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Viva Laughlin
SERIES: CBS, Sunday 8:00p (60 minutes)


5.2

based on 25 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?

based on 23 votes
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Starring Lloyd Owen, Mädchen Amick, Eric Winter, Ellen Woglom, Carter Jenkins, D.B. Woodside, P.J. Byrne, and Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman appears and sings along briefly, in this remake of BBC's Viva Blackpool.

GENRE(S):	Drama, Musical
CREATED BY:	Bob Lowry Peter Bowker
FIRST AIR DATE:	October 18, 2007

Premieres 18 Oct 2007, before moving to it's regular timeslot on Sundays. Cancelled after two episodes.

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...

New York Post Linda Stasi

While the plot makes no sense, it is bizarrely creative.

New York Magazine John Leonard

We may not approve of what he does with his money or his children, but Ripley is a believer. I’d like to believe right along with him, at least for a chorus or two. Besides, Melanie Griffith hasn’t had so much narcissistic fun since "Milk Money." But I’m a sucker for this stuff.

Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron

Laughlin is fun to watch. It's not going to rack up award nominations, but it's refreshing and entertaining.

Miami Herald Glenn Garvin

Viva Laughlin is a bizarre and fascinating spectacle.

Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy

Viva Laughlin is otherwise a rather blah entertainment enterprise, due mostly to forgettable Lloyd Owen.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

It's just not an attention grabber, despite its musical gimmick. Ultimately, it doesn't provide enough satisfaction.

New York Daily News David Hinckley

The problem is most of the show's other elements come together as if someone tried to combine blackjack, poker, dominoes and Ping-Pong on the same table. The result catches your eye, but it's kind of a mess.

Variety Brian Lowry

Where "Blackpool" completely embraced the giddy fantasy of these scenes, yielding a kind of infectious quality, Laughlin goes through the motions with one foot on the floor.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

It's the typical reaction to something different: Copy the format, but, out of fear over how viewers will react to the unusual, water it down. What you end up with is neither fish nor fowl. And that's one of the problems with Viva Laughlin.

Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart

Laughlin’s lack of ambition is most evident in its choreography. You would think that if CBS went to the expense of licensing one of the most unique TV concepts in years, it would stick to the formula. But no.

Washington Post Tom Shales

Viva Laughlin, a dizzy loop-de-loop ride whose departures are so awkward and absurd that they make the norm look pretty darned good.

Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray

The problem with Viva isn't that the network made a bad gamble. It's that it didn't have the guts to risk everything.

Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm

Time may tell if the overstuffed spectacle is a floor wax and a dessert topping, too, though only as prodigious a gambling man as Elvis himself would bet on Viva's surviving for too many episodes.

Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman

Viva Laughlin is a well-filmed train wreck in the making. Owen is the only engine firing on all cylinders.

USA Today Robert Bianco

If Elvis isn't already dead, Viva Laughlin just might kill him.

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

Viva Laughlin loses in translation all the quirky good and weird song stylings of the British import. In fact, Viva Laughlin looks as if it's trying mighty hard not to be a musical.

Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker

Its run there should be short because the show is a folly. Elvis doesn't need any help singing.

Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall

Stay far, far away from this show.

The New York Times Alessandra Stanley

Viva Laughlin on CBS may well be the worst new show of the season.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

It’s hard to decide what is [the show’s biggest failure]: the wooden dialogue; the abrup direction; the awkward staging; the disastrous miscasting.

Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd

As it is, it's inert, lacking the studied garishness, shabbiness and hallucinatory edge of the original and finding nothing of particular interest to replace it with.

Newsday Diane Werts

The stud is a dud. And that's only the first of a dozen problems with CBS' admirably ambitious but jaw-droppingly wrongheaded new musical/murder mystery/family drama Viva Laughlin.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

There's not enough down time in a day to waste on network television's dumbest ideas. But it's not every day that a mediocrity like Viva Laughlin comes along.

PopMatters Tricia Olszewski

The biggest surprise about Viva Laughlin, CBS’s new "mystery drama with music," is that the singing and dancing isn’t the worst thing about it.

San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum

The writing is uncertain, the tone is unsteady and the actors - and you really have to feel sorry for them - don't seem to know quite how to approach their characters.

The average user rating for this tv show is 5.2 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Karen S. gave it a10:
I cannot believe they would pull such an innovative show for another stupid Amazing Race or CSI series. What is going on with the TV watching public?? Do they all have their heads up their asses or are they all completely misguided from not having any decent sitcoms any longer since Frasier, Seinfeld and Friends are gone?

John A. gave it a10:
I'm going with a 10. Even though it was cancelled right away I thought it showed some promise. I would have like to seen the critics give it a wait and see attitude. It was so unusual - and I choose to give it extra credit for that. Melanie Griffith was fun to watch.

Angela G. gave it a10:
I am really upset this show was cancelled already!

Craig B gave it a1:
It looked promising from the promos. I almost turned it off during the first lip synch singing in the first episode. Viva Las Vegas? Yeah, great idea... promo a show on another network. And it isn't Vegas either. It's Laughlin. When the second lip synch singing came along, I was done. No more for me.

Leslie L. gave it a10:
This show is funny, complete fluff and stupid as all get out, but I love watching it to see what happens next. I find myself humming and singing along with it

Michele S. gave it a0:
I couldn't even sit through the whole thing. How many singing shows must they make, before realizing it just doesn't work? It wasn't just the singing, the plot and characters were boring and have all been done elsewhere. Melanie G. looked great, hopefully she'll find a better project to work with next time!!!! I think this was the worst show I have seen in quite awhile.

Bill W gave it a5:
I like the story, but the singing is hokey. But since I watch on TiVo, it makes the show that much shorter. I can skip the commercials AND the musical disasters.

Viva Laughlin SERIES: CBS, Sunday 8:00p (60 minutes)

Viva Laughlin
SERIES: CBS, Sunday 8:00p (60 minutes)