The Kennedys: Season 1

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	Your Score
6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

ReelzChannel | Season Premiere Date: April 3, 2011

Starring: Katie Holmes, Kristin Booth, Tom Wilkinson

Summary: The miniseries about the Kennedys with Greg Kinnear as President John F. Kennedy and Katie Holmes as Jacqueline Kennedy was moved from the History Channel to Reelz Channel after controversy about the portrayal of the family.

Creator: Joel Surnow and Stephen Kronish

Genre(s): Drama

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Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E9. Fame and Scandal
Air Date: November 21, 2020
tbd
S1:E8. My Brother's Keeper
Air Date: April 10, 2011
tbd
S1:E7. Lancer and Lace
Air Date: April 10, 2011

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Linda Stasi

Mar 30, 2011

The miniseries--starring Greg Kinnear as JFK, Barry Pepper as Bobby, Katie Holmes as Jacqueline and Tom Wilkinson as Joseph Sr.--is without a doubt one of the best, most riveting, historically accurate dramas about a time and place in American history that has ever been done for TV. Read full review

Glenn Garvin

Apr 7, 2011

The sheer power of these stories carries The Kennedys even during the occasional stumbles that result from trying to pack 40 years of history into five and a half hours of programming. Read full review

David Hinckley

Mar 31, 2011

Definitive history The Kennedys is not. But most of the flaws explored here mostly make the characters seem human. The series credits wins as well as losses and sends most of its characters home on a positive note. Read full review

Ken Tucker

Mar 30, 2011

I can see why multiple networks passed on The Kennedys: not just because it's a political hot potato, but because it's a cobbled-together, mean-spirited piece of work that can't help alienating viewers, whether you venerate the Kennedys or dislike them. Read full review

Troy Patterson

Apr 1, 2011

Instead, The Kennedys is blandly admiring when paying due respect, mildly cheesy when hauling out the trash, and understaged at every turn, the better for viewers to project their own fantasies onto it. Read full review

Nancy Franklin

Mar 29, 2011

We come away with a new understanding of the extent of the Kennedys' dysfunction but without a sense of what made them special or of how they harnessed their talents. But what you see in Wilkinson's eyes--they're black holes, devouring everyone in sight--almost makes up for what's missing from the writing. Read full review

Tim Goodman

Mar 30, 2011

Kennedys is a hamfisted mess, both slothful in its pacing and leaden in whatever underlying message was meant to be given. It's not the Kennedy family or legacy that suffers here, but the people involved in the project. Read full review

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6.6

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User Reviews

jordi

Jan 26, 2013

Muy real, muy sincera, muy bien interpretada, con saltos adelante y atrás en el tiempo. Interesante para los que nacimos después de esta historia y no la conocemos bién.
Magistral el papel de Katie Holmes y Greg Kinnear.

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PevMaster

Aug 29, 2011

Excellent. I have no idea why this work of art is getting such mixed reviews; The Kennedys is great. You can really tell that each actor worked very hard to portray the character they portrayed, and in doing so the acting is near flawless, with many strong performances.Just brilliant.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

marquis_de_vaux

May 3, 2011

It's never easy turning national tragedy into tasteful TV. Often fears of controversy cause programme-makers to act conservatively, play it safe, and hope to duck controversy by putting a glossy sheen on historical events. Unfortunately for The Kennedys, although it does do some thingsIt's never easy turning national tragedy into tasteful TV. Often fears of controversy cause programme-makers to act conservatively, play it safe, and hope to duck controversy by putting a glossy sheen on historical events. Unfortunately for The Kennedys, although it does do some things brilliantly, its creators, who seem to have been all to conscious of the risks, have nonetheless created a drama that ends up falling between two stools. Undoubtedly, The Kennedys hits certain nails squarely on the head. First of all, the casting for the series was brilliant - Greg Kinnear was as good a JFK as you could hope for, the perfect balance of vulnerability, presence and sleaze - and although she's received a lot of flak, mostly due to events that have nothing to do with the series - Katie Holmes, at moments, truly owns the role of Jackie Kennedy. That's not to say that her performance doesn't slip; like most of the principle actors in The Kennedys, Mrs. Cruise struggles to maintain her embodiment of one of the 20th centuries iconic figures, but I would argue that such a failing isn't really the fault of the performers. What really lets The Kennedys down is the writing. Joel Surnow and David Kronish are, of course, most famous for their work on 24 and, much like The Kennedys, that series was held together by the magnetism of the core cast. Unfortunately for Surnow and Kronish however, the lives of The Kennedy family include few opportunities for on-screen torture, explosions and car chases (although it would be wonderful to see John F. Kennedy trying to solve the civil rights problem in one wild day, armed only with a Glock and a mobile phone). The net result is that Surnow and Kronish manage to turn many of the key events of modern American history into pedestrian re-enactments, affairs generally lacking the gravitas they deserve. Worse still, and the primary problem with The Kennedys, is that the programme-makers have tried to cram far too much into too small an amount of screen time. 8 episodes to try and encapsulate even only the significant moments in the legacy of the Kennedy family just isn't enough, and in the whistle-stop tour delivered by series director Jon Cassar we skim along the surface of what happened, never managing to go into depth. Of all things, the series ends up feeling light-weight, and the seemingly constant need for Cassar to flash back or forward kills the pace and tension of proceedings stone dead. Of course, some of the most laboriously expositional dialogue in recent television history also distracts which, combined with the most functional, dull and themeless music I have heard in a TV drama of late, is likely to leave audiences perplexed; bearing in mind that 2008's John Adams, directed by Tom Hooper (the recent recipient of a well-deserved Academy Award for The KingÃ¢â… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

RogerSmith97

Apr 15, 2011

Honestly My Review Is Mixed! :D
The Acting & Writing Is Really Bad. But There Is A Little Hint Of Good With The Show...
This Is NOT The Worst Or Best Show Currently Airing On T.V.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

CritiqueGirl

Apr 6, 2011

I gave it a 2 for Jackie's outfits. The acting is bad. The script is bad. We already know the plot and outcomes so there are no surprises. I can see why the History Channel ran from it.

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chocolatekiss

Oct 6, 2017

Katie Homes cannot act. Greg Kinnear is more interested in playing Kennedy rather than telling his story. It isn't like we don't know everything there is to know from history, books, gossip, documentaries and past TV movies that we really needed another one. I think Katie likes wearingKatie Homes cannot act. Greg Kinnear is more interested in playing Kennedy rather than telling his story. It isn't like we don't know everything there is to know from history, books, gossip, documentaries and past TV movies that we really needed another one. I think Katie likes wearing the pink suit.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

gzayas91

Jul 24, 2018

Very solid as a romantasize miniseries of the most family in the history of America. I watch lots of times and I'll keep watching them again.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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Seasons & Episodes

50

Series Overview
Season 1

50
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: April 3, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E9. Fame and Scandal
  Air Date: November 21, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E8. My Brother's Keeper
  Air Date: April 10, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E7. Lancer and Lace
  Air Date: April 10, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E6. Cuban Missiles
  Air Date: April 8, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E5. Life Sentences
  Air Date: April 7, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E4. Bobby's War
  Air Date: April 6, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E3. Bay of Pigs
  Air Date: April 5, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E2. The First Campaign
  Air Date: April 3, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E1. Joe's Revenge
  Air Date: April 3, 2011