School Holidays Teen TV Guide: 11 Shows to watch with your teens and tweens

Looking for family-friendly TV to watch with your teens and tweens these holidays?

We’ve got you: here are 11 shows that won’t have either of you gouging out your eyes with secondhand embarrassment.*

You’re welcome!

Modern Family (Disney Plus)

A lot has changed in the world since this sitcom aired in 2009 but somehow, this intergenerational tale of the Pritchard-Dunphey-Tucker families still feels fresh. Eleven seasons and 250 episodes later, it remains a modern classic and well worth a rewatch. And with so many episodes, you’ll be entertained for weeks, months — even years! Intergenerational family fun.

Kath And Kim (ABC iview)

If there’s a more iconic mother/daughter duo than Kath Day-Knight and Kim Craig (nee Day), we’re yet to find it. Catching up with these two foxy morons and their extended circle is a sheer delight. Twenty-four years on, parents will enjoy revisiting, while younger family members will likely delight in discovering the gags for the first time. Bonus points for all that hideous Y2K fashion. What’s NOT to love about this classic Aussie comedy?

RFDS (7Plus)

Terrific homegrown Aussie dramas like A Country Practice, Water Rats and The Flying Doctors used to be everywhere — now they’re thin on the ground. RFDS feels like a return to the good old days. All about the good people working at a remote Flying Doctors outpost in outback Australia, it has compelling stories, edge-of-your seat action and enough will-they-won’t-they romance (that’s not too risque) to keep everyone invested.

Young Sheldon (ABC iview)

Never watched The Big Bang Theory and have no idea who Sheldon Cooper is? No probs! This great sitcom, an origin story of sorts for the character played by Jim Parsons in Big Bang, is a great standalone watch. It’s a particularly good one for tweens: though a family story, it stays on the right side of cringe, and works as a great entry-point for more grown-up shows like The Big Bang Theory and its new spin-off, Stuart Fails To Save The Universe.

Scrubs (Disney Plus)

This long-running medical sitcom took a 16-year hiatus before returning to screens earlier this year. The second season of the reboot is about to drop, so if you’ve not revisited this classic — or if you’re discovering it for the first time — start back from the beginning and work your way through nine fantastic seasons. A word of warning: it gets surprisingly emotional at times. Tissues to hand.

Malcolm in the Middle (Disney Plus and Apple TV+)

Another great wink-and-a-nod family sitcom. This originally ran for six seasons from 2000 to 2006 and had a whopping 151 episodes. It quickly became the biggest thing on TV, and all these years on it still stacks up. This year, the show’s original stars, including Frankie Muniz (Malcolm), Bryan Cranston (Hal) and Jane Kaczmarek (Lois), returned for a four-episode miniseries, which is also worth a look. Ridiculous fun.

Last One Laughing: UK (Prime Video)

There’s been an Aussie version of this show (the less said about that the better), but the British version, hosted by comedian Jimmy Carr, is where it’s at. It sees 10 well-known British comedians locked in a room for six hours. There’s only one excruciating rule: make everyone else laugh, but don’t do it yourself. This can get a bit sweary, but if you don’t mind the odd bit of off-colour language, it’s some of the funniest TV you’ll see. A hidden gem.

30 Rock (Binge, Stan, Netflix and Samsung TV)

You can watch this classic Tina Fey sitcom on just about any streaming service (if you’ve got a Samsung TV, there’s a full channel dedicated to showing infinite reruns), which gives you an idea of its popularity. All about the staff of a late-night comedy series, it features fantastic performances from Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan. If your kid has an offbeat sense of humour, they’ll absolutely adore this one and you’ll get “cool points” by introducing them to it.

Taskmaster (Binge)

This hilarious show originated in the UK and has a bajillion episodes. It also has spin-offs from Australia and New Zealand — all are worth a look. It sees comedians competing against each other in a series of bizarre and often nonsensical tasks, overseen by The Taskmaster and his sidekick. In the UK, that’s Greg Davis and Alex Horne (the show’s creator), and in Australia Tom Gleeson and Tom Cashman step up. A great way to while away an hour.

Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

If you’ve got a sports-mad kid at home, chances are you’ve already discovered this comedy gem, about the fictional coach of a UK soccer team. Created by and starring Jason Sudeikis, alongside Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt (who plays Coach Beard) and Joe Kelly, it has four seasons, with the most recent a spin-off of sorts, focusing on the formation of a women’s team. This is just the right amount of heartwarming and hilarious.

Ghosts Australia (Paramount Plus)

This historical comedy is created by the team behind Horrible Histories, another great watch. There are British and American versions, and last year Australia scored its own. Each follows the same format: a young couple moves into a haunted house. The girl can see the house’s resident spectres, but no one else can. Over the series, we get to know why each of the ghosts are there — it’s a great concept, and the Aussie version was far better than we were expecting.

*Roadtested and endorsed by me and my 12-year-old son!