|
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
|
Positive:
27
Mixed:
13
Negative:
0
|
Watch Now
| Buy on |
|
| Stream On |
|
Critic Reviews
Mar 9, 2017
Season 1 Review:
Trial & Error has the kind of good bones and fool-proof premise that could make for a great, long-running sitcom (the plan is to debut a new crime every season). The performances are mostly wonderful--you won’t find me bad-mouthing Lithgow--and the already-tiring true-crime genre was due for a good zinging. It got one.
Read full review
Jul 19, 2018
Season 2 Review:
The plot is simultaneously all-important and also totally irrelevant. Lavinia must be brought to justice or be acquitted of the crime in the end, and Trial & Error has machinations aplenty for both outcomes. But for all of the twists and slapstick pratfalls, all that really matters is the magnetism of Lavinia, her dastardly deeds, and that truly fantastic swim cap.
Read full review
Mar 13, 2017
Season 1 Review:
A good percentage of the show's jokes land, and the show’s structure (it's effectively a 13-episode miniseries, with each episode ending with a trial-specific cliffhanger) is a welcome variation on the conventional sitcom form. Plus you have Lithgow, giving another master class in comedy.
Read full review
TV Guide MagazineJul 6, 2018
Season 2 Review:
Kristin Chenoweth is a diva-esque hoot. ... Slapstick antics and cliffhanger twists elevate the ridiculous tomfoolery. [9 - 22 Jul 2018, p.13]
Mar 13, 2017
Season 1 Review:
It’s not nearly as funny as either ["The Office" and "Parks and Recreation"], and it sometimes sacrifices its most promising potential (making fun of true-crime serializations) to pick off easier targets (making fun of the South). ... Lithgow’s effort rubs off on his energetic co-stars, who elevate the material and give it a spark it otherwise wouldn’t have.
Read full review
Jul 5, 2018
Season 2 Review:
Ms. Chenoweth is a smart addition but the humor is often too broad and, worse, predictable. When the show’s humor offers a more surprising take, Trial & Error shines--the “East Peck Lady Laws of 1952” are particularly amusing--but that seems to happen with less frequency in season two.
Read full review
Mar 14, 2017
Season 1 Review:
On Trial & Error, the answer a little too often is to lean on the fish-out-of-water moments that Josh encounters in a town full of yokels so clichéd they might have come from a bottle in the writers' room marked Southern Stereotypes: Just Add Water. ... But it's Lithgow, as the hopelessly self-centered, sneakily endearing suspect, who steals every scene he's in.
Read full review
Mar 13, 2017
Season 1 Review:
If it can shift its sights to a more demanding target, there’s potential here for a fresh and ingenious new kind of comedy. But it requires sharper writing to make murder funny than the show currently possesses. There’s more to satire than simply taking a serious subject and stuffing it full of gags.
Read full review
TV Guide MagazineMar 2, 2017
Season 1 Review:
This deeply silly sitcom may be guilty of overplaying its hard to score cheap laughs, especially at the expense of Southern-yokel sterotypes and running gags that quickly run out of gas. But with the glorious John Lithgow at its center, [...] it's wise to recuse oneself from delivering a verdict too quickly. [6-19 Mar 2017, p.21]
Jul 19, 2018
Mar 13, 2017
Season 1 Review:
The series has yet to find any pairings or relationships with any real repartee or comedic chemistry, so the show is a lot of individuals elevating tired material with strong line readings, including guest stars like Bob Gunton, Cristine Rose, Ginger Gonzaga and Patricia Belcher.
Read full review
Current TV Shows
By MetascoreBy User Score