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Twenty Good Years
SERIES: NBC, Wednesday 8:30p (30 minutes)


5.7

based on 26 reviews
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based on 37 votes
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Get more information on this show at TV.com.

Starring John Lithgow, Jeffrey Tambor, Heather Burns, and Jake Sandvig

Two aging, oddly-coupled friends (John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor) decide they have 20 good years left to live, and decide to make the most of it.

GENRE(S):	Comedy
CREATED BY:	Marsh McCall Michael Leeson
FIRST AIR DATE:	October 11, 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...

Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray

The pilot for "Twenty Good Years" has some genuinely funny moments even as it makes no apparent effort to reinvent the form.

Washington Post Tom Shales

The laughs generated are not subtle, but at least they're there.

Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm

Without these two, 20 Good Years would be 22 bad minutes of television, but they bring so much skill to their roles, and seem to be having so much fun, you can see the comedy running, if not for 20 years, maybe four or five.

People Weekly Tom Gliatto

So far, it's of interest only for watching Lithgow--who likes to shout his lines with quivering urgency, as if he'd just seen a UFO--as he goes over the top to get a laugh. [16 Oct 2006, p.39]

Wall Street Journal Dorothy Rabinowitz

The writing could be sharper, the vision less soft-headed.... That aside, there's no mistaking the sense of life and vitality that comes bouncing out of this series, or its cause -- namely, its two stars.

Variety Brian Lowry

Even if the material is a trifle slight, pairing of John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor brightens matters, serving up smiles if not outright guffaws.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

"Twenty Good Years" is not flat-out awful. It's nowhere close to great, either.

Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker

This show is for people who find Lithgow's shameless shtick uproarious.

Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart

A perfectly serviceable but utterly forgettable sitcom.

Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman

I will be rooting for this series to improve, but not watching it.

USA Today Robert Bianco

Everything about the show seems designed to misuse its stars and erase our memories of the better work they've done.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

Viewers who like their comedy broad, loud and silly might take a liking to this "Odd Couple"-like sitcom.

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

The jokes in "Twenty" are both predictable and telegraphed.

San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum

What's particularly appalling is the way Lithgow is allowed to go way, way over the top in his performance.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

"Twenty Good Years" is based on the premise these two comedy warhorses can make just about anything work, but this tired vehicle proves too much -- or rather, too little -- for even them.

Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron

If "Twenty" proves anything, it's that even gifted performers can't conceal the flaws of a truly uninspired script, though they can distract from them here and there.

Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd

There's nothing inherently wrong with the premise... But what's been done with it, on the evidence of the pilot, is weak, and slightly embarrassing to watch.

The New York Times Alessandra Stanley

It is a male version of “The Golden Girls,” but with weaker writing, and older viewers are not saps.

Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall

If it weren't for [Lithgow's] shameless bellowing, "20 Good Years" would be excruciating, instead of the (very) occasionally amusing hackfest it's turned out to be.

Newsday Verne Gay

It is so ancient - in approach, tone, style and energy - that you can almost see the dust bunnies tumble across the set.

New York Daily News David Hinckley

"Twenty Good Years" is so bad, its pilot doesn't contain 20 good seconds.

Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy

Despite Lithgow and Tambor's capabilities, the series sags badly amid the moldy excesses of generic, over-the-top slapstick.

Time James Poniewozik

This is the same kind of odd-couple pairing that TV has been trying to sell for decades, and, like most every odd-couple concept after the actual Odd Couple, the premise has not even Twenty Good Minutes of humor in it.

Miami Herald Glenn Garvin

This show just isn't funny. At all. Ever. Under any circumstances.

New York Post Linda Stasi

If you last through 20 minutes of "Twenty Good Years," NBC's new sit-no-com, you are either a saint, a madman or in a tragic and irreversible coma.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

The show is just awful.

The average user rating for this tv show is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 37 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

billy b gave it a0:
When watching this show, I just sat there waiting for a punch line that never came.

nil m gave it a9:
Very differend and funny tv show. Must see.

Rhonda B gave it a10:
Excellent show - love it. I was enjoying it more w/ each episode.

Compo gave it a10:
Given the opportunity, this could have been the next version of LOTSW. Two thumbs down to NBC for pulling the plug in such a short period of time.

Hol H gave it a0:
Just awful. Really really awful.

simon s gave it a10:
John Lithgow at his best.

Max G gave it a9:
Great show. Lithgow is alays terrific

Twenty Good Years SERIES: NBC, Wednesday 8:30p (30 minutes)

Twenty Good Years
SERIES: NBC, Wednesday 8:30p (30 minutes)