Weeds

White women appear in a variety of complex roles. Jewish main characters portray cultural traditions like sitting shiva and holding a bris ceremony; the dynamics of inter-faith families are thoughtfully explored. There's a romantic arc for a Deaf character (authentically cast Deaf actor Shoshanna Stern). But Weeds has damaging stereotypes of Black, Latino, Armenian, and Russian people, all portrayed as drug dealers and gangsters. White characters are also drug dealers, but they get subplots and backstories. Black characters Heylia and Conrad have a little more nuance, but they're the exceptions, not the rule. A White character uses Blackface; he's the butt of the joke, but it doesn't quite land. Latino and Asian portrayals are especially offensive -- Latina cleaners, Mexican rapists and cartel members, a Puerto Rican gangster, Chinese sex workers, East Asian nail salon workers, etc. East Asian women are hyper-sexualized, referred to as "Oriental p---y" and "she love me long time." Sanjay is the only non-stereotypical Asian character -- a Hindu college student and gay drug dealer. A minor Native character always appears accompanied by racist drum beats. Arab men fare a bit better; they're seen at a mosque or behind a bar, not just in drug houses or abandoned warehouses, and aren't all lumped together (one character mentions he's Jordanian Sunni; he opposes his daughter's marriage to a Shi'ite Muslim). LGBTQ+ characters are mostly flat, and queerness is never explored – at best, a young queer character acts confidently and isn't defined by their sexuality. Other examples, such as a main character who abruptly has a same-sex relationship during a stint in prison but never again throughout the series, or the brief mention of a character coming out as trans played for humor, feel glib. Overall, offensive White characters may be the butt of the joke, but writers still heavily use racist and LGBTQ+ stereotypes for humor without critique.

Somewhat sporadic depending on the season/episode, but it can be quite shocking when it happens. Stand-off scenes between drug dealers include lots of guns; Nancy participates in a drive-by; other bloody wounds appear (some from gunshots, some from other sources -- like animal attacks). Several abrupt deaths, including on-screen killings. Also beatings, torture, and car accidents. A main character is raped (brief but depicted). Statutory rape across a few different relationships. An adult catfishes a teen into cybersex -- played for humor. One character mentions giving his wife tequila shots and then having sex with her while she was passed out. An employer relentlessly pressures his assistant for sex. A character pokes holes into condoms and gets a teen pregnant.

Infrequent full-frontal nudity and lots of partial nudity (breasts, buttocks, more). Frequent sex scenes (some quite explicit, and some involving underage teen characters). An adult takes an 11-year-old boy to a "massage parlor" as a coming-of-age treat. A son masturbates to nude photos of his mother from when she was younger. A 13-year-old loses his virginity in a threesome (discussed, but nothing shown on-screen except an image of the kids asleep in the same bed the morning after, fully clothed).

Extremely frequent and explicit; nothing is bleeped. "F--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "c--t," etc. -- they're all there. Slurs yelled at characters include the "N" word (by non-Black characters), "freak," "f--got," and "retarded." You'll also hear "d-ke," "Oriental p---y," "wetback," "spic," "Paki," "cripple," etc.

The show's premise is closely tied to marijuana at a time when cannabis was illegal in most U.S. states; characters grow it, sell it, smoke it, bake it into pastries, etc. Later seasons expand to cover more of the illegal drug industry. Adults and teens also drink regularly, and some use and/or get addicted to drugs like cocaine and heroin.