Parents' Guide to

Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Smart faux reality makes points about celebrity and infamy.

TV MTV Comedy 2013
Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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age 8+

Based on 1 parent review

Dblake1980
Dblake1980 Adult
July 30, 2021
age 8+

How old should my child be before watching? (8+)

Tv show is amazing and has lots of positive messages and an overwhelmingly good story. If you are watching this with younger children I would maybe skip episode 4 titled “Zack stone is gonna make a sex tape”. In the episode he gets invited out on a date with his high school crush. They go back to her house and I’m the end she just wanted to watch a movie, but the theme song references sex so give this one a miss. I watch this with my 2 daughters ages 9 and 11 and my son aged 13. The show is great and engaging and has loads of positive role models and a catchy theme tune . I am anxiously anticipating season 2 (if it ever happens). Much love

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Bo Burnham is Zach Stone in ZACH STONE IS GONNA BE FAMOUS, MTV's new fake reality show. Stone has just graduated from high school. He has a part time job at a grocery store. He lives with his parents and younger brother. And he wants to be famous so badly that he spends all his saved-up money to hire a camera crew to follow him and make reality show drama out of his boring, ordinary life. His well-meaning folks are bewildered and hoping he'll change his mind and go off to college like his friends. His friends, including the girlfriend Stone tries to keep off camera because he thinks she's not cool enough for his image, are exasperated. And Stone himself is just clueless, hoping against hope that someone, somewhere will fasten their gaze on him and make the mundane nonsense that is his life feel worthwhile.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (3):

Young people desperately seeking fame is a time-honored dramatic concept, but the ambitious upstarts are usually pictured as conniving (All About Eve, Nashville) or big-hearted strivers (Dreamgirls, Fame). Seldom is the young person at the center of the action depicted as well-meaning but clueless, and not really interesting enough to be the pivot around which the plot hinges, despite his stated wish to be famous for making people happy, like "Oprah, Bono, and Mario Lopez."

But that's the meta-joke of Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous, and it's a sophisticated enough idea to intrigue viewers who've grown up on reality TV. We're used to watching manufactured stars playing "real" manufactured drama. And though Zach himself is an unremarkable young man, watching him try to juice up his average, everyday life, and friends and family enough to make him filmable is pretty hilarious. Plus? The show boasts Thomas F. Wilson as Zach's dad. You know, Biff from Back to the Future, the coach from Freaks and Geeks. He's always great, and he's great here, and he and Zach are great together.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about reality shows. Are there any reality shows like the one Zach is supposedly making? How are personality-driven reality shows like Snooki & Jwoww, My Life on the D List or Keeping Up with the Kardashians alike? How are they different?

  • What opinion is the viewer supposed to hold about Zach? What in the way he is presented brings you to this conclusion?

  • Zach frequently tries to "improve" on everyday goings-on to make them more interesting for the camera to film. Do you think this is really what happens on a reality show? How real is television "reality"?

TV Details

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