I mean this kindly but “clean” will entirely miss the boat on what middle school is actually like. Will this be a kid entering 6th grade or 8th grade? Because in 8th grade, there will be lots of talk about sex, vaping and alcohol. They will encounter actual vaping in the bathroom. And if it is a boy, they will encounter boys watching porn on their phones. If they are a girl, they will deal with boys talking about the porn they are watching.

I quickly realized I need to watch shows for 14 plus and then 16 plus in middle school. It gives me an opportunity to weigh in with my values without being all lecturey. My recommendations are probably more for girls:

Gilmore Girls (this was 6th grade)
Good Girls Guide to Murder
Summer I Turned Pretty
Glee

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family Guy

Helped my kid learn social skills.

For real? I thought that is for silly comedy and watched by adults.

I knew a friend of mine whose kid is 14 has severe social deficits with a diagnosis of social pragmatic communication disorder and somehow, they love watching shows specifically animated and aimed for teens and adults. Rick and Morty came to my mind on that, but honestly, nah. Would not recommend Family Guy in the slightest.

Katie and Alexa has been really good for my DC. It does include a major subplot involving childhood cancer survival, so that might not work for all families. It is centered on relationships between female friends but the dynamics with brothers and boyfriends and fathers are less slapstick and more grounded in empathy and real relationship dynamics than similar shows.

Anonymous wrote:Family Guy

Helped my kid learn social skills.

For real? I thought that is for silly comedy and watched by adults.

Family Guy

Helped my kid learn social skills.

I was going to say Young Sheldon, too, in part because Sheldon is autistic and often either takes things so literally that he misses the forest for the trees, or he's so focused on meeting his own needs that he's uninterested in meeting others'. I'm not going to weigh in here about whether this is a sensitive portrayal of an autistic kid or not, but I think that sometimes, a negative example is useful because then you can discuss it.

A great book series (I recommend this on many threads!) is The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Lots of misfit boys trying to figure out how the heck to act with one another and with the rest of the school. Very "clean," realistic conundrums, and fantastic audiobooks. Fun for the whole family!

I think all of these are good clean TV shows, but that can be subjective. I highly recommend you consult Common Sense Media and/or IMDB Parent’s Guide for information regarding any specific concerns you may have.

Flight 29 Down
Strange Days at Blake Holsey High/Black Hole High
Just Add Magic
Lizzie McGuire
Boy Meets World
The Cosby Show (if you can separate the star from the show, the show itself was excellent)

Really, most of the classic shows were pretty clean.

The Goldbergs, Fresh Off the Boat and Young Sheldon are shows we enjoy watching as a family. None are sugary-sweet families but all are loving.

Goldbergs and Fresh do show lots of friendship / neighborhood BFFs that may not be realistic but there are many episode that deal with typical ms/hs issues--fights, resolutions etc

Anonymous wrote:My Life with the Walter Boys
The Way Home
(both on Netflix)

These are both fairly clean but The Way Home is more "clean" with peer to peer and kid/adult interaction but both show interactions in polite situations, casual moments and handling dramatic disagreements.

My Life with the Walter Boys
The Way Home
(both on Netflix)

Andi Mack?

Young Sheldon

Some episodes of The Office are clean and show both good skills (Pam and Jim) and poor skills (Michael, Dwight, Creed, and most others)

All Creatures Great and Small?

Just wondering if there is a show I can watch with my middle schooler that shows lots of social interactions, etc that we could watch together and discuss.