Bless This Mess
ABC | Release Date: April 16, 2019
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydApr 16, 2019
Season 1 Review: It is fully formed and funny, a dry contemporary comedy built on an old foundation. Read full review
70
Paste MagazineLaToya FergusonApr 16, 2019
Season 1 Review: If the series succeeds it’s thanks to Bell and Shepard’s pleasant chemistry, which carries the premise further than seems possible if the leads were cast differently. Read full review
70
TimeJudy BermanApr 12, 2019
Season 1 Review: Like Meriwether’s biggest hit, New Girl, the show balances old-fashioned sweetness with of-the-moment characters and cultural references; neither rural nor urban types comes across as caricatures. Best of all, Bell and Shepard make an utterly believable, sympathetic couple–one that is just beginning to understand what it really means to make a lifelong commitment. Read full review
67
IndieWireBen TraversApr 17, 2019
Season 1 Review: It’s a solid 22 minutes of television ... But after less than a half-hour of setup, there’s no way of saying if the first season is richer or poorer than the sum of its parts. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyDavid CanfieldApr 13, 2019
Season 1 Review: Despite its likable leads, the skyscraper-to-cornstalks premise feels stale--though Pam Grier delights as one of the many kooky locals--and the plot contains holes. But an affecting climax, where Rio and Mike face each other--and reality--indicates potential. [19/26 Apr 2019, p.90]
60
VarietyCaroline FramkeApr 15, 2019
Season 1 Review: Bell and Shepard are fun together, but their enthusiasm can’t quite distract from the fact that, for a show about a couple uprooting their livelihoods to move halfway across the country, the stakes here are remarkably low. Read full review
56
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenApr 15, 2019
Season 1 Review: Much of the humor is of the predictable, fish out of water variety ... but “Bless This Mess” is at its funniest when it gets weird with characters like Rudy (Ed Begley Jr.), who lives in the couple’s barn, and Jacob (JT Neal), the dim-witted son of the neighbors. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergApr 16, 2019
Season 1 Review: The first 22 minutes of Bless This Mess rely too heavily on, "Man, I can't believe we're still doing that joke in 2019" tropes and hackneyed beats. Read full review
50
New York PostMichael StarrApr 10, 2019
Season 1 Review: [Bless This Mess] doesn’t embarrass itself here but also doesn’t do much to push the sitcom needle in a new direction. Read full review
40
CNNBrian LowryApr 16, 2019
Season 1 Review: Escapism has its place, but this feels more insubstantial than even the early-21st-century reality-TV version of this idea, "The Simple Life." Read full review
Current TV Shows
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 92 The Pitt: Season 2
2 90 The Celebrity Traitors UK: Season 1
3 87 Hacks: Season 5
4 87 Industry: Season 4
5 87 Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal:...
6 85 The Beatles Anthology
7 85 The Traitors [UK]: Season 4
8 85 Bait: Season 1
9 84 Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!
10 83 Lord of the Flies
11 83 Riot Women: Season 1
12 83 For All Mankind: Season 5
13 81 The Muppet Show (2026)
14 80 Outlander (2014): Season 8
15 80 The Other Bennet Sister: Season 1
16 80 The Mighty Nein: Season 1
17 80 The Comeback: Season 3
18 80 The American Revolution
19 80 One Piece (2023): Season 2
20 80 Dark Winds: Season 4
SEE ALL