Parents' Guide to

Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns

By Emily Ashby, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Not too much iffy stuff, but not aimed at kids, either.

TV TBS Comedy 2009
Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

  • Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns TV: Scene #1
  • Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns TV: Scene #2
  • Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns TV: Scene #3
  • Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns TV: Scene #4

Community Reviews

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age 8+

Based on 5 parent reviews

clarence
clarence Adult
August 5, 2015
age 7+

This title has:

Too much violence
STUTUFFS
STUTUFFS Adult
April 1, 2013
age 18+

I HATE THE SHOW...

I was sitting at home bored the other evening flipping channels and I came across Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns" television sitcom. With nothing else to watch I decided to give the show a try, the worst mistake of my life. The show was terrible. I couldn't decide which was worse the very annoying laugh track that seemed to go off every 5 seconds at what was supposed to be humor or the idiot dressed in very tightly fitting clothes who seems to be slightly retarded. How can such a great writer in Tyler Perry who has found success in making us laugh and opening our eyes to the struggles of everyday life with his great stage plays and movies fall so far off base with this terrible television show. At this point in his career I'm sure he has people who write and direct some of his productions for him, I would hate to believe that he writes the material for "Meet the Browns." This show is an embarrassment and a dark cloud over all of the successful things that he has produced thus far in his career. With there being a major shortage of African-American sitcoms on television now days its very sad that "Meet the Browns" is all we have to represent us to the world. When I hear the name of that show all I can think about is the seemingly out of shape black man, dressed up in skin tight clothing, with a very high pitched voice who doesn't seem to have any kind of education. Sure, you may say, "stop trippin' that its just a television show," but to some its symbolic of how far the black man has fallen from prominence. They laugh at us, saying that they have us right where they want us. Don't get me wrong, I know that it didn't began with this show and I know it doesn't end with this show. There is enough blame to go around 1000 times over and honestly I think the blame game has gotten old, I think it's time for the change game. It's time to turn our backs on negative media and I mean that for everyone. Any rapper, singer entertainer or athlete that promotes Black Hate we should stop supporting. Lets stop listening to and buying music and movies that promote hatred of our people and especially our women by calling them B's and H's or saying that we should use and play them or media that promotes them as being only sexual objects and not the Queens that they truly are. Its time we become more conscience of this hate media that we've been supporting for years now. Lets demand change from the radio and television stations and tell them we don't want to hear it or see it any longer. Lets start standing for something instead of nothing, regain our voice that has be silent for almost 4 decades now. We need our Women to be Ladies and we men must treat them as such and we need our Men to be Men and start acting as such. Once we end the division we can then stop being conquered
See all 5 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In MEET THE BROWNS, David Mann revives one of Tyler Perry's most popular characters -- flamboyant church deacon Leroy Brown -- who's living out his dream as proprietor of an up-and-coming retirement facility in the dilapidated home he inherited from his father. The motley crew of Brown Meadows residents keeps Mr. Brown hopping, but he's fortunate to have a handful of family members and handy fix-it guy Jesus (Antonio Jaramillo) to help him keep the place in running order. That's good news, because between the bustling fraternity house next door and the pristine rival retirement center down the street, there's no shortage of chaos interrupting the serenity of the Brown residence.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5):
Kids say (8):

This show does a very good job with character-based comedy, tossing together an array of personalities and feeding off their wacky interactions. Mann is surprisingly believable as the overzealous, God-fearing, high-pitched Mr. Brown, and the rest of the quirky characters are likewise lovably flawed. There's little meaningful substance to the sitcom, but fans won't mind that once they've gotten acquainted with the cast.

That said, Meet the Browns isn't a show for young kids, as conversations often include sexual references (one elderly character is a raging nymphomaniac who flirts with every man in the vicinity), and there's occasional strong language (mostly "hell"). There's also a fair amount of stereotyping and racial humor, though it's all lighthearted. Tweens probably won't be too into the character humor, but teens and adults will get some chuckles from the zany cast.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how race is typically dealt with in the media and in Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns. What do you think of the racially based humor in this series? Would you feel differently if the cast were predominantly white?

  • Do minority entertainers have more leeway in how they joke about race? Why or why not?

  • Do you think there's a racial bias in the news or print media? Can you think of examples?

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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