Newly-Reviewed Programs
TV on DVD
All Shows: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

2008 Summer Season
2007-08 Midseason
2007 Fall Season
2007 Summer Season
2006-07 Midseason
2006 Fall Season
2006 Summer Season
2005-06 Midseason
2005 Fall Season
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss TV In Our Forums

Generation Kill 79
HBO, 7/13

The Cleaner 43
A&E, Tuesday

The Closer Season Four 74
TNT, Monday

Saving Grace Season Two 78
TNT, Monday

Flashpoint 51
CBS, Friday

Burn Notice Season Two 74
USA, Thursday

Greatest American Dog 49
CBS, Thursday

Koppel on Discovery: The People's Republic of Capitalism 75
Discovery, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

The Secret Life of the American Teenager 45
ABC Family, Tuesday

Factory 63
Spike, Sunday

Life
SERIES: NBC, Wednesday 10:00p (60 minutes)


9.4

based on 21 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?

based on 180 votes
read user comments
rate this tv show

Get more information on this show at TV.com.

Official Show Site

Starring Damian Lewis, Sarah Shahi, Robin Weigert, Adam Arkin, Brent Sexton, and Melissa Sagemiller

Charlie's back after being falsely held in in prison for twelve years. Like a fish out of water, will he (and the show) flop or swim?

GENRE(S):	Drama
CREATED BY:	Rand Ravich
FIRST AIR DATE:	September 26, 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...

Entertainment Weekly Ken Tucker

Life is intelligent fun.

Wall Street Journal Nancy DeWolf Smith

Of all the new shows I've watched, it's also the one I'm most eager to see again.

Variety Laura Fries

Crews quirky mannerisms don't overwhelm the plot, and the show does strikes a nice balance between whimsy and its much darker backstory.

Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron

It's an entirely different vibe, further enhanced by a charismatic and quirky central character who is both unpredictable and impossible to pigeonhole. Given a chance to develop, Detective Charlie Crews could someday take a place with the likes of Kojak, Columbo and Monk.

Los Angeles Times Mary McNamara

Playing it long and lugubrious but with a tantalizing twinkle, Lewis (last seen in the States as the hateful husband in "The Forsyte Saga") may well wrest the mantle of sexiest troubled American played by a Brit away from Hugh Laurie.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

The actor [Lewis], who uses a flawless American accent, makes Life worth a gander. And he is surrounded by a distinctive cast.

Miami Herald Glenn Garvin

This peculiar comedy-drama has some cockeyed wrinkles that make it interesting.

The New York Times Ginia Bellafante

The narrative structure of the show is incredibly satisfying: During each hour a crime is committed and solved, as Charlie’s search for who might have framed him provides the overriding arch, satisfying our short attention spans and taste for long-form narrative at once.

Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy

Lewis is terrific. But his brazenly loopy lawman may not be to everyone's offbeat crime drama tastes.

New York Daily News David Hinckley

Life doesn't squander the talents of its cast. The mysteries are solid, the characters multilayered, and Crews is given a bigger mystery about which to obsess--finding out who framed him.

Newsday Tom Jicha

Lewis is such a commanding presence that Sarah Shahi is rendered little more than an accessory as Dani. There's nothing going on between the partners at the outset, but this is subject to change.

PopMatters Cynthia Fuchs

Details of color and composition do the work usually handled by too much expository dialogue, granting access to Dani and Charlie’s thinking.

New York Magazine John Leonard

Just as we begin to wonder whether Life is intended to be, um, wacky, it takes a darker turn.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

While one can never count out a decent cop show, Life's main character is so weird he either fascinates you immediately or turns you off.

Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart

There’s no doubt Life is blessed with a fine lead actor, an intriguing premise and better writing than most new shows this fall. It’s just that viewers aren’t going to find that promising TV drama buried underneath all the crime procedural.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

Mildly satisfying, but pretty formulaic.

Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall

Lewis is a strong enough actor (again, see "Band of Brothers") that there are moments where he pulls together all these tics into a character who could be interesting, but too much time gets wasted on pedestrian mysteries to give him room to work.

USA Today Robert Bianco

Strip away the abrasive flourishes, and what's left is a standard-issue TV mystery with cases that are too easy to solve and internal conflicts and conspiracies that make no sense.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

It gets bogged down by so many procedural elements that all the character moments get squished and forced out around the edges, resulting in an uninteresting blob of an overly familiar TV show.

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

Just dreadful enough to want to shoot yourself and end up in the tender loving arms of the people at "Private Practice."

Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm

I could make more fun of Life, but it probably wouldn't be too good for my karma.

The average user rating for this tv show is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 180 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jayawi P. gave it a10:
I have seen all LIFE episodes and am looking forward to see more!! ! On the other hand I find CSI MIAMI and predominantly Horatio unbelievably phony and irritating to watch. People DO NOT act like that, he is just too unruffled, pathetically so with his sunglasses and attitude. I have never bothered with Law and Order, as it also seems like more American rubbish - bad acting, bad dialogue and bad story line. LIFE may not be realistic but at least the acting is good and the story line different and enjoyable - and by many more than just me!

Marhadiasha K. gave it a10:
I love both of the characters (Crews and Reese). I love Crews' philosophies, "robotic" movements, oh this is my favorite show.

Sarah J. gave it a10:
Love this underrated show. it was a pleasant coincidence when i caught it while flipping channels. people need to see this - better then most of the new shows.

Jack S. gave it a10:
Great show. I will watch all new episodes for many seasons!

Alton S. gave it a10:
I usually don't vote ten and was going too vote nine. I couldn't find any faults too justify anything but 10. Good characters, interesting stories, quirky approaches with a great kind of comedy. Then throw in the darker elements of the show and.... you get life. Much better then most shows out there.

Geoffrey M. gave it a10:
Refreshing. Revives my faith in network shows. Need more like this. Lewis is brilliant.

Elaine D. gave it a10:
loved the plot and the complexity of the character. also deep in philosophy unlike the other "sex" hungry and teenage pregnancy shows on TV right now.

Life SERIES: NBC, Wednesday 10:00p (60 minutes)

Life
SERIES: NBC, Wednesday 10:00p (60 minutes)