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Critic Reviews
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Season 3 proves it’s one of the most fundamentally sound sitcoms out there. From the performances (really, those kids are good!) to the direction to the writing to the ethereal collective chemistry that stems from great character-building, every layer is so well-executed that even for the few off episodes, there’s still plenty of laughs to be had.
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It is sharp, occasionally mean, and dark enough, but never nasty – content, instead, to be daft. ... Rather than hanging on a clever-clever concept, this is a case of well-crafted execution, and it wins extra marks for having actors playing students who look within reaching distance of being teenagers themselves.
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Getting to see these kids bounce off each other, and Howerton, is still a hoot, and while the show falls back into the run-of-the-mill rhythms of the sitcom more often than we might like, it’s still a flavor of “run of the mill” in which Patton Oswalt spins devil sticks in an effort to sexually out-display an ever-delightful Paula Pell. If the show’s coasting a bit at this point, at least it’s still doing so in roughly the right direction.
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Every episode has a pacing issue, and slack pacing kills comedy fast. While the writing seems too thin to sustain an audience, the cast still does everything in their power to elevate it. Pell and Oswalt have perfect comic timing, and the young cast is consistently funny especially when they’re allowed to break stereotypes about intellectual teens. However, it does feel like Howerton is ready to move on.