What About Brian

Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman

There's peril in traveling the well-worn path of unrequited love and adulterous wives. But what makes this beginning of "Brian" work is that the characters are nicely drawn archetypes, not stereotypes.

Detroit Free PressMike Duffy

It's styled as a sort of laid-back Gen X updating of "thirtysomething," replacing that show's neuroses-fueled, East Coast edge with a more casual, lighthearted California vibe.

Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn

Brian's writing, while witty, tends to be oversize. [21 Apr 2006, p.64]

Washington PostTom Shales

Most of the actors make their characters zesty and likable, if on occasion too glib for their -- and our -- own good.

VarietyBrian Lowry

While "What About Brian" strikes some of the familiar chords about love, angst and the terror of young adulthood that have viewers swooning over "Grey's Anatomy," the show does so in a more laid-back tone, which should make its leap from a post-"Desperate Housewives" launch to its regular Monday moorings a commercial challenge.

Chicago TribuneSid Smith

"Brian" is easy, harmless viewing, sliding down the gullet as smoothly and reassuring as a glass of California merlot.

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

Ironically, the differences among the characters that make the show interesting and even, at times, compelling, also test its credibility.

San Jose Mercury NewsCharlie McCollum

There's not a lot wrong about "Brian.'' But there's not a lot right about it, either.

People WeeklyTom Gliatto

This is all nicely produced with mild offbeat tweaks along the way... But none of this is original either. [24 Apr 2006, p.39]

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

"What About Brian" isn't a terrible show, it just doesn't offer enough unique reasons to make a weekly appointment with this gang of friends.

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

It's not only unimpressive. Parts of it are uncomfortable.

USA TodayRobert Bianco

The dialogue ranges from ridiculous to tiresome.

Los Angeles TimesPaul Brownfield

"What About Brian" is "Prison Break," except the prison is a man's feelings and escape involves eluding the warden of his doubts, and we're talking maximum-security misgivings.

TV GuideMatt Roush

Like a sunnier version of thirtysomething, lacking only the inspired casting, the insightful writing and the wrenching realism.

The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley

The series is sentimental in a sleek way, and there are surface glints of humor in the script, but mostly, "Brian" is a blander, less distinctive version of "Thirtysomething."

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

[It] looks like a TV commercial with plots. The people are pretty, their homes are pretty, their problems are pretty, and it's all pretty shallow.

Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker

What About Brian traffics in flimsy liaisons, soapy squabbles and sophomoric sexuality.

Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland

Beautiful people, perky and unrealistic dialogue and male characters who have all dropped their huevos in jars of vinegar.

NewsdayVerne Gay

"What About Brian"... wants to be "thirtysomething" for twentysomethings, but it is clichesomething.

Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz

It [is] such a cloying, annoying mess you can barely expend the effort to hate it.

New York PostAdam Buckman

[The] characters are so charmless, it's as if they were created on purpose to actually repel viewership - a TV first.