Boss
Starz | Release Date: October 21, 2011
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandOct 19, 2011
Season 1 Review: When you have a story as thoroughly involving as this one, evoking both "King Lear" and "Citizen Kane," and when the performances are this good, Boss almost directs itself. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanOct 19, 2011
Season 1 Review: Starz has its channel-defining series in Boss, a wholly impressive new drama that comes out of the gate with gravitas, swagger, originality and intrigue. Read full review
91
NewsdayVerne GayAug 14, 2012
Season 2 Review: No relaxing allowed with Boss. Sorry about that, and sorry for this series, which remains smart, absorbing and particularly well done. Read full review
91
NewsdayVerne GayOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: The Gus Vant Sant-directed pilot of what is easily the most important project in Starz history pulses with the sort of corruption that absolute power sires. Read full review
91
Uncle BarkyEd BarkOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: Grammer's performance is thoroughly engaging and convincing. And the events swirling around him never fail to snap, crackle and pop. Read full review
91
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: The script is tight and ambitious, as it attempts to anatomize corruption in the big city. Read full review
90
SalonMatt Zoller SeitzOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Even at its worst, Boss radiates intelligence and toughness, and an appreciation of politics as a nonstop performance in an unscripted drama. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Onto this short list of tightly written and intensely acted thrillers now comes Boss. Read full review
90
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: TV viewers who watch Boss probably won't be disappointed and even those who are wary of latching onto a new series have reason to give the show a chance. Read full review
90
Miami HeraldGlenn GarvinOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: Starz' new eight-episode drama is at once the most cynical and most captivating portrayal of American politics ever presented on television. Read full review
88
RedEyeCurt WagnerAug 17, 2012
Season 2 Review: TV's best series that few are watching hasn't lightened up, and that's mostly a good thing. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklAug 15, 2012
Season 2 Review: [Boss brings] back its intoxicating blend of soap-opera sudsiness, Shakespearean tragedy and scathing insight into big city politics, Chicago-style. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklOct 14, 2011
Season 1 Review: The cable network's political drama even has my vote for the best new show of the season. Read full review
88
People WeeklyTom GliattoOct 14, 2011
Season 1 Review: The show's many subplots are handled clumsily, but these two [Grammer & Nielsen] are too good to pass up. 25 Oct 2011, p.48]
83
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerAug 13, 2012
Season 2 Review: Boss may be florid, but its peeks into backroom in-fighting, at favors promised and betrayed, remain strong elements in its favor. Read full review
83
HitfixAlan SepinwallOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: While Boss is a very promising drama with a great lead performance, it might be better off easing up a bit and just letting viewers appreciate Grammer's career-redefining work. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzAug 17, 2012
Season 2 Review: Boss' mix of deft footwork and bull-in-a-china shop clumsiness can be off-putting, but it's always anchored by Grammer's alternately scary and mournful lead performance, and you're never in doubt that there's a fully formed sensibility behind it. Read full review
80
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenAug 16, 2012
Season 2 Review: Season two pulls viewers back on board with intriguing plot twists, more light moments and strong performances. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyAug 16, 2012
Season 2 Review: One of the triumphs of Boss is that we care as much as he [Tom Kane] does about what kind of Chicago he will leave behind. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalSohrab AhmariAug 10, 2012
Season 2 Review: Boss is not flawless. But buoyed by strong performances and a haunting score, the show makes for deeply affecting television nevertheless. Read full review
80
SlateTroy PattersonOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Boss is electric with self-importance, and that is in itself is a hoot, given its particular combination of thematic pomp and expressionistic pulp. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: It's a solid enough formula, and if the writers have overly epic ambitions, they also have a collective eye for detail. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: Boss makes the stories compelling and chilling all over again. Read full review
75
People WeeklyTom GliattoAug 17, 2012
Season 2 Review: Kane's visions aren't done with originality, but Grammer's performance is still powerful. [27 Aug 2012, p.48]
75
New York PostLinda StasiAug 17, 2012
Season 2 Review: The season's first episode is pretty damned riveting. Read full review
75
Uncle BarkyEd BarkAug 16, 2012
Season 2 Review: His [Kelsey Grammer's] center-ring performance pulls Boss along even when it gets bogged down. The supporting actors likewise are all capable, although Grammer's glower clearly is the series' tower of power. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDaniel GoldbergAug 15, 2012
Season 2 Review: Though the series has its share of larger-than-life moments that ring hollow, its knack for extracting quiet beauty from all the mayhem lends Boss's best scenes the precision and artistry of a monstrous ballet. Read full review
75
HitfixAlan SepinwallAug 15, 2012
Season 2 Review: Grammer is outstanding enough on his own to merit watching....Boss as a series, though, still doesn't seem like it's quite there. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandAug 13, 2012
Season 2 Review: Although the characters have only scant or fleeting redeeming personal values, we continue to buy into their machinations because of how they are created and because of superbly convincing performances at every level of the cast. Read full review
75
New York PostLinda StasiOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: Lots of the characterizations work wonderfully, and the acting is fantastic. Read full review
70
Denver PostJoanne OstrowAug 17, 2012
Season 2 Review: Frankly, the acting merits more accolades than the storylines so far. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushAug 17, 2012
Season 2 Review: It has sharpened this season (judging from the first five episodes) into a bolder, though still hardly subtle, urban melodrama of moral, political and sexual chicanery. Read full review
63
USA TodayRobert BiancoOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: Some of the intrigue is cleverly done, but none of it connects to characters we care about. Read full review
60
TimeJames PoniewozikOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Its early episodes are a mix of power and disappointment. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Ultimately, this is an easier show to admire than it is to recommend. Read full review
60
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: The problem is, the show that's been built around the actor (who's also a producer on the project) isn't nearly as interesting as what Grammer brings to the screen, and the sluggish pacing and melodramatic excesses of Boss could put off those drawn in by the actor's confident star turn. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: A smart look at political power brokers that gets silly on the subjects of sex and violence. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian LowryOct 17, 2011
Season 1 Review: It's all played solidly enough, though so many elements seem plucked from other fare. Read full review
58
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardAug 17, 2012
Season 2 Review: While Boss has delusions of Shakespeare, it's not even in the same league as the TNT revival of "Dallas." Read full review
58
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: It's hard to imagine viewers voting with their clickers for this pretentious political soap. Read full review
58
Washington PostHank StueverSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Boss works hard to resist the usual "this is how we do things in Chicago" nonsense and dutifully aims for a somewhat "Wire"-esque believability. Yet it can also feel like a burden to watch. Read full review
50
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanAug 10, 2012
Season 2 Review: There are fitful moments that work, but the show also manages to shoot itself in the foot regularly. Read full review
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