Parents' Guide to

The Ranch

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Throwback sitcom offers star power, drinking, mild gags.

TV Netflix Comedy 2016
The Ranch Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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age 13+

Based on 30 parent reviews

christinat13
christinat13 Adult
July 13, 2021
age 18+

Incredibly Disappointing

I really don't understand how The Ranch went on for so long. Every single character is awful and hypocritical. Maggie is one gross contradiction after another. Walking out on her family, then blaming others for walking away. Calling people selfish, after she is the same way. Her thinking she has any say over the ranch after getting divorced. Rooster is just hateful and a sleaze. The way everyone (except Abby's parents) treats Colt is just disgusting. Beau is so angry about anything and everything that when his character is being "loving", it's horribly awkward and unbelievable. I get having pride and that old man standard, but they took it to an extreme level. It's just a lot of angry alcoholics trading one line insults back and forth the entire show. After a couple seasons, it was reduced to the word "f**k" - one after another. If I didn't know any better, I'd bet they hired a bunch of teenagers to write the show. I'm on season 5 right now and not sure how many more episodes I can make it.

This title has:

Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
1 person found this helpful.
Robin T.
Robin T. Parent of 10 and 18-year-old
January 25, 2023
age 12+

American family hiarchy values that made built the greatest country in the world!

This show is a modern day Archie Bunker with an old fashion respect of the values of small town USA. Sam Elliot makes the show with his transition from his hard headed, man's man character to his realization of the world today. For those from the sixties and even before, this storyline is so relatable to small town values and rearing under the strict parenting of the past. Such an eye opener to today's extreme liberalism directions of today even with all the obvious attempts to input current media influences of liberal media pressures. Loved this concept for a show and laughed every time I saw Beau express his old fashion, Supreme ruler character. So close to my upbringing. It also portrayed so well all the inner sides of the character along with the realization of changing times and generational transition. I watched it from beginning to end and give it a big thumbs up and can only hope Amerca never loses this American tradition of lifestyle.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
See all 30 parent reviews

What's the Story?

When Colt (Ashton Kutcher) ages out of his middling pro football career, he goes back to THE RANCH, the Colorado farm where he grew up and the rest of his family still lives. Alas, he soon discovers, all is not well there: His harsh, mocking father, Beau (Sam Elliot), is terminally disappointed in him; his older brother, Rooster (Danny Masterson), has been doing double duty to help keep the failing ranch going; and while his mother, Maggie (Debra Winger), has divorced Beau and moved on, she's still enmeshed with the family, the family business, and even her ex. But Colt hopes that by sticking around he can help his family make a go of it while atoning for past misdeeds. And family are the people who have to take you in when you have nowhere else to go -- right?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (30):
Kids say (6):

In an era when network sitcoms are a dying breed, it's curious that Netflix would choose to make a throwback, multicamera comedy that resembles network output, right down to the laugh track. The Ranch seems like it may have been green-lighted on sheer star power alone: After all, Kutcher and Masterson starred together on one of the most popular sitcoms of the late '90s/early 2000s, so perhaps Netflix hoped their appeal might translate to binge-watching. Alas, though the cast is appealing, the jokes and foibles just aren't fresh enough to wring a lot of laughs from its audience, who probably won't be able to shake the feeling that we've seen these characters and heard these jokes before.

Family members who mock each other but are there when the chips are down was last intriguing sometime in the All in the Family era, while a joke about animals giving birth was the standout thigh-slapper in City Slickers, which was quite popular -- back in 1991. Of course, on this non-network show, the characters feel free to curse, drink, and make jokes about sex, but that's not enough to make the proceedings feel fresh, no matter how fervently the laugh track insists. This type of thing was about all that was available, sitcom-wise, back in the 1990s, but with a vast variety of much-funnier choices now, only the nostalgic should tune in.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • What role does drinking play in this show? How does it affect the characters who do it? Are consequences shown?

  • What messages does this show send about sex and relationships? How much sexual content in media is appropriate for kids?

  • Characters on sitcoms frequently treat each other with mockery and disdain. Is that the way people act in real life? Why is it considered funny on TV shows if it wouldn't be funny in real life?

TV Details

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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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