Uncle Barky's Scores

  • TV
For 951 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 67% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 30% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average TV Show review score: 67
Highest review score: 100 Back to Life: Season 1
Lowest review score: 0 Perfect Couples: Season 1
Score distribution:
  1. Mixed: 0 out of 583
  2. Negative: 0 out of 583
583 tv reviews
    • 52 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Genius: Picasso is sluggish in the early going before gaining traction in later episodes. Banderas makes a growingly strong impression.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    McCormack, in designer stubble, is no better than ordinary in the lead role. Nor are the cases at hand all that compelling.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 25 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Flesh and Bone is to the art of the dance what the laughable Showgirls was to the Las Vegas flesh market. Except that the art of the dance in Flesh and Bone also includes stripping to help make ends meet. What emerges is a thorough mess on a grandiose scale.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 83 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    It's all quite sturdily built and well-acted, with characters one cares about.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 91 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    An explosively funny satirical descendant that can hit home without being even slightly preachy about it. Mostly, though, have fun with both the madcap characters and the notion that one of the Pakistani demands in play is a full membership with the Augusta National Golf Club.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 25 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    So far this is a dour, sour affair replete with uninviting characters. That’s generally not a good recipe for return visits.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Globe trots to and fro with a mix of banter that tends to fall flat and action scenes that sometimes play a little better. Unfortunately, cases aren’t opened and shut within a single episode.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The Goldbergs is amusing in fits and spurts before ending on several sweet notes--including REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling.”
    • 52 Metascore
    • 25 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Episodes are one hour each, requiring ample manufactured "drama" to keep this thing percolating.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Nothing really jells here.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Houdini & Doyle likely won’t set anyone’s heart aflutter or the ratings on fire. But it looks like a passable spring/summer diversion and also just a bit of a history lesson on what these two guys were all about.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Viewers looking for the best new medical drama of this still young season can find it in Chicago Med. Then again, there are only two of them so far.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Some fun possibly can be had here amid all the back-stabbing, sneering, secrecy and infidelity.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    By the end of Chapter Two, many viewers might well be in the mood to detour elsewhere rather than follow Houston’s plea to “follow me a little longer down this twisted, bloody road.”
    • 52 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Final Witness has more texture and bite than most of TV's myriad explorations of the true crime realm.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    A show that can make you feel this way can't be all bad. Even if its clandestine millionaires can be more than a little grating.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Fox is pairing Minority Report with an amped-up second season of Gotham while sending former Monday night incumbent Sleepy Hollow to Thursdays. It looks like a solid one-two punch of crisp, stylized cop dramas that are visually resplendent without losing sight of character development.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    This is an at times affecting but too often overwrought drama series.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 83 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    It’s bright, sharp, without a laugh track and with a very well assembled ensemble cast headed by Ari Graynor in the Diaz role of a gold-digging, dumped divorcee looking to land another big fish.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    It’s a reasonably involving series made better by the chemistry between the two leads.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    There’s little zing for starters, though, with the one-liners inching up a steep hill before sliding back down.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Brody’s performance is borderline capable within the constraints of an at best mediocre combination of writing and story construction. But Harry Houdini’s incredible story still awaits a master re-telling. And this one doesn’t even come close.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 91 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    What you’ll see is the best broadcast TV cop drama of the season, with a dirty-to-the-touch sleuth played to the hilt by an actor who’s very much up for this.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Aggressively stumbles along without leaving any lasting footprints.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The Fix hits too close to the bone. Whatever Marcia Clark’s disclaimers, this is all about her and a case that remains dirty to the touch.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The script very occasionally crackles when not making a fool of itself with lines like, “Badge or no badge, I’ll always come after scum like you.” Most of the better lines go to Bishop when confronting Hollister about his overall comportment. Deputy otherwise is never too far from an action scene replete with automatic weapons fire.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Saldana carries the full load throughout. Her skepticism grows--as does her performance--in tandem with her belly before it all boils over into a full-out escape plan.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Taxi Brooklyn turns out to be better than expected escapist fare, even if Leo still isn’t charging Cat anything for all those extended, often high-speed trips. He seems to know all the shortcuts. She takes it from there.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    [The show] results in a picturesque endeavor that otherwise suffers from a lot of padded redundancy.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 83 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Despite its lead characters' fragile makeups, Free Agents is a niftily scripted, bracingly grownup comedy when in the hands of its two leads.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    What emerges, in the three episodes made available for review, is an accessible, easily imbibed summertime series that basically beats actually going to camp for an entire gut-wrenching summer.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Deception isn’t likely to win any awards, except perhaps from the Society of American Magicians. As escapist fare, though, it turns the trick, plays its cards well, pulls a rabbit from the hat, etc. Or as ABC might say, “Abracadabra, here’s to another Castle.”
    • 51 Metascore
    • 25 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Jack technically is a Gen Xer. But he might as well be the Quaker Oats man in the eyes of millennials getting the same broad brush treatment. It’s a wonder they can even feed themselves in a comedy that force-feeds its concept and swallows McHale whole in the process.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The two episodes made available for review are not without pulling power. But how much staying power will American Gothic have over a long haul of 13 episodes ordered for Season One?
    • 51 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Stuffed with stilted actor re-enactments--and repeated shots of a mock John F. Kennedy corpse with its skull blown open--Smoking Gun basically regurgitates the 1992 book Mortal Error and its conclusion that a Secret Service agent accidentally fired the third and fatal shot.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    What if nothing ends up coming together? Although there are some signs of that, Falling Water also can be maddeningly inexplicable and perhaps not worth a long-term investment. So far, my interest has ebbed and flowed.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    It’s hard to discern the overall intent here. Most of the characters are either sad sacks or in Jandice’s case, demonstrably unhinged. But whatever situations they’re put in, Camping all in all is less fun than waves of dive-bombing mosquitoes.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Star-Crossed looks as though it intends to take itself very seriously as an allegory for a futuristic brand of race relations. It’s also a budding love story, with Emery and Roman blowing hot and cold for one another while a seemingly goodly human student named Grayson (Grey Damon) hopes to cut in and claim her.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Angry Boys showcases his considerable talents in the notably imperfect world he's created.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Chicago P.D. looks as though it’s going to walk its beat for a while.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    There’s enough set in motion here to perhaps lure a small, loyal audience from week to week.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The overall effect isn’t quite intoxicating, and it might be better if you’re intoxicated in one form or another. Still, Sharknado 2: The Second One is part of a continuing pop culture chain of events that doubles as a rags-to-riches success story for a likable rag-tag director.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    CBS has taken major steps to make its new fall series considerably more diverse than last time. The Neighborhood hits that mark, but also marches to the same-old/same-old sitcom beats.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 25 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Witches of East End is just not worth a viewer’s toils and troubles.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    You may not laugh until it hurts, but there are some laughs to be had. Particularly for those who also swear by Family Guy.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Watch The Kennedys--if you haven't already had enough--and you'll instead see a compelling, well-told tale of a political dynasty with beauty marks, warts, doubts and the embedded determination to plow full steam ahead.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    There’s plenty to sustain The Millers over what could be a pretty long haul. The show has both star quality and stars who know how to work the material.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 83 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    A surprisingly assured supernatural saga with at least a little something for everyone, plus non-stop eye candy for one and all.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 25 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Watching BFF leaves only a dull, but throbbing headache.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Its characters are comparatively compelling even when they're falling a little short.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Undateable airs in times when summer series aren’t always the throwaways they used to be. This may not be a keeper but it may well grow on viewers rather than wear on them.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    For now, Lucky 7 is a grabber with strong potential for further viewer investment.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Chaos can be amusing in spots, although it's hard to envision it as a long-distance runner. It might be housing a breakout star, though [in James Murray].
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    This is one hell of a hellish slog toward a redemption that isn’t really earned, given what Ebenezer once did to Bob Cratchit’s desperate wife, a woman of color played by Vinette Robinson.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The whole enterprise is alternately laughable and affecting without committing the eighth deadly sin of being boring.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The 24 franchise still takes itself very seriously and perhaps will somehow sort things out from a basic believability standpoint as time marches on. But in the first four hours, it’s too often 24: Cuckoo Clock.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    This seems like a serviceable drama that merits a bit better ladder grade (heh-heh) for an improved second hour.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Expect nothing new under the sun from a drama set in San Antonio, filmed in New Mexico and falling flat wherever the cameras might roll.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 25 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    This thing appears to be going nowhere fast. And it’s already taking way too long to get there.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Alex, Inc. is an enjoyably comfy fit among all of those fellow ABC family comedies. Braff and Imperioli are the name brands, but the wife and kids quickly make their own strong and appealing impressions.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    There are ample interesting ingredients here. But two subsequent episodes--Fox for some reason hasn’t provided the second one--are comparably hit and miss.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Happyish has a few genuinely imaginative moments amid its many, many excesses. But in the end, it’s too much of a one-note Hell-On-Earth “Greatest Hits” album whose principal characters have the overall appeal of vinegar-drenched cotton candy.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Its hip replacement is a cast that's been around the block and knows how to act accordingly.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Salem is replete with scenes that make little sense. It’s mostly a jumble of decent enough special effects, less-than-decent acting, a script that also should be lashed with “10 hard ones” and lots of blood-curdling screaming.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Rosenbaum has an amusing moment or two, but nothing to make anyone grin with the stereotypical wideness of the church’s gay staffer. The marginally funnier stuff occurs away from the parish.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 25 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Life Sentence has an off-putting preciousness to it while grinding through one “crisis” after another. It doesn’t earn any sympathies because its principal characters don’t merit much more than one big “Oh, shaddup!” With the exception, perhaps, of poor Wes.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 83 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    It all makes for a promising start on a network whose best comedies invariably wind up on Thursday nights. Whitney is already there, and looks as though it just might belong.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Well, the play’s the thing in this one, but Johnson is the hammer and tongs. At age 65, he still seems up to the challenge of stirring up this little petroleum potboiler. The kids are all right but he’s the man.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Tthe season’s slightest new sitcom on a network that has done much better by this genre in recent seasons with the likes of Young Sheldon, Mom and Life In Pieces. In this case, the premise simply has no foreseeable promise.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    None of this qualifies as breezy spring/summertime entertainment. Still, if apocalyptic drama is your entertainment of choice, then Containment might well keep you contented.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    This is, however, one of those shows that a viewer easily can love to hate. And in that context, Love in the Wild is very well equipped to both go the distance and even be invited back next summer.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Kirk just doesn't click in the lead role. Nor do most of the words he's given.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Red Widow isn't as compelling as Last Resort was in its early episodes. But it's appreciably better than those other two. Still, consumer confidence in Red Widow's staying power should be rightfully suspect at best. And in Sunday's second half, the premise already shows some signs of unraveling on the road to potential ridiculosity.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    It all comes out pretty well in the wash. Same Name gets fairly close to sealing the deal on the idea that celebs can learn something from just plain folks.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    There’s considerable techno-talk in the premiere episode, with little of it making much sense.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Phillippe and Lewis as the two principal characters are not potent enough to get the juices flowing in an unfolding crime tale that’s neither terrible nor scintillating.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Alley, Perlman and Richards were far more gainfully employed on their previous classic comedy series. Now they’re in a sense doing dinner theater in Yuma but seemingly having a good time together nonetheless.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    There’s a bit of a free-form Arrested Development vibe in play, but not enough to elevate Working the Engels to anywhere near that level.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Although the acting can be a bit mechanical, Syfy’s Z Nation may have enough pop, intrigue and indispensable gore to serve as more than a mere placeholder for AMC’s The Walking Dead.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 25 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Marco Polo might best be utilized as a sedative or sleeping pill. All those dark to pitch black exteriors and interiors seem guaranteed to prompt an onset of heavy eyelids if not a complete conk-out. And if that doesn’t get you, the ponderous pace almost certainly will.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    A little too much patience is required at times, but the first four episodes do include a brief glimpse into a pretty cool looking netherworld during Holden’s chemical injections at the hands of Willa.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The premiere hour includes heavy lay-of-the-land narration by Magnum, perhaps in part because the character dialogue can be pretty clunky at times. ... The Hawaiian scenery remains gorgeous and crossover episodes with the Hawaii Five-0 guys are inevitable. This time around, the new Magnum also will have romantic possibilities with Higgins, who’s already sending some signals.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The initial two hours move along at a fairly crisp pace, complete with skulking and several close calls but next to nothing spent on special effects.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    After a crackling good start, Prison Break begins to wobble but doesn’t quite topple in succeeding hours.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 16 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Sullivan & Son is utterly artless in its efforts to be an equal opportunity offender.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    An improbably entertaining outing that initially finds Kathy Bates' character reclining at her office desk while smoking pot and bemoaning her fate.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    It has its moments and is well-appointed with seasoned actors who know how to hit their marks. So if you like Hot In Cleveland, then by all means stick around.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 91 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    It's a genuinely chilling four-hour adaptation of the tireless horror-meister's 1998 bestseller.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The producers of this series, who include Ryan Seacrest, nonetheless are asking viewers to patiently sort through a lot of characters.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    How to Live is decently performed in light of the oft over-reaching material at hand.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    There are signs of improvement, though, even if Mullally tends to over-do it in the "brash and bold" department while holdover Christian Slater remains in place as the downgraded former head dude known only as Oz.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    This is an amiable enough little comedy series that doesn’t use religion as a punching bag.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 75 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The key will be whether Second Chance can keep from lapsing into a stale weekly catch-a-crook caper or have enough layers of unique duplicity and humanity to resonate as considerably more than that. It so far still deserves the benefit of the doubt, with a compelling opening episode that should leave many viewers in the mood for more.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 58 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Dominion perhaps has the makings of a passable post-apocalyptic tale. But it can also be over-wrought and half-baked, with a premise that never really delivers any of the implied biblical goods.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 25 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    It’s all cut and spliced to the point where any real “jeopardy” involved is anyone’s guess. The weekly competitions on Survivor are far more convincingly presented.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    On paper this seemed as though it could be a bit of fun. In execution, it’s labored and way over-cooked.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 42 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    None of this really clicks.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    The game itself gets bogged down with a succession of gratingly easy questions that turn Round 1 into a rather boring marathon.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    Being neck-deep in a muddy, murky eerie canal gets tiresome in due time. And the performances aren’t all that hot either in this adaptation of Michael Marshall Smith’s 2007 novel.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 67 Reviewed by
      Ed Bark
    It starts to get better in Episode 2, courtesy of a killer raw rehearsal by the real-life band Reignwolf, which has been hastily signed to be the opening act in Memphis. The power of their music has some of the roadies believably transfixed. And for this short burst at least, the occasional magic of their profession is self-evident without any clunky pronouncements from Wilson’s Hanson.

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