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- Netflix
- Apr 1, 2016
- Netflix
- Apr 1, 2016
Summary After a short-lived career as a semi-pro football player Colt Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) returns to Colorado to help his brother Jimmy (Danny Masterson) and father (Sam Elliott) run the family ranch.
Created By: Jim Patterson, Don Reo
- Netflix
- Apr 1, 2016
- Netflix
- Apr 1, 2016
Summary After a short-lived career as a semi-pro football player Colt Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) returns to Colorado to help his brother Jimmy (Danny Masterson) and father (Sam Elliott) run the family ranch.
Created By: Jim Patterson, Don Reo
Where to Watch
Season Episodes
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
56
45% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
45% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
10% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
56
45% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
45% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
10% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson from That ‘70s Show are reunited as siblings in The Ranch, which turned up on April Fool’s Day with the 10 episodes that make up “Part One” of Season 1. It’s a decent vehicle for both of them.
Netflix’s new multicamera sitcom, The Ranch, will seem familiar enough for fans of the genre, but it’s enjoyable and inventive enough to make you think there is still life left in the well-worn TV staple.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 141 User Ratings
7.5
76% Positive
107 Ratings
107 Ratings
7% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
17% Negative
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 141 User Ratings
7.5
76% Positive
107 Ratings
107 Ratings
7% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
17% Negative
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
I do not understand why this series has such a low note here, being of the best quality, netflix is to be congratulated and can not let it end. The Ranch is a great series that stands out for its philosophy and technical perfection of performance, all the characters have married very well with the proposal of the series.
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SEASON 1
The Ranch is a red-state sitcom, though it takes place in the swing state of Colorado, and is good enough to be watched by people of any political affiliation. The goodness sneaks up on you. It is a sitcom that is meatier than it is funny, unusually in touch with the painful, disappointing aspects of life.
Though much of The Ranch feels familiar, and an odd fit for Netflix, that doesn't mean it's terrible. For all the crude jokes (the premiere, for example, goes on and on about how Uggs are girly footwear, not suitable for a real man), Kutcher and Masterson have an easy, unforced brotherly rapport.
Beau resents his son for abandoning the family homestead. Rooster enjoys egging them on. The war of words can sometimes feel brutal. The work gives Kutcher a chance to truly act, to bring some pathos to the fore, but The Ranch is a slog.
It’s not clever, or witty, or trying to be either. It’s just another dirt-level mediocre sitcom about a dysfunctional family that can say “fuck” all it wants.
A borderline unbearable and patently unfunny attempt at the straight-laced sitcom, complete with a no-kidding laugh track, from two long-time producers of Two and a Half Men, easily the most unforgivable and inexcusable of the long-running sitcoms.
For April Fool’s Day, web studio front-runner Netflix decides to add funny to its regular lineup by recycling a sitcom from nondescript sources, sprinkling it with some colloquial references and release into the wild web queue. A fool's errand or good ol' fashion strategy?
The Ranch rests firmly on a canned laughter foundation running way hard on TV tropes whose sole purpose is to give Californians a mind-splitting humorous depiction of West and Far-West cultural clashes by pitting the young against the old disguised as father and son. Lead by TV veteran Ashton Kutcher as Colt Bennett, the prodigal son and wash-up semi-pro football player who returns home under the guise of helping his family's struggling ranch, this series feels more like a cowboy's spiritual successor to Two and a Half Men than a serious attempt to revamp the dying sitcom formula.
Given its mature rating, which essentially translates to a creative free pass in this increasingly regulated industry, it quickly squanders its opportunity for a more mature direction in favor of a safe and archaic approach. Sure, there are a couple of forced F-bombs and raunchy-er situations especially in episode six but it's still not branded (Get it?) with the Netflix seal of approval a.k.a depth and good-willed recklessness.
Aside from Kutcher's adequate performance, his on-screen brother Rooster (Danny Masterson) delivers a That '70s Show level of acting as the tried–and–true familial mediator to the pissing contest between Colt and his father Beau played by Sam Elliot. Elliot, as the dour no-nonsense rancher, along with his ex-wife and local barkeep Maggie (Debra Winger) are about the ones who really keep the show afloat as their interactions and factoids steadily attempt to push it further into trendy web series territory.
Still, the hopeful casting doesn't save the constant issue with character confidence enforced by classic TV cutting: half-hearted line delivery and unintentional smirks only rivaled by the best dinner theater. Furthermore, the under-utilization of its female characters such as Aston's ex-girlfriend Abby (Elisha Cuthbert) and Heather (Kelli Goss), the now-legal busty farmer's daughter engulfs the series in a off-brand '90s blanket perpetuating an endless line of ranchin'-flavored jokes and situations, all 100% biodegradable.
The Ranch clearly lingers on the expect until you take a close look at the rhythm of the series. Its flow is probably its most defining feature. It alternates between cheap jokes and priceless life lessons which, as expected, come from the parents of the series (Millennials clearly never bestow valuable lessons). This dynamic contrast makes it difficult to completely hate it yet lacks the necessary consistency to be ranked as a "foreground" show rather than background entertainment to your Facebook or Twitter feed.
Whether binged or digested sporadically, it still feels pretty hard to condemn the $8/month entertainment provider for stocking your digital shelf with a feel-good disposable comedy usually found jammed with ads elsewhere.
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SEASON 1
Let's get the main complaint out of the way. A SHOW HAS NO BUSINESS HAVING A DAMN LAUGH TRACK IN 2016. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It does not add an "old-fashioned" feel to the show, that implies they actually went away completely for a long period of time! It makes the show come off as unfunny when you have to tell us when to laugh. REMOVE THE STUPID LAUGH TRACK!
I was really looking forward to this show, mostly because I am a big Sam Elliott fan. Without a doubt, the only bright spots in season 1 were him and Debra Winger. Maybe Masterson and Kutcher could come off as more authentic and developed if the writers had them doing more than creepily lusting after 18 year olds every damn episode. Seriously wtf? I guess small town adults in their 20s and 30s have no interests outside of drinking and having sex. No aspirations or hobbies or anything. The writing is unbearably trite and chalk full of tired stereotypes, it's just gross.
Why does every cowboy-ish role (Elliott in this case) have to be typecast as some technology-hating ultra conservative? He actually saves his character from this embarrassing fate by expressing some authentic vulnerability and raw human emotion despite his battle-hardened demeanor. Just make characters apolitical if you're going to have stupid jokes about global warming and Al Gore to pander to the lowest common denominator.
Why do the younger actors have absolutely no character development? Everyone is defined by their job except Elliott and Winger. This supposedly takes place in Colorado yet all you hear are random place names uttered by the characters and no actual sense of regional pride. I know this is still just a sitcom filmed in LA, but give it some friggin' authenticity. You know, like how Frasier wasn't actually filmed in Seattle but the characters were still written well enough to have pride in the Seahawks, Mariners, local food and culture, the surrounding geography, etc.?
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SEASON 1
