Bless This Mess

:

Season 1
  • Network: ABC
  • Series Premiere Date: Apr 16, 2019
Season #: 2, 1
Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
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Critic Reviews

  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    Apr 16, 2019
    80
    It is fully formed and funny, a dry contemporary comedy built on an old foundation.
  2. Paste Magazine
    Reviewed by: LaToya Ferguson
    Apr 16, 2019
    70
    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.
  3. Time
    Reviewed by: Judy Berman
    Apr 12, 2019
    70
    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.
  5. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Ben Travers
    Apr 17, 2019
    67
    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.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: David Canfield
    Apr 13, 2019
    67
    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]
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Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Most Shared TV Season of 2019

User Reviews

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User Score
3.1

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 17
  3. Negative: 12 out of 17
  1. NotchFilter
    Apr 20, 2019
    1
    Green Acres redone. Poorly.

    Normally I prefer to watch a few episodes before I opine, but this show just did not seem to warrant my time.
  2. Albear
    Apr 24, 2019
    3
    I like the two leads but spend the money and pay some professional writers. The show isn't funny. Will watch it one more time before turningI like the two leads but spend the money and pay some professional writers. The show isn't funny. Will watch it one more time before turning on reruns of Green Acres.… Full Review »
  3. ClariseSamuels
    Apr 20, 2019
    4
    If you’ve seen In A World…, then you will feel obliged to watch the latest Lake Bell endeavor, Bless This Mess. Bell is multitalented and aIf you’ve seen In A World…, then you will feel obliged to watch the latest Lake Bell endeavor, Bless This Mess. Bell is multitalented and a great beauty, but if I were her film studies professor, I would give her a D for this project and write on the front page, “Requires more effort.” Seemingly impatient to have an instant success, Bell is willing to do lame, sophomoric comedy, such as the kind that makes one shudder when watching Childrens Hospital or Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later.

    Bless This Mess has a nice ensemble cast, but the plot is trite and strains the viewer’s patience. Would two city slickers (Lake Bell and Dax Shepard) really give up their hip city lifestyle to become farmers on a farm they’ve never seen? Is it worth it to bother renovating a house that is a broken-down handyman’s special, when real estate in the boonies of Nebraska is so cheap that a professional couple could qualify for a mortgage hands down? Did they really think they were going to grow alfalfa when it’s not clear they even know what it is? Are country folk really just homespun, undereducated bumpkins who occasionally stop by to spout pearls of wisdom? It would seem that country residents are quite capable of reading poetry (they have libraries), learning foreign languages (they have Internet) and shopping for gourmet food in the city. If they are that cut off from the world, they wouldn’t say, “I’m not a Jewish person,” when told they could use psychotherapy. (This remark strikes one as being ever-so-slightly tinged with antisemitism, even though Bell, aka Siegel, is half Jewish through her father.) No, the difference between the city slicker and the country bumpkin is neither culture nor education. The difference is simply wealth versus poverty.

    This poverty is evident in Ed Begley’s character, who lives as a squatter in the barn on the couple’s estate and stops in regularly to use the bathroom. A country sheriff should be able to make a living by being a sheriff alone, and not have to run the general store and the local theater to make ends meet. The inherited house, which belonged previously to a great aunt, was allowed to deteriorate into an utter state of disrepair that is so complete, the house is too dangerous for occupancy. The poverty is present throughout, exaggerated to be sure, but it is not there to make social commentary; it is there because it’s supposed to be funny, and unfortunately, it doesn’t make you laugh.    … Full Review »
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