Black Box
ABC | Release Date: April 24, 2014
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
6
Negative:
13

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
33
HitfixAlan SepinwallApr 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: A clumsy, pretentious, cliché-riddled mess that just happens to have a woman at the center of things. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraApr 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: A show so deeply flawed and absurdly derivative you will wonder if you, like the main character, are experiencing a manic episode. Read full review
30
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayApr 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: Casting Vanessa Redgrave as Dr. Black's therapist is a sign of how seriously Black Box takes her condition--and itself--but even Redgrave can't raise this above the level of a not very good medical procedural. Read full review
30
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandApr 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: Black's condition is no joke--except when it is. The series is severely manic-depressive itself and emotionally manipulative in both modes. Read full review
30
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyApr 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: In short, it’s a well-intended mess of a show with preposterous medical emergencies and a few flickers of ingenuity. Read full review
30
VarietyBrian LowryApr 22, 2014
Season 1 Review: Put it all together, and Black Box simply isn’t worth seeking out. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandApr 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: No, you won't and shouldn't laugh at neurological disorders, but there are enough writing disorders to keep you in stitches until someone issues a DNR order on Black Box. Read full review
25
USA TodayRobert BiancoApr 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: There are laughs to be had in this inept series from Amy Holden Jones (Indecent Proposal), but they're all of the laughing at--not with--variety. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklApr 21, 2014
Season 1 Review: The unusual medical cases feel like a way of marking time until Dr. Black can once again go off her meds and turn into a sex fiend in a show that might as well be called “Fifty Shades of Grey Matter.” Read full review
10
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushApr 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: [An] insufferable, mindlessly contrived and wretchedly acted medical melodrama. Read full review
10
Washington PostHank StueverApr 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: Black Box’s biggest flaw is that it has zero intuition for its own (apparently unintentional) acts of camp, attempting to say something meaningful about the stigma of mental illness when everything about the show is pure crackpot. Read full review
10
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanApr 22, 2014
Season 1 Review: With lame flashbacks (her mother really wanted to kill herself--just you watch her say it, repeatedly) and crazy-people re-enactments, Black Box is just beyond silly. Add in Reilly’s ill-fitting performance and a need to spin around like a ballerina--free from those restrictive pills!--and you’ve got a recipe for never wanting anyone to find this Black Box let alone watch it. Read full review
0
St. Louis Post-DispatchGail PenningtonApr 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: This is, hands down, the worst series of the year, with the most annoying lead character in a season with many annoying lead characters. Read full review
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