Parents' Guide to

TMZ TV

By Kari Croop, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

"News" show is celebrity worship at its worst.

TV Fox, Syndicated Reality TV 2007
TMZ TV Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

See all
age 13+

Based on 6 parent reviews

CSMContentDefault
CSMContentDefault Adult
June 28, 2020
age 13+

Not as bad as people are making it seem

Yeah, from the way things look, the show should really be rated 14 instead of PG in my opinion. However, there's not much swearing but there is a bit of sexual content. It's generally a mix of news and comedy. I give TMZ a 13+ rating because some content may be a bit too mature for younger viewers. I'd say 12 at the very minimum.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much sex
Lowe's man
Lowe's man Adult
November 30, 2017
age 16+

a complete waste of time

It would probably be an overstatement to consider this show to be not for kids (which is why I put the green light at 16). Still, after having just seen a few seconds of the show, we need to ask why people want to know all this about celebrities. Why can't we focus just on the positive aspects of their lives like people did in the past? Shows like this subtly encourage people to be more interested in and care more about the bad behavior of celebrities than we need to be. Without shows like these people would care less about Lindsay Lohan's escapades. The only thing I ever found useful from this show was that Wimpy in the Hanna-Barbera Popeye cartoons was actually voiced by both Daws Butler and Don Messick. Even that I only found out not from the show itself, but in a trivia game, taken from someone who read their website.
See all 6 parent reviews

What's the Story?

By moving their smorgasbord of celebrity gossip from the Internet to television with a new namesake "news" show, the editors of TMZ.com are testing the boundaries of America's obsession with Hollywood culture. And in case you were wondering, it's a complete waste of time that should be avoided at all costs. Need proof? Here's a sampling of the top stories that ran during a random week in September:

• Security-camera footage capturing a virtually unknown actor (you know, that guy who played ill-fated rapist Zed in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction?) stealing a license plate from a parking garage. (Gasp!)

• An exclusive look at the hoity-toity lunch menu at Maddox Jolie-Pitt's new preschool, a spread that includes roasted codfish with tomatoes and basil caulis. (Shocking!)

• An embarrassing incident in which Bette Midler's husband was denied entry to a New York fashion show. (The horror!)

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6):
Kids say (13):

Despite the fact that TMZ TV is on for less than an hour, it still seems like its producers are grasping at straws when it comes to finding news. In fact, the only interesting aspect of the show is the opening segment, which captures TMZ managing editor Harvey Levin's story meeting with his staff of eager young news gatherers/celebrity stalkers, during which they plan the content for the episode you're about to watch. It's both fascinating and frightening to see the tabloid machine in motion, and you can't help but wonder whether it will ever stop.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why celebrities' everyday actions are so often deemed newsworthy in the media. Should they be? Do the majority of people truly care about the wild behavior of stars like Britney Spears, Linsday Lohan, and Paris Hilton ... or do they care because that's what the media is feeding them? Parents can also talk to their kids about how the nature of celebrity news has changed since they were younger. Have we become so obsessed with spying on famous people that we've forgotten to turn the lens on ourselves? Why does that matter?

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