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Californication
SERIES: Showtime, Monday 10:30p (30 minutes)
Starring
David Duchovny,
Natascha McElhone,
Madeleine Martin,
Madeline Zima,
and
Evan Handler
Duchovny returns to series television as a writer trying to drink and fornicate his way to happiness.
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
| CREATED BY: |
Tom Kapinos
|
| FIRST AIR DATE: |
August 13, 2007 |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
Californication--the best new TV show in a year.
100
New York Daily News David Hinckley
The team behind this series--creator Tom Kapinos from "Dawson's Creek," executive producer Scott Winant from "My So-Called Life" and "thirtysomething," and Duchovny himself--makes it easier for Duchovny by surrounding him with sparkling female characters and talent.
100
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
There's a lot to love in Californication, from the blowtorch-keen dialogue of creator and writer Tom Kapinos to the way that Duchovny's ever-so-slightly-fading good looks perfectly encapsulate the character's downturn in Hollywood, to a multitude of standout performances in the ensemble cast.
88
USA Today Robert Bianco
The show is not designed to appeal to prudes, but the writing and the acting are too good to be wasted on the prurient.
80
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
A narcissistic writer bemoaning the Hollywood that overpays him? Color me fascinated
80
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
Californication is a near-perfect match with the established show, a caustic, sharp-edged mix of humor and drama that tiptoes along the edge of disaster but never drops into the looming abyss.
80
Newsday Diane Werts
Giving us hope are Kapinos' brisk writing and Duchovny's agile performance, conveying smarts, savvy, self-indulgence and sad stupidity in equal amounts.
80
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
Never mind the clichés, because Duchovny makes his character worth watching, as he swaggers from bad predicament to bad predicament, pretending not to care about his life anymore.
80
Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy
Duchovny possesses the engaging comic empathy skills to make his Left Coast libertine decidedly witty and likable.
80
Miami Herald Glenn Garvin
In Californication, [Duchovny] gets to take full advantage of his low-key comic approach, and the result is irresistible. The rest of the cast matches him riff for riff, especially British actress Natascha McElhone as the disenchanted Karen and young Madeleine Martin as their 12-year-old daughter Becca.
80
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
Californication can be unabashedly self-centered, judgmental and off-putting, but it is redeemed by occasional hilarious moments, an appealing father-daughter relationship and Duchovny's skillful creation of a charismatic boor.
80
New York Magazine John Leonard
Dark comedy suits insouciant Duchovny.... Here he delivers a tousled sort of aw-shucks Huck Finn, lighting out for erotic territories. McElhone, à la Rene Russo, manages to convey the notion of adult womanhood without being either drippy or schoolmarmish about it.
80
Salon Heather Havrilesky
Californication is reasonably charming straight out of the gate, and as the story progresses, the intelligence of the writing gains traction.
80
Slate Troy Patterson
The show is sometimes sweet and wry, sometimes crass and vicious, and, though often subtle, it embraces that embarrassing title and flings itself boisterously into a hacky premise
80
TV Guide Matt Roush
Duchovny is as rakishly appealing as any cad can be.
70
Wall Street Journal Nancy DeWolf Smith
Despite his nearly affectless face and inflectionless voice, Mr. Duchovny does fill the screen as Hank, forcing us to take his side whether we like it or not.
63
New York Post Kyle Smith
Despite the show's flaws--each of the first two episodes ends in an "ironic reveal" that is really just a ridiculous coincidence--its central character could be fascinating if played by, say, 1971 Brando. Duchovny gives off the heat of 2007 Brando.
60
Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray
Martin kills as a 12-year-old who is old beyond her years. I might watch just for her. As comedies go, Californication is a bit of a downer, and not just to fans of "The X-Files."
60
Variety Brian Lowry
At first blush, anyway, Californication isn't necessarily a bad place to be, but unless the series finds viable avenues to pursue beyond wallowing in Hank's self-pity, it'll be Showtime subscribers before long who wind up feeling screwed.
40
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
Californication tries to poke fun at the hypocrisy and delusions of Hollywood, but it doesn’t have enough wit or sense of place to be very convincing. Mostly the series comes off as male payback for "Sex and the City," a series that often belittled men and treated them as sex objects.
40
Newark Star-Ledger Staff (Not Credited)
Californication doesn't have the courage of those movies' ["Shampoo" and "Blume in Love"] convictions. It acts like it wants to tell the story of Hank's comeuppance, his growth from obnoxious man-child to real man, but it can't bear the thought of the audience not liking Hank (and, by extension, Duchovny) right out of the gate.
40
The New Yorker Nancy Franklin
What's most puzzling about Californication is that much of the time it resembles a soft-porn film.... This kind of cheesiness is all about what the camera sees, rather than about the story and what the characters are feeling.
30
Los Angeles Times Mary McNamara
We don't feel anything because nothing is revealed about Moody except that he is depressed, profane and a writer. (We don't even know whether he is a good writer--all sorts of bad writers get upset about how their movies are made too.) And that, I'm afraid, is not enough.
20
LA Weekly Robert Abele
Angst is saved for the final two minutes when Hank is alone, driving at night or sitting in the dark, supposedly brooding over his inability to...what, fit one more lay into the day? Because it’s a false dilemma this dishonest, unfunny, dispiritingly crude show presents.
 The average user rating for this tv show is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 123 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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