Accidentally on Purpose

:

Season 1
  • Network: CBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 21, 2009
Metascore
50

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 18
  3. Negative: 4 out of 18
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Critic Reviews

  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    60
    Everything in the pilot, written by executive producer Claudia Lonow, is a hair or three too strenuous; Billie has been knocked down to a few easy-to-grasp impulses, and almost all the other roles are filled by stereotypes--Jensen's most wastefully--in stereotypical relationships. Nevertheless, the premise is full of interesting possibilities about love and age and unconventional parenting.
  2. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Randee Dawn
    50
    This is an utterly predictable comedy (what, you don't think Zack and Billie will fall in love in Season 2, right after he starts dating another chick and Billie has an epiphany?) that's got a few fun lines.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Tom Shales
    50
    Accidentally on Purpose doesn't have the smarts to be the salvation of a genre, but neither does it look like the torpedo to sink the ship. Not great, but nothing heinous.
  5. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    50
    Accidentally feels like a show that's nearly been focus-grouped into oblivion--with lines, beats and a cultural resonance that's so familiar you can almost see the baseball bat of predictability descending upon your head. So be it. Elfman's fine, as usual. This could be worse.
  6. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    50
    The stereotypes in play on Accidentally on Purpose are flat, if harmless, from the get-go.
  7. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    50
    It's not as funny as either of those hits ["The Big Bang Theory" and "Two and a Half Men"]--and certainly not as good a show as the superior "Bang"--but it is more enjoyable than "Rules of Engagement," which returns at mid-season (unfortunately).
  8. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    50
    CBS can turn a lot of tired fluff into sitcom hits, so who knows about Accidentally on Purpose? There are laughs here and there, but mostly it's all so very familiar and not remotely as funny as "Modern Family" or "Cougar Town."
  9. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Mike Hale
    50
    Accidentally on Purpose, with its matching sets of friends for Billie and Zack, its bland jokes, its lack of any sort of topicality, its Jenna Elfman, feels as if it could have been on any time in the last two decades.
  10. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    50
    A newspaper writer whose one-night-stand with a baby-faced young-un leads to predictable complications when she gets, you guessed it, knocked up.
  11. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    50
    The pilot is breezy enough, and there are solid supporting players, including Ashley Jensen and Grant Show. Those ingredients, however, are thus far more promising than what first comes out of the oven
  12. Philadelphia Daily News
    Reviewed by: Ellen Gray
    40
    Zack (Jon Foster) also very sweet, which leaves Elfman as the sour (sort of) grown-up, a thankless job made only more thankless by the writing, which takes a bad situation and only makes it worse.

Awards & Rankings

87
#87 Best TV Season of 2009
23
#23 Most Discussed TV Season of 2009
63
#63 Most Shared TV Season of 2009

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 93 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 93
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 93
  3. Negative: 30 out of 93
  1. mrcritic
    Oct 23, 2010
    10
    Hilarious is how I describe this show. It's a shame it was cancelled early, because I thought it was intelligent and hilarious. I loved it.Hilarious is how I describe this show. It's a shame it was cancelled early, because I thought it was intelligent and hilarious. I loved it. R.I.P A.O.P… Full Review »
  2. RetaO.
    Apr 20, 2010
    10
    This show makes me laugh like no other and I find it very heart warming.
  3. "Zippyjet"
    Apr 14, 2010
    0
    If I could give it a negative score I'd do it in a heartbeat. Do we really need? 1. Another sitcom dealing with a yuppy in New York or If I could give it a negative score I'd do it in a heartbeat. Do we really need? 1. Another sitcom dealing with a yuppy in New York or California who works in the media and where money is no object? 2. Endorsing getting knocked up by a one night stand? And dropping a love child? 3. Lines that even a caveman wouldn't stoop so low as to write? 4. Vapid Characters? My answer is a big fat NO! Jenna Elfman is cute and funny and can do better and deserves better. For whatever reason CBS Monday night comdies click with the exception of that one turkey. Anyone remember "The Class?" This one is an accident that didn't wait to happen. CBS, do us all a favor and relegate this one to the land of the cancelled like Three Rivers!… Full Review »
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