redeeming about this show, which demeans everyone involved and seems to take pride in broadcasting crass, tasteless behavior.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about self-respect. When someone puts you down, what's the best way to react? Why is it important to have boundaries in a romantic relationship? Do teenage girls think they'd ever compete in a series like this? Why or why not? Why do you think the women want to be with Flav in the first place?

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.

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