Entertainment Weekly's Scores

For 916 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 75% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 20% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 7.9 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average TV Show review score: 71
Highest review score:
Critic Score 100
Lowest review score:
Score distribution:
  1. Mixed: 0 out of 677
  2. Negative: 0 out of 677
677 tv reviews
  1. With its paranormal occurrences, ever-autumn aesthetic, extraneous flashlight use at crime scenes, odd bursts of humor, and constant friction between faith and doubt, Fox's new sci-fi serial Fringe just might be a worthy successor--finally--to "The X-Files."
  2. The Ex List could be one of the more charming new shows of the fall.
  3. The winning Samurai has lots of action, and is generously peppered with comedic asides. [5 Sep 2008, p.70]
  4. Bornheimer absorbs every setback with such a beaten-puppy air that each fresh misery feels ludicrous, rather than merely annoying. Will it work, (worst) week after (worst) week? With Bornheimer, it's strangely possible. His is a feathery touch on wrecking-ball comedy.
  5. So far, that universe is pleasingly treacherous, though not ?wholly formed, a work in progress that's worth seeing through to completion.
  6. A pleasant surprise: a drama about a rich, rule-breaking risk-taker (a saucy James Purefoy) that's not cutesy or predictable.
  7. Don't think Leverage is preachy--it's shrewdly conceived, and it moves along like a son of a gun.
    • Metascore: 63
    • Critic Score 83
    The oddball overload bugs at first, but the incredibly likable cast makes The Unusuals unusually promising.
    • Metascore: 59
    • Critic Score 83
    Cheesy? Sure. But there's enough sword-clanging Action--not to mention homoerotic tension--to keep viewers happily entertained for a spell.
  8. Modest but terrific, uncool but charming, this ain't According to Jim: Give it a try.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 83
    The plot--based on a true story--drags, but Walters is a hoot as a prig who thinks she can stave off the swingin' '60s with a wagging finger.
  9. The humor is wilder, the penury sadder, and Sophie Okonedo a winsome Nancy. The only bad twist is the overwrought score.
  10. The Pacific has both grand scale and intimacy. It builds in intensity as the series proceeds.
  11. Though the hip 'n' urban vibe seems overly calculated--did studies show that 8-year-olds respond to beatboxing white dudes?--and the cast is aggressively up with people, you gotta love new characters.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    Jessica Lange brings typically impressive textures to Big Edie. And just wait till you see Drew Barrymore, as Little Edie, deliver the doc's most famous line, ''This is the best costume for today.'' She's a dead ringer for the real thing.
  12. On its lacquered surface, New Jersey is The Sopranos with five variations on Adriana. But dig a bit under these women’s verbal clichés and you glimpse lives that are rooted in an earthier, more clear-eyed view of the world than the other Housewives series.
    • Metascore: 56
    • Critic Score 83
    Aside from a recalcitrant Brown, the contestants are easy to root for: feisty, vulnerable, and winningly honest about how they got there.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    You will giggle repeatedly.
  13. I never found the character that funny on Family Guy. But tonight's episode of the spin-off is quite a corker, as Cleveland runs over the family dog, with hilarious consequences.
  14. Poehler and the writers have finetuned Leslie's character to be more sharp-tongued, less clueless, and more fearless.
    • Metascore: 55
    • Critic Score 83
    The moneymen ask informed questions and make shrewd decisions, a welcome relief from Donald Trump's capricious calls on Burnett's "Celebrity Apprentice."
  15. With Falco front and center, you don't really care if Nurse Jackie gets silly, as with the patient whose cat attacked his scrotum.
  16. It mixes the standard elements into a breezy good time, and ends with a number that'll stick in your head all day.
  17. As an adventure series bristling with ideas, it's V+. Or as we grade 'em on Earth: B+
  18. After artistic duds like the TV version of "Crash," Starz may have found its destination series in Spartacus. This might prove to be the not-at-all-guilty pleasure of the season.
  19. The show combines sci-fi-ish conspiracy suspense with excellent prime-time-soap drama. And I like the fact that, post-blackout, people don't Google each other; they say, ''I Mosaic'd you.'' A good sense of humor humanizes this grand puzzl
  20. Target is a helluva lot of fun. Valley delivers punchlines as well as he does elbows to the faces of villains.
  21. Diaries promises us a season of sharp-tongued amusement.
  22. The throbbing red heart of The Vampire Diaries remains the tension between Damon and Paul Wesley's Stefan, and their mutual attraction to whomever Dobrev is embodying at the time.
  23. The Good Wife will settle into a case-of-the-week lawyer show. I'd also bet it'll have a rotating bunch of colorful judges with whom Alicia can debate. And you know what? Given the caliber of the acting and writing, that suits me --and, I'll wager, millions of viewers--just fine.
    • Metascore: 69
    • Critic Score 83
    McHale gets to flirt and insult to his heart's content, and he's impishly believable in both modes. The supporting cast members manage to make each of their sad little lives amusing, so what could have been a downer of a show is often absurdly funny.
  24. Better Off Ted is certainly the most original sitcom to come along in a while.
  25. That's where the fun of Work of Art resides, in convincing viewers that egomaniacal kooks can make good and bad art, and yes, there are standards besides split-second opinions.
  26. Creator Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) is no stranger to pretzel-twist plots and out-of-the-left-field surprises, and his new series, about a gaggle of strangers, abducted and abandoned in a CCTV-monitored ghost town, promises both in spades.
  27. The cases (a baby at risk, a man with lung cancer, an unconscious drunk) are surprisingly moving, the editing only mildly manipulative, and you genuinely feel there's an element of reality to the show, a rare trait indeed for reality TV.
  28. Luther avoids some genre cliches--we know the killer's identity from the get-go, which sidesteps the time-stamp predictability of a Law & Order episode--but plunges headfirst into others.
  29. So far, O'Loughlin has come most alive when he's engaged in the premiere's close-quarters, elbow-chopping fight scenes. But it's clear that, like other CBS shows from NCIS to CSI, the team byplay is going to be the heart of Hawaii Five-0. Thank goodness Caan is here to provide gruff humor, and Kim and Park play off each other nicely.
  30. The premise is a neat riff on immigration and fitting in, but the jokes are a bit conventional for a show that looks so pleasantly odd.
    • Metascore: 70
    • Critic Score 83
    The gimmick is hokey, but beneath it lies a surprisingly untrashy reality show that actually sheds some light on the dating game.
  31. This wittily raunchy spy spoof from Adam Reed (Sealab 2021, Frisky Dingo) features intentionally stiff cartoon characters led by the title hero.
  32. Because this is on ABC Family, it comes with a big helping of cheesy jokes, but Hart and Lawrence share a buoyant, delightful chemistry.
  33. What Buscemi brings to this production is his great gift for channeling neurotic self-consciousness into a man of action. He may fret about retaining his empire, but you believe Nucky Thompson is a lord of venality, right down to his immaculate spats.
  34. Tone is everything in a detective show, and this one's is unique: easy-rolling yet prickly. [10 Sep 2010, p.82]
  35. Dead is beautifully shot, but what it's shooting are former humans with rotting skin and bleating agonized groans. And like the comics, there's great, grim humor.
  36. One hopes that producers don't drag out the mystery for too long, because so far The Event delivers, especially its doozy of a climax.
  37. Devious Patty is still drinking like a fish, while wan Ellen is still seeking her advice (still, Ellen? Really?), and I still will not be able to resist watching every episode I possibly can.
  38. It's in the shooting's emotional reverberations that the show is regenerating after the past few hit-and-miss seasons.
  39. He's always making his audience come up to his level, instead of lowering himself to theirs. He's gonna do just fine. But more Andy, please.
  40. This powerful documentary about the lingering effects of military conflict makes the point that PTSD existed long before we named it.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 83
    The automobile-enthusiast program may lack the British wit of the original series, but it's beautifully shot, just as silly, and nearly as much fun. [26 Nov 2010, p.68]
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 83
    The results is an unapologetically whiny--but funny!--and often plays lika (successful) audition tape for The View.
  41. FNL's final season begins with one person staying put (Taylor Kitsch's Riggins is still in jail) and others moving on (Aimee Teegarden's Julie and Jesse Plemons' Landry are college-bound). Meanwhile, Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) heads to the basketball court to find his next star player. [Oct 22/29 2010, p.107]
  42. At its strongest, it freshens those themes without melodrama, opting instead for slow-boil tension. The challenge for this artful series is whether that boiling point is too slow for viewers raised on WWE Raw and mixed martial arts.
  43. If you find the premiere poky, stick with it: Episodes gets funnier with each succeeding episode, and the acting is superb. Yes: Matt LeBlanc = superb.
  44. Pope, and Cunningham's sardonic performance, provide Skies with some much-needed flashes of sharp humor. Ultimately, though, Falling Skies rises above any one performance; it's the spectacle of humans versus aliens that draws you in.
  45. With its debonair, jump-cut editing, Breaking In is a vigorously original, joke-packed bit of fun that could develop into something special. I'm serious, my Wookiee.
  46. By concentrating on what it means to practice polygamy in the 21st century, the series again comes close to achieving its goal of defining what it means to be a family.
  47. [When] all four of the weirdo personalities arrive in the last few minutes, fully energized and ready to help her navigate her dark ride through academia. It's clear then and there it's gonna be a wonderful season.
  48. Some viewers may find The Killing a little too cold and deliberate, but give it time. Its intensity builds steadily, giving the series unexpected power.
  49. Blood creator Alan Ball knows how to juggle multiple pretty people and knotty, danger-stuffed story lines for the maximum amount of breathless romance and over-the-top action.
  50. Fishburne's gravitas helps do the Supreme Court justice...justice.
  51. If you buy the overwrought emotions so ornately expressed, you'll buy this TV movie's conviction. I was occasionally skeptical, but sold by the terrific performances.
  52. High concept, and yet it works, thanks to solid acting.
  53. Sound gaggy? It's not. Twain is incapable of treacle: She travels, talks, and even sings!
  54. There's all the slamming violence you might want in your gas-fumed escapism, mingled with real-world difficulties.
  55. The sheer, cynical heartlessness of nearly everyone on-screen--from a wonderfully blunt Tony Shalhoub as Morgan Stanley's John Mack to Topher Grace as a calculating Paulson aide--is both dismaying and riveting.
  56. Despite all the repetition and longueurs, this Downton Abbey frequently works, as the first one did, as a peppery little trifle.
    • Metascore: 69
    • Critic Score 83
    Annie Walker tackles a new case--but it feels like a distraction as the Ben mystery continues. [3/10 Jun 2011, p.109]
  57. Until we find out what happened long ago, we'll just enjoy watching all the beautiful, golden-tanned people say awesomely ridiculous things like: "These guys really put the suck in seersucker."
  58. This show, which reunites the undeniably charming Bilson with The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz, is a goodie that mixes heartstring-tugging moments with lines like this: "There it is. Rock bottom. I just played 'Dixie' with my butt."
  59. Much of The Big C's unoriginal dramatization of cancer concerns is mitigated by the fresh, dynamic performances of Linney and Oliver Platt as husband Adam. [1 Jul 2011, p.67]
  60. She navigates the sharky waters of high school, friends, mean cheerleaders, and cute boys with a snarky voice-over that makes her--and Awkward.--easy to fall in love with.
  61. It's the best show on MTV--and one of the best on any network this summer. [6 Jul 2012, p.71]
  62. The show can simultaneously unsettle, comfort, excite, and amuse its viewers--something for everyone, if you, like Mr. Finch, like to watch.
  63. Not quite an Easy A, but certainly an easy B+.
  64. Work of Art remains TV's most enjoyable high/low, art/TV example of...cultural hybridity!
  65. It's time to pick a side, and I'm on whichever one the dude with half a face chooses.
  66. AHS is pretty much all scare, all the time: a whole lotta screams, sex, jolts, mashed faces, psychotic behavior, and dead babies.
  67. By this third episode, the tone has become open, generous, and alert to every sort of character.
  68. If you can get past the notion of Nighy being irresistible to every woman he encounters (I almost did), you'll get caught up in the carefully modulated intrigue.
  69. More and more, this series is looking like a minor classic, which I mean as a major complement. [20 Jan 2012, p.70]
  70. Host Graham Norton is a pro, able to score laughs from both elephant farts and the KKK in under 30 minutes.
  71. Bag of Bones is occasionally hokey, and Brosnan overworks his mad cackling, but the production is never less than creepily engaging. [19 Dec 2011, p.72]
  72. It's a measure of how absorbing Hell on Wheels is that each of these characters has evolved into someone we know and, in varying degrees,m root for. [10 Aug 2012, p.65]
  73. The movie goes on a bit too long, but it makes up for it with finely tuned performances.
  74. You'll be intrigued by the 85-year-old showman, his legion of devotees, and the fact that he still tells rabbi-and-priest jokes.
    • Metascore: 53
    • Critic Score 83
    It does feel like the last of the fist pumps are fast approaching, but until then, soak up the sun and the new term "guido bingo."
  75. Lowe is (surprisingly) perfect as Chicago cop Drew Peterson, who's suspected of murdering his third and fourth wives. [20 Jan 2012, p.71]
  76. Smash is often enjoyable. [3/10 Feb 2012, p.101]
  77. What starts out lean and mean can grow flabby and sentimental, and flaws can turn into handsome plot twists. Which is one reason to just bite down hard and go with the show.
  78. The performances are good but constrained by the parameters of scary-story acting.
  79. Creator Kyle Killen has set up a provocative, appealing puzzler, full of knottiness for the intellect and emotion for the heart. [2 Mar 2012, p.70]
  80. The show is a scrubbed-clean soap. [28 Sep 2012, p.66]
    • Metascore: 67
    • Critic Score 83
    Season 3 opener backslides a bit into tired first-season silliness when Andrea (Gabourey Sidibe) returns from Ghana with a new African name, Ababuo. But things improve when Cathy's slacker brother, Sean (John Benjamin Hickey), steps up as "guardian buddy" to Adam (Gabriel Basso) in the event that he ends up parentless.
  81. It has sharp writing and endearing characters.
  82. We know that a guilty, defensive Jackie is the best Jackie to watch.
  83. This eccentric romantic comedy deserves a chance to survive.
  84. Boss may be florid, but its peeks into backroom in-fighting, at favors promised and betrayed, remain strong elements in its favor.
  85. Louis-Dreyfus isn't quite believable as a vice president--even a sitcom VP whose lack of gravitas is the show's central joke. But she's still a joy to watch, especially when she shows off that famous gift for physical comedy.
  86. The Pitch is an absorbing look at the frustrations and satisfactions of the creative process. [4 May 2012, p.65]
  87. Twin comics Randy and Jason Sklar make statistics as entertaining as possible.
  88. Overall, Hatfields & McCoys is engrossing, and enlightening about a feud that proves to be a lot more than the bumpkin brawl of pop legend.
  89. On paper this sounds somewhat ludicrous, but the series is surprising moving. [13 Jul 2012, p.68]
  90. Elementary is probably the closest thing to a new fall-season surefire hit. Miller gives off an infectious enthusiasm in this new role.
  91. If only Glee had as much heart as this Project.
  92. The fact that Push Girls borrows heavily from the Real Housewives format is initially worrying, given the sensitive subject matter, but ultimately seems like a savvy, on-the-side-of-the-angels move.
  93. There's plenty to enjoy in this period drama. [28 Sep 2012, p.64]
  94. Overall, Dallas is a solidly constructed soap opera with strong dialogue and oily plot twists. [15 Jun 2012, p.72]
  95. Political Animals' rich characters and complicated relationships seem like they'd need six seasons to develop.
  96. The result is satisfyingly twist-filled and chilling in every sense.
  97. Leads Justin Kirk and JoAnna Garcia Swisher charm. [10 Aug 2012, p.70]
  98. [Hotel Hell] shows the Brit on his best behavior. By which we mean his worst.
  99. Williams and O'Quinn bring genuine creepiness to their roles, making this drama crazy-fun, with emphasis on the crazy. [28 Sep 2012, p.66]
    • Metascore: 74
    • Critic Score 83
    [Braugher and Speedman's] warm chemistry gives this crackling conspiracy thriller a much-needed emotional charge. [28 Sep 2012, p.64]
  100. Filmed with a muddy palette, the premiere hums with menace. There's lots of low-down action, with brass knuckles applied.
  101. The pilot is promising, with sharp dialogue, a solid supporting cast, and Kaling's appealing unapologetic protagonist. [28 Sep 2012, p.64]
  102. Your interest in Arrow depends on how much you miss the troubled-in-love, conflicted-by-family heroics of Smallville--it mirrors that series' setup.
  103. The kill count is unprecedented, and before all is said and done, Rick will have to make a terrible, terrible choice while the fate of one of his own hangs in the balance. [12/19 Oct 2012, p.97]
  104. There are enough surreal, self-referential, and/or testicle-related jokes to have me signing up for at least a few more weeks of tutelage. [8 Feb 2013, p.69]
  105. As sweet as treacle tart, the third season of Downton Abbey arrives reasonably fresh and warm. [11 Jan 2013, p.74]
  106. The movie belongs to Queen Latifah, who brings so much heart to M'Lynn, she will make yours break all the more.
  107. A simmering bit of silly suspense fun created by X-Files writer-producer Frank Spotnitz.
    • Metascore: 67
    • Critic Score 83
    This intimate biopic of a Kennedy matriarch is quite charming.
  108. Although you may not gain much wisdom from the stories, you'll at least gain an appreciation for the fact that your life is not a Lifetime movie.
  109. The twisty tale tries to tackle more than it can handle in the suspense department, but the remarkable acting keeps you sucked in till the very last confusing second.
  110. Brooks remains quick-minded and vivid. [14 Dec 2012, p.66]
  111. Outrageous lewdness and delightful non sequiturs speed by, which makes each episode rewardingly rewatchable.
  112. The fourth season of Justified gives us exactly what we want: much laconic tough-guy humor from Timothy Olyphant's U.S. marshal Raylan Givens, much grandiloquent nastiness from Walton Goggins' drug dealer Boyd Crowder, and much swift violence.
  113. Despite the somewhat strained setup, Banshee is a kick: ultraviolent, over-the-top, and wickedly fun. [11 Jan 2013, p.80]
  114. The individual alien races aren't all that fresh. Yet I am engaged by the show's lively metaphor for a polyglot culture fractured by tribalism and Otherness, for a world that can easily put aside past pain and present differences to tackle a common threat.
  115. Both Bacon and Purefoy are so intensely earnest, The Following quickly supersedes its patent Silence of the Lambs setup.
  116. What gives this film grit are the visual displays of her work ethic and her fierce determination to "bring R&B music back" to the center of current pop music, to "forget being cool" and reveal naked passion. [15 Feb 2013, p.60]
  117. The most believable character--and the real reason to check in to Bates Motel--is undoubtedly Farmiga's Norma.
  118. The film costars an on-form Helen Mirren as Linda Kenney Baden, one of Spector's real-life defense attorneys.... Pacino too is excellent. [22 Mar 2013, p.58]
  119. Hemlock Grove takes its time with story lines, ensuring that each one has plenty of room to ripen. It carries out every dastardly deed with gusto, but still offers enough moments of levity.
  120. The Goodwin Games will have to consistently match the cleverness and poignancy of its pilot to win in the long run. Coming from the creators of How I Met Your Mother, there's reason to hope.