Teens? How old? There's a big difference between a 13 year-ol and one who is 16 or 17.

Glee is much loved by my grands as is That 70's Show. But the boys love Myth Busters and Dangerous Catch ( maybe the name isn't quite that, but it's about Alaskan crab fishing)...not exactly sit coms but they never miss them!

If your sensitive to sexual content, I'd avoid almost all primetime network TV, even Glee which seems pretty innocuous has a lot of sex. That 70's show is adorable, but they do smoke a LOT of weed.

The shows Linda mentioned on TLC, Discovery, etc are great. We also love Dangerous Catch, Mythbusters, American Pickers (? the one about the guys that buy people's junk), Pawn Shop, etc.

I understand. My 15 y.o. son was feeling the same way. He loves Myth Busters (Discovery Channel) and a lot of the sci-fi shows, stuff on Discovery Channel, History Channel, etc. He likes to watch the war miniseries, and biographies.

He has started watching the NCIS franchise (CBS), The Closer (TNT) [both are police/forensics-type shows]; Nikita (CW), Burn Notice (USA), [these are spy-type shows]; and, Chuck (USA), Covert Affairs (USA), Dark Blue (TNT) [these are CIA/police-type shows].

He doesn't watch all the episodes of all these shows!! :) But these are the current forensic/police/spy-intrigue shows high school boys around here seem to be watching.

I love Glee, but the boys don't really seem to be into it. I was a little bit shocked at the sexual content...knowing my 14 yo and 12 yo daughters were watching the show, as all their friends do. But since I watch it now, I can make my "mother" comments when I need to. The content is aimed at an older demographic, but I've read that's going to change since the creators didn't know it would be such a hit in the tween and old folks' demographic! (I think I'm in the old folks' group! :) )

Hope that helps!

I guess I should keep my mouth shut since my kids alternate between South Park, Family Guy, and one of them listens to Dr. Laura with me in the car. We all also love the Kill Bill movies....that being said, I didn't let my kids watch James Bond movies for years because of the womanizing. (Gratuitous, cartoon violence OK - 'Deer Hunter' NOT OK.) The key to our family is our general value system and keeping discussion open.

DS#1, 18, says there isn't a single TV show interesting to teens that doesn't have some sort of sexual, drug, etc. content. If there are some that completely avoid these subjects and are appropriate for young kids, he says he hasn't found them yet.

I'll ask DS#2's opinion (ag 16) as well. He watches more online TV than we do (which isn't much!)

Jessy, I can't even stand those James Bond movies because they show such an extreme lack of respect for women. Apparently from what I've read that was exactly how Bond felt about women too.

Blueiris24, I wish I could help, however I agree to avoid all Prime Time Network shows. I've also seen stuff during the wee hours of the night that should definitely be at least R rated.

Spanish Pipe Dream
John Prine

She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol
And I was just a soldier on my way to montreal
Well she pressed her chest against me
About the time the juke box broke
Yeah, she gave me a peck on the back of the neck
And these are the words she spoke

Chorus:

Blow up your TV throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an' find Jesus on your own
Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo
Yeah she sang her song all night long, tellin' me what to do

Well, I was young and hungry and about to leave that place
When just as I was leavin', well she looked me in the face
I said "you must know the answer." She said, "no but I'll give it a try."
And to this very day we've been livin' our way
And here is the reason why

We blew up our TV threw away our paper
Went to the country, built us a home
Had a lot of children, fed 'em on peaches
They all found Jesus on their own

Beverly....James Bond is make believe....not a real person and never was. He and his philosophy was are all just fiction....not reflecting how any real people feel.

I think it's not "comfortable" to have young teens view shows with fairly explicit sexual content. But you would be a fool to not realize that they have been exposed to much of what's on prime time by walking down the street.
What really offends me is senseless violence....Sexual content is not at all bad when contrasted with blood, gore, killing and maiming.

Just talked to a neighbor who has two daughters 14 and 16, both top students/athletes and stunningly pretty. (The older one, at 19, is a college student). We talked about Jersey Shore, and he said they've seen it, and it's lead to very interesting conversions ("teachable moments") between daughters and parents. He said that if they, the parents, are not there to counter the content, then the girls will watch the same shows elsewhere, and not get any feedback from the parents.

I think he and his wife have pretty good attitudes. And great daughters.

This is an interesting thread. My son is 10, we don't watch much TV either. He's always had friends that watched shows that he didn't and it has never bothered him. Is this something I'll be facing in the teen years? If your sons have not found it important thus far, why now? And if csi is the show his friends are watching, then is that the show he wants to watch? If so, perhaps watch it with him and decide if it's worth watching.

Thanks for the lyrics barnmom... I like John Prine. dh plays a few of his songs. We always sing the chorus real loud on this one.

I should have added some text of my own. Grins. I don't have cable in the house and haven't for three years. I miss it only a little. Alice wasn't happy but admitted that she focused on her schoolwork more thoroughly and read more. And maybe the electric bill was a little smaller.

I think the shows suggested here are good choices for teen boys. I know my son loved Myth Busters. As for sexual content, it's hard to avoid. I often used it as an opening to discuss my own values and the attitudes I wished to foster in my children.

Lindac, I'm aware that James Bond is 100% fiction. I intended to say Sean Connery had that same attitude, not Bond. Thank you for making me aware that I wrote "Bond" instead. Do you always correct peoples mistakes in public?

I thought you meant Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond stories, who seems to be pretty misogynistic.

Here is a link that might be useful: One opinion.

Beverly, I thought the same thing, that you were under the impression that Bond was a real person.

We love Modern Family, Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men but all have had moments that were just a bit over the top for my particular taste, yet they are all popular with the early teens here. My DH and older son also like The Simpsons, but that particular show offends my sensibilities so I don't watch it. Family Guy is one that we draw the line.... but no one has ever suggested watching it so I don;t think it is missed.

The guys also love Mythbusters, Destroyed in Seconds, Survivorman, and a couple of others on TLC and Discovery and the whole family enjoyed Top Shot on the History channel.

I've not seen Dexter yet, but several moms who have older kids have warned me it is not appropriate yet it has huge appeal for the older teen guys. Maybe someone here has seen it and can comment further.

I would say that if there is something they want to watch, you should see it first and decide if it fits with your philosophies.

Alexa

I love James Bond and always have. Well, I liked the old ones, which were far more fantasy. The new ones are too realistic and so, too violent for my taste. I don't mind seeing an explosion, but I don't want to see the body parts afterward, thanks anyway.

I tend to like entertainment, I don't want to be upset or saddened, I don't want to have to think about it, I don't want it to have any socially redeeming value, I want everyone to live happily ever after. Always. I could watch James bond and know that he'd sleep with the girl and save the world and the rest was all just filler for the "good prevails and evil is destroyed" plot.

I suppose that's why I seldom watch television. I can stand the sexual content far better than I can the gratuitous violence. I'd far rather my girls see a naked breast than the bullet that enters the skull, rips apart a face and causes the blood spatter on the wall.

I can't watch any of the cop/lawyer dramas because I keep picking them apart. Nothing happens that easily or that fast or that simply, the behavior in court would never be allowed here, our crime labs take months for evidence to be reviewed and returned, even in serial murders. And who the heck has that fancy equipment anyway? Etc, etc.
It's sort of like Grandma, chiding John Wayne that he couldn't possibly have a terry cloth towel out on the prairie, LOL.

so, what's suitable? Not one darned thing on TV that I can think of beyond MythBusters and that type of show which has already been mentioned. Even Dirty Jobs will have an occasional show on artificially inseminating cows or something, and I suppose that is "sexual content" in some form, LOL.

I guess he could watch Ace of Cakes, they're only weird and annoying, not naked and violent. Usually.

Annie

"I tend to like entertainment, I don't want to be upset or saddened, I don't want to have to think about it, I don't want it to have any socially redeeming value, I want everyone to live happily ever after."

Dat's me! Which is why I rarely go to the movies. My taste is stupidly simple. Make me laugh and feed me buttered popcorn. I don't rent and watch movies at home. By the time I sit down to watch one, I'm asleep 10 minutes later.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and comments.... my older son is 15. I don't think he is raring to watch tv, it's just the pop culture aspect I think he isn't a part of that he wants to know what it is about. I watched Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Love Boat growing up and I thought they were so funny --- so even though I have no interest in TV shows I don't want to just shut him down on this-- and yes, the other part of that is that I should probably sit and watch it with him and I don't want to. ;0 I appreciate your feedback and will check out the shows you recommended. Thank you!

I really haven't read anything about the author Ian Fleming, but puuulease....how could anyone believe James Bond is a real person?

In total agreement about Glee. Last night while babysitting and after the grands went to sleep I finally caught an episode. It was surprisingly sexual as they hallucinated about performing as Brittany Spears. I had no idea that this 8pm show would be so sexually suggestive. I'm a bit disappointed.

I know my neighbor's kids used to enjoy the Amazing Race. At least it tackles geography!

WHAT?? James Bond isn't a real person? Say it ain't so Joe...say it ain't so!!!

Duane
(Shaken....but not stirred)

I also like Modern Family but have just started watching it, and I like Big Bang Theory in small doses. I watched Little People Big World for a while and found it acceptable for teens. The shows we record to watch later (in addition to Modern Family) are Flipping Out, Jersylicious, Jersey Shore, Project Runway, Austin & Santino, RuPaul's Drag Race, etc. Of those, I would not recommend Jersey Shore for teens, but the others I think are okay although perhaps not interesting for teenage boys.

Lars

When my kids were little, I made the big mistake of banning The Simpsons (like 18 years ago) which effectively made sure that my son lacked a point of reference with his classmates. I wised up.

A 15 year old is old enough to know what's fiction, what's fact and that "reality shows" with the except of the Amazing Race, Deadliest Catch and Survivor are pretty much scripted. But I'd let him figure out what he needs to be up on to join in conversations with his classmates, friends, etc. I don't think watching CSI is going to scar him for life, not do I think watching Entourage is going to give him a drug habit or make him an agent.

My daughters and I love Glee but my 15 year old son...no way! He does like Deadliest Catch and loves CSI & Law and Order. My kids watch tv but I do not let the younger ones watch those shows....all 4 are banned from Jersey Shore,MTV and all those other sexualy explicit shows!