• Network: NBC
  • Series Premiere Date: Mar 3, 2006
  • Season #: 1
Metascore
44 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 23
  2. Negative: 9 out of 23
  1. The series is smart and engrossing, though not in a particularly novel way, and that is not a bad thing.
  2. The pilot is decent, but even with lots of sexy young actors, it's not clear if there is room for yet another New York-based crime-solving procedural.
  3. 63
    Some of the 28-year-olds on "Conviction" appeal to me. Others do not.
  4. 63
    The show has a sheen that's distinctive from Law [& Order]--young, exfoliated skin reflects light better from waxed court floors--and promises to be more fun than In Justice. [6 Mar 2006, p.41]
  5. As with most things Wolf, it is superbly cast, almost too well... But every small role is well cast too -- the judges, the defendants, the policemen. They help create a lively world that's more believable than it sometimes deserves to be, and it is almost always engaging.
  6. 60
    "Conviction" does exhibit a bit more creative promise than "Trial by Jury."
  7. While it hardly breaks new TV ground or sends off the kind of sparks you want in a first-rate drama, the series has a certain watchable quality to it.
  8. 50
    Maybe they all graduated from the Melrose Place College of Law.
  9. 50
    The glut of characters and heavy-handed plot twists crammed into the first episode suggest that "Conviction" may prove too much of a good legal thing.
  10. The strengths of "Conviction" are its talented, attractive cast and clever stories about prosecutions that never are what they appear to be.... At the same time, this business of chasing a younger demo is still kind of new to the producers. There are moments when credibility gives way to exaggerated vulnerability.
  11. 40
    Conviction is an awkward show.
  12. The kids in Conviction have so much private life you wonder if you wandered into a Scream movie by mistake.
  13. If Wolf can keep his randy prosecutors focused on their work, he might have another modest success, but it doesn't look promising.
  14. The odd thing about "Conviction" is the awkward way it lurches between the legal maneuverings and the personal issues of the central characters. While the courtroom scenes are entertaining, if frequently obvious, the up-close-and-personal stuff is what proves to be a real trial.
  15. 38
    It's just a younger and hotter and stupider and drunker "Law & Order" office.
  16. It's not a terrible show; if you don't have anything else to watch, well, it won't kill you.
  17. 30
    The characters' lives just aren't fascinating, and by reverting to a more traditional way of telling crime stories, Wolf simply reminds us how superior his other version is.
  18. When it comes to both character and story, there's really not much in "Conviction" viewers haven't seen before.
  19. Neither the characters nor the cases in "Conviction" generate much of anything. Not drama, not comedy, and certainly not viewer loyalty.
  20. 25
    Despite the obvious, desperate attempts to inject youth appeal, Conviction is as tired as it is undistinguished.
  21. Astoundingly boring and uninspired. [3 Mar 2006, p.91]
  22. Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    20
    A far cry from Boston Legal or even The Practice, this is so clumsy in its mix of the procedural and the personal that it should barely be legal.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 97 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 69
  2. Negative: 15 out of 69
  1. CharlesW.
    8
    Great show.
  2. barbarag.
    9
    Turning this show off would be very dissapointin g to many viewers.
  3. barbarag.
    9
    Turning this show off would be very dissapointin g to many viewers.