This American Life

Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman

It's really kind of a glorious little miracle, a half-hour series of little pictures of simple, complex and unfamous Americans breathing everyday lives, with a twist of kookiness, while they search for the Meaning of Everything and The Big Picture.

People WeeklyTom Gliatto

The show falls prey to a faint preciousness in the voiceover narration from its correspondents and host Glass. They overarticulate the ironies instead of just letting you watch. Which you should do. Watch. [26 Mar 2007, p.37]

The New RepublicSacha Zimmerman

The haunting and sometimes mirthful tales that are the stock-and-trade of "This American Life" are not lost in imagery but heightened by it.

New York PostLinda Stasi

In their own bizarre way each episode is very American, very naive and very full of hope. Oh, yeah - and a lot of laughs, too.

Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

This handsomely produced experimental series ought to please flexible fans. [30 Mar 2007, p.62]

Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart

“This American Life” on TV achieves the same contemplative mood as the radio show. And it has a striking spareness of imagery, much as “Life” on radio has a spareness of sound.

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

The radio show is so much about voice and language and storytelling, I worried that the TV folks would mess it up. Luckily, the radio show's host, Ira Glass, hasn't allowed that to happen.

Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik

Its power radiates from the screen as forcefully as it does from the radio.

Hollywood ReporterRandee Dawn

"Life" makes the ordinary extraordinary and along the way makes the world seem wider, bigger and an eternally more interesting place to be.

NewsdayDiane Werts

They've translated the radio show's aural mosaic to the visual medium so effortlessly in this first season of six half-hours, we hope Showtime orders more of this life we all can recognize.

SalonHeather Havrilesky

"This American Life" features the same rich, rambling storytelling that makes the radio show so hypnotic, but it's enhanced by cinematography that's lovely and artful without distracting from the story lines or the tone of the show.

Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland

"This American Life" lost none of its authenticity in transition from radio to Showtime.

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

This TV version not only has a distinct, appealing look, it also retains the radio show's sound and personality.

San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman

The television version of "This American Life" does not ruin the fragile, hip beauty of the radio version. Glass and the team responsible for adding pictures to words have created a compelling television series.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

It's a welcome addition to nonfiction television and a loyal friend to the radio show.

Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd

The show's attitudinal mix of the jaded and amazed, the shocked and amused, is supported by the production itself.

VarietyPhil Gallo

The selections in the first two episodes possess compelling strength, whimsy and ambiguity in both the stories and the characters, providing a solid transformation from radio to TV.

SlateTroy Patterson

It's an ambitious if occasionally pushy effort.

The New York TimesVirginia Heffernan

If “This American Life” is all like this [opening] segment, it will be an immaculate and historic documentary series, with or without the storytelling pretext.

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

“This American Life” really begins to show its TV potential in episode three, when the show stops trying so hard to be perfect and lets its storytelling sprawl.