| 75 |
Christian Science Monitor Gloria Goodale
The series' unique angle lends itself to interesting psychological drama as it explores the hows and whys of hostage negotiation - even as it dishes out a heavy helping of FOX's de rigueur hoppin' hormones. |
| 75 |
Entertainment Weekly Gillian Flynn
Standoff doesn't recreate the genre, but it certainly refreshes it. [15 Sep 2006, p.64] |
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
Can we negotiate for a better premise if we release some hostages? |
| 50 |
Wall Street Journal Nancy DeWolf Smith
The main thing in its favor is the chemical tension between its stars. That may not be enough, but it's something. |
| 50 |
USA Today Robert Bianco
It's hard to say what seems sillier: the show's misplaced attempts at comedy or the intuitive leaps that allow the agents to solve the case. |
| 50 |
Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy
From start to finish, "Standoff" is slickly contrived, formulaic crime drama nonsense. |
| 40 |
Newsday Verne Gay
"Standoff" does seem to emerge miraculously out of the fumes of '70s TV - a near-perfect reformulation of every bone-weary cliche, every hackneyed piece of cop chatter (Dan Tanna lives!) that last-century TV glorified in. |
| 40 |
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
Chemistry is supposed to be the binding element of “Standoff,” and the two leads, while appealing in their own right, seem neither well matched nor sufficiently mismatched. |
| 40 |
Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall
There's potentially a good show here; the pilot's just a miss. |
| 40 |
Los Angeles Times Paul Brownfield
The standoffs... are less than exhilarating thrill rides. |
| 38 |
New York Daily News David Hinckley
These actors more than deserve a series of their own. They deserve a good one, and "Standoff" isn't it. |
| 38 |
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
If Matt and Emily blow up, the show doesn't get a second episode. Because they'll be dead. Keep your fingers crossed. |
| 30 |
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
"Standoff" isn't a terrible show, it's just an unnecessary one. |
| 30 |
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
The tonal dissonance in "Standoff" is deafening, like pairing up, say, Jewel and Meat Loaf for a duet. |
| 30 |
Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart
I’m having a reverse case of Stockholm Syndrome with “Standoff”: The more time I spend with it, the less I like it. |
| 20 |
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
The series premiere suffers from a catalog of problems longer than most demand lists. |
| 20 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
"Standoff" fails to connect on almost every level. |
| 10 |
Variety Phil Gallo
An awkward pairing of adult relationship drama and procedural cop show, "Standoff" bombs on both counts. |
| 10 |
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
Never mind the unbelievable premise -- the way the audience is introduced to it is so strained it's painful to watch. |
| 10 |
Washington Post Tom Shales
It's hard to imagine a civilized audience of any significant size wanting to sit through these trumped-up conflicts and lazy-daisy crises week after week. |
