You’ve seen if love can work sight unseen, but what about a band? Building the Band on Netflix is a chance to explore that idea, and it’s something that fans of American Idol, X-Factor, and The Voice may want to check out.
Four episodes are currently available to stream on Netflix, with three more dropping on Wednesday, July 16, and then the final three episodes of the season dropping on Wednesday, July 23. This could get emotional for some viewers as the late Liam Payne is one of the judges on the series, and it was filmed ahead of his untimely death. His family was consulted in the editing of the series to ensure they were happy with how Payne was shown on the screen.
Of course, a lot of fans of these types of reality shows are younger members of the family. Is this something that could work for the teens in the house? We’re basing this on the first four episodes.
Building the Band age rating: Explaining the TV-14 rating
The series holds a TV-14 rating on Netflix, which means that it is aimed at those 14 and older. This is mostly due to some of the emotional stories that will be told throughout the process, as there tends to be a lot of focus on the emotional journey of contestants and the reasons they take part in the series.
There can also be a lot of drama that happens in these types of shows. The first four episodes haven’t been too dramatic just yet, but that’s often the case for Netflix reality shows. Things take flight with the second round of episodes in a lot of cases.
Sex & nudity: There is nothing of either throughout the four episodes that have dropped, and we don’t see that changing. This show is focused on music and not love!
Violence & gore: We haven’t had any focus on this just yet, but there can be some fights that break out. It’s hard to say if this will happen in later episodes, as the idea is supposed to be that the band is formed sight unseen. That should mean nobody gets to interact fully in person, meaning there shouldn’t be any physical fights that break out.
Usually with reality shows, if there are fights, then the filming is cut so it’s not visible on the screen.
Language: There is some mild swearing in the first few episodes. This is kept to a minimum, and in most cases, the harsher swear words are bleeped out. Netflix wants to keep this accessible for teens as well as young adults, as they’ll want to promote the show to wannabe singers for future seasons. Making it something that parents are happy with children watching is the best way to do that.
Alcohol & drugs: We don’t see any of this on the screen.
Overall verdict: Who is Building the Band appropriate for?
I’d say that this is great for teens who are interested in music competitions. It’s another look into how they can get into the world of music. This is also great for One Direction fans as they continue to mourn the loss of Liam Payne, as there is a lot of focus on his ability to coach people and help them with the nature of competitions — One Direction was formed via a similar TV series.
There may be some drama that comes in later episodes, but I wouldn’t expect anything too heavy. This series is focused on the music and none of the sexy drama that comes from Netflix shows like The Ultimatum and Love Is Blind.
Building the Band drops new episodes on Wednesday, July 16, and Wednesday, July 23, on Netflix.