Common Sense Media Review
By Matt Springer
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Adult-aimed animated comedy features sex-obsessed teens.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Unsupervised
What's the Story?
In UNSUPERVISED, two teenage best friends attempt to make their way through the daily minefield that is adolescence armed only with their skewed perspectives on the universe. Gary (Justin Long) and Joel (David Hornsby) are both lacking in parental guidance and proceed with some big misconceptions about how the world works, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. Although there are plenty of friends and adults in their lives, somehow their schemes always seem to come down to the two of them against the world, somehow making it through despite their obstacles.
Is It Any Good?
Unsupervised takes the germ of a decent idea -- two teenage boys trying to make their way through high school with absentee parents -- and beats the life out of it with a series of increasingly infantile jokes and frequent swearing. It's not that infantile jokes can't be funny, or a well-placed swear word effective. But piled one atop another at a rapid-fire pace, these elements desensitize the viewer, forcing a quick grab for the remote to avoid any further abuse.
Truly wasting some great comedic talent (Fred Armisen, Kristen Bell), Unsupervised is a shrill and immature comedy lacking in enough creativity to earn much of a recommendation, even for adults mature enough to handle the material.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the show's approach to sexuality. Are teenagers really so obsessed with sex? How accurate a picture of teenage life is this show? Who is this show aimed at?
What were some positive attributes of the show's lead characters? Negative?
TV Details
- Premiere date : January 19, 2012
- Cast : Fred Armisen , Justin Long , Kristen Bell
- Network : FX
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Friendship
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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