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Crumbs
SERIES: ABC, Thursday 9:30p (30 minutes)


6.7

based on 25 reviews
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based on 16 votes
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Get more information on this show at TV.com.

Official Show Site

Starring Fred Savage, Jane Curtin, William Devane, Eddie McClintock, Maggie Lawson, and Reginald Ballard

Fred Savage returns to primetime television as a failed Hollywood writer who returns home to small town New England to be with his family for the release of his mother from a psychiatric hospital.

GENRE(S):	Comedy
CREATED BY:	Marco Pennette
FIRST AIR DATE:	January 12, 2006

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...

Miami Herald Glenn Garvin

Crumbs' approach to the foibles of the family, though not for the tender-hearted, is raucously funny.

Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy

It's actually rather funny, broadly entertaining and blessed with a sweet screwball spirit. It's a promising farce with heart.

Entertainment Weekly Nicholas Fonseca

Crumbs has promise. [13 Jan 2006, p.71]

Newsday Verne Gay

"Crumbs" is surprisingly good.

Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron

There is a dynamic of affection and caring that makes the series more than just a collection of witty lines effectively delivered.

TV Guide Matt Roush

An offbeat show that veers between wacky and truly poignant extremes.

Los Angeles Times Paul Brownfield

Feels like an indie feature idea crammed into a sitcom.

New York Post Linda Stasi

Since the show stars all these great TV actors... the show sustains some laughs that it wouldn't otherwise be able to wring out of bad material.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

"Crumbs" is hideously overscored.... That's unfortunate, because the sappy swells detract from the series' wicked dialogue, and scenes oozing with the brand of dark, twisted humor only family can inflict upon one another.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

"Crumbs" elicits laughs from time to time, but given the subject matter, I still think this particular story would have been better told as a comedic drama than as the occasionally dramatic comedy that it is.

San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum

Next Thursday's outing is much better [than the pilot], suggesting the series could generate some laughs over the long haul.

USA Today Robert Bianco

To the extent Crumbs works at all, it works because of Curtin.

The New York Times Virginia Heffernan

Still, if it's not funny, why give "Crumbs" any attention at all? Because it's an unusual experiment: not only is the show set among a fraction of the American gentry that few would consider relatable, but it also exhibits more gravitas than any sitcom in television history.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

Though it's admirable that ABC took a chance on a family that does not revolve around a dumb, doughy dad and sassy kids, the tragedy at the core of the Crumb clan ensures that the comedy doesn't quite get off the ground.

Variety Brian Lowry

Credit the veteran cast with making the series barely tolerable, but for the most part "Crumbs" is pretty crummy, the sitcom deconstructed to its most primordial form.

Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker

To its credit, Crumbs tries to go deeper in depicting conflicted characters. That, unfortunately, doesn't make this series any funnier.

New York Daily News David Hinckley

Every year, there's at least one sitcom that takes an extremely talented cast, and wastes all that talent in an extremely disappointing series.

People Weekly Tom Gliatto

It just doesn't work. [30 Jan 2006, p.38]

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

These actors deserve better material.

Washington Post Chip Crews

In the end, the one-note antics grow wearisome.

Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman

You have no idea how much restraint I'm using not to call it "Crummy." Oops. Lost the restraint.

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

We watched a second episode of "Crumbs" just to make sure there wasn't something hilarious for you under a rock, some morsel of humor left over. Um, no.

Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm

Not only do you get insufferable comedy, but phony drama, too.

LA Weekly Robert Abele

It mistakes boorishness for zaniness.

PopMatters Stephen Kelly

A relentlessly unfunny mid-season replacement comedy from ABC that sucks all the fun out of dysfunction, the show could have been pitched to network execs as "Arrested Development meets Ordinary People." But it shows none of the former's wit or latter's intelligence.

The average user rating for this tv show is 6.7 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mark C. gave it a9:
Excellent show - the promos made it look corny so I was surprised I liked it so much. Something tells me it is too smart for network TV however.

amanda f gave it a10:
touching-smart, funny as hell

Derrick M gave it a9:
Saw it for the first time last night. 02/07/06 The show is great!!!

B Smith gave it a10:
Wonderfully funny, fresh and innovative. Jane Curtain and William Devain are outstanding. Fred Savage tops it all off. If the writers continue to do their part, this cast will take them to the top.

kathy b gave it a9:
i liked it and found it to be quite witty. i like quirky and i would say this is certainly that. its different from all the other silly comedy shows. this is one i can relate to cause i have a very similiar quirky family and i am sure many other people do too.

[Anonymous] gave it a1:
The only reason it doesn't get 0 is because of Jane Curtin, she's the only thing this show has got going, and it's on after Dancing with the Stars. Once that's gone, I think this will be too.

Leo K gave it a2:
Painful to watch. I didn't find it funny at all, and the jokes seemed to repeat (imagine what this show will be like by episode 10, if it makes it that far). Acting is over-the-top, as if that would make up for unfunny script. Devane, in particular, is annoying. Fred Savage should have quit while he was ahead and left us all remembering him from Wonder Years.

Crumbs SERIES: ABC, Thursday 9:30p (30 minutes)

Crumbs
SERIES: ABC, Thursday 9:30p (30 minutes)