Parents' Guide to

The Messengers

By Robin Galguera, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Hokey reality show fails to inspire; skip it.

TV TLC Reality TV 2006
The Messengers Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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What's the Story?

THE MESSENGERS is a reality show about inspirational speakers. Viewers follow contestants on weekly field trips to locations like the L.A. County Morgue and Skid Row, where they visit disadvantaged people (the homeless, the blind, migrant farm workers, etc.). The contestants are then required to write a two-minute inspirational speech based upon the trip and a specific keyword like "compassion" or "forgiveness." Speeches are delivered to a live audience, which votes the least-effective speaker off the show. The final contestant wins a book-publishing deal and a TV special on TLC.

Is It Any Good?

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

While The Messengers shows viewers how other people live and the challenges that they have to overcome, the show's concept is seriously flawed. Viewers are shown a brief glimpse of the different disadvantaged communities, but none of the contestants actually does anything to help the people they visit. In fact, the plight of these communities becomes something akin to a circus show.

The concept is noble -- the opening credits show icons like Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa, implying that those are the kinds of examples the contestants want to live up to -- but the show is condescending and the message feeble at best. Watching 10 well-dressed, educated people spending a night on Skid Row feels insulting to the homeless residents, several of whom voice their disgust with their privileged "neighbors."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how varied people's life circumstances are and how their family might differ from the ones shown. Issue-based discussion topics abound, depending on the episode's theme. For example: What does it mean to be homeless? Do you have any services or resources that you could give to a local shelter? What could you do to make a disabled person's life a little easier? Also, families can discuss the show itself. Are the contestants helping any of the people they meet by giving their speeches? What's the point of this show?

TV Details

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