• Network: SHOWTIME
  • Series Premiere Date: Jun 19, 1999
Season #: 2, 1
Metascore
57

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 17
  2. Negative: 6 out of 17

Critic Reviews

  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Barry Garron
    Jun 5, 2015
    90
    Sly, amusing and devilishly clever. [16 June 1999]
  2. Reviewed by: Ray Richmond
    Jun 5, 2015
    90
    Beggars has the earmarks of a savage gem in its own right, slashing as it does sacred cows and spoofing TV's executive culture with wickedly sophisticated abandon. It's the best kind of farce in that, like "Sanders," it keeps reality percolating just underneath the surface while nearly always defying expectations.
  3. Houston Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ann Hodges
    Jun 5, 2015
    83
    Beggars could be a great one, if they don't waste their time going for sex jokes. [17 June 1999, p.1]
  4. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Storm
    Jun 5, 2015
    80
    Like The Larry Sanders Show, Beggars and Choosers makes riotous and cutting fun of network television and will be a hit in Los Angeles, but it also has a humanity and warm humor that should appeal to folks who don't work in showbiz. [17 June 1999, p.E01]
  5. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Tom Shales
    Jun 5, 2015
    80
    Probably the savviest savage satire of the TV business since Paddy Chayefsky's barnstormer "Network" in 1976. [19 June 1999, p.C01]
  6. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Bianculli
    Jun 5, 2015
    75
    The good news is, Beggars and Choosers has plenty of premise, and plenty of targets for satire. [18 June 1999, p.149]
  7. Reviewed by: Ginia Bellafante
    Jul 1, 2013
    70
    Worth watching.
  8. San Diego Union-Tribune
    Reviewed by: Robert P. Laurence
    Jun 5, 2015
    50
    If you watched "The Larry Sanders Show," you'll find that Beggars and Choosers is weak tea. [18 June 1999, p.E-10]
  9. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    Jun 4, 2015
    50
    The problem with Beggars and Choosers is that it's all too familiar, and too safe. It relies on a generic cynicism about the media, seemingly unaware that 23 years after "Network," we fully understand the ironies inherent in the TV industry. [19 June 1999, p.A14]
  10. Reviewed by: Michele Greppi
    Jun 5, 2015
    40
    We must caution you that this all sounds sexier, funnier and more savage than it is.
  11. Boston Herald
    Reviewed by: Monica Collins
    Jun 5, 2015
    38
    Beggars and Choosers has moments of high laughter and inside-y insight. Ultimately, though, it's a downer that dwells more on the cliches than the truths. [17 June 1999, p.59]
  12. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Phil Rosenthal
    Jun 5, 2015
    37
    A dull, plodding and predictable letdown. Apart from showing us some very lovely breasts, it squanders the freedom of pay-cable by going for obvious gags and even more obvious plot developments. [17 June 1999, p.55]
  13. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    Jun 5, 2015
    30
    Everything else that's supposed to be a shock is telegraphed well in advance. Everything meant to surprise falls hopelessly flat. [18 June 1999, p.44]
  14. Kansas City Star
    Reviewed by: Aaron Barnhart
    Jun 5, 2015
    30
    [A] sad-sack parody. [18 June 1999, p.F4]
  15. Dallas Morning News
    Reviewed by: Manuel Mendoza
    Jun 4, 2015
    30
    It pulls its punches and takes cheap shots. [19 June 1999, p.1C]
  16. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    Jun 5, 2015
    10
    Tasteless. [18 June 1999, p.12E]