Parents' Guide to

Whodunnit?

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Reality take on the murder mystery is unique but gory.

TV ABC Reality TV 2013
Whodunnit? Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 14+

Based on 2 parent reviews

age 12+

Talky mystery is great for tweens; some language, drinking

Violence (1/5): A climactic fight scene. Some blood. Romance (not present) Language (3/5): Uses of "s--t," "goddamn," "a--hat," "bulls--t," "prick," "whores," "dicks--t," "pissing," "what the hell," "d--k head," "dammit," "d--k t--s," "mother-Flerken," "Jesus," (as an exclamation) "sons of bitches," "s---hole," and a single use of "f--k." One character says, "motherfu--," (the word isn't completed). Middle-finger gestures.
age 16+

Not the best thing for children

This series was on YouTube and the first two episodes weren't too bad. Getting further on into the series and the killings are more violent and brutal. Knife stabbings, chokings, shootings, and the car accidents can be graphic. Most kids will probably get nightmares.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2):
Kids say (9):

There's a reason the board game Clue has been sold and played for decades (and is a cult favorite film and TV show): It's fun to try to figure out Whodunnit. That gives Whodunnit? a fun little spark lacking from other reality outings. All of the contestants have connections to crime or to sleuthing (one's a journalist, one's an insurance investigator, and so on), so it's fun to watch them busily gathering clues and making deductions in classic Miss Marple fashion.

What's not as fun: The ludicrously exaggerated sense of danger. C'mon, we know these people aren't really dying; stop with the scenes of contestants exclaiming "I'm terrified I'll be next!" Terrified, really? When the only real danger is not winning $250,000? In addition, the gore is a bit surprisingly over-the-top for a television outing, which isn't strictly necessary. Whodunnit? would be better leaning on suspense than gore. We could also do without the tired manufactured tension between contestants, where every offhand comment is dissected in behind the scenes interviews. Ugh, we don't care what Adrianna said about Sasha, let's get back to the mystery.

TV Details

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