Everybody Hates Chris
The CW | UPN | Release Date: September 22, 2005
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
88
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: With elements of "Wonder Years," "Cosby" and the "The Jeffersons," but also a spirit all its own, "Chris" is a sitcom that finally makes the family funny again. Read full review
100
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: It is, in short, a show about real life, as seen through the eyes of one of the funniest men in America. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
Season 1 Review: [A] rare work of brilliance. Read full review
100
Detroit Free PressMike Duffy
Season 1 Review: Blends Rock's signature, whip-smart irreverence with richly humorous, character-driven stories of his own adolescence to create the rare family comedy that is both hilariously honest and filled with heart. Read full review
100
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: Sweet but never treacly, nostalgic but never dishonest, startlingly frank about race and always painfully funny, Everybody Hates Chris is the sitcom for which the networks have been yearning for the better part of a decade. Read full review
100
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: It's one of the best new shows from any network this year, and is a total, almost giddy delight from start to finish. Read full review
100
Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker
Season 1 Review: A hugely likable sitcom is born. Read full review
90
PopMattersMichael Buening
Season 1 Review: The networks have been wondering how to compete with the no-holds barred nature of cable programming. This is it. Read full review
90
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 1 Review: [It has] a rich mix of sharp observant humor and a sure feel for the family dynamic. Read full review
90
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: Real and relatable, "Chris" may be the best new comedy of a season filled with sitcoms worth viewing. Read full review
90
SlateDana Stevens
Season 1 Review: Unexpectedly sweet-spirited. Read full review
90
VarietyPhil Gallo
Season 1 Review: It could be a "Wonder Years" for a new generation. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith
Season 1 Review: What makes it uniquely entertaining are Mr. Rock's and co-creator Ali LeRoi's humorous insights into the terrors of adolescence and their tart observations about harsh realities of the wider world. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)John Leonard
Season 1 Review: The best of the new fall sitcoms. Read full review
90
The New RepublicLee Siegel
Season 1 Review: "Everybody Hates Chris" is something more than the wise, tender, funny portrayal of the evolution of a gifted mind. It's actually something very rare on television, even rarer in the movies, and almost non-existent in contemporary fiction. It's the wise, tender, funny portrait of a poor kid. Read full review
90
The A.V. Club
Season 1 Review: Comparisons to The Wonder Years are inevitable, but Everybody Hates Chris scrapes away much of that golden nostalgia by putting a funny spin on frequently painful times. Read full review
90
SalonHeather Havrilesky
Season 1 Review: The kid is funny, the mom is funny, the dad is funny, the stories are funny, and Rock's voice-over is fantastic. Read full review
90
Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik
Season 1 Review: Rock deals with a harsher teen reality than Cosby did in his Fat Albert days, but he is hitting the same universal notes of conflict, love, weirdness and strength found in close-knit families. Read full review
90
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: Every bit as good as the advance praise has made it out to be. Read full review
90
Cleveland Plain DealerMark Dawidziak
Season 1 Review: It easily lives up to its advance billing as the best new show of the fall season. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: Much of the charm in this show, as well as the humor, comes from Rock's ability to vanquish political correctness in favor of a candid but affectionate look at the past. Read full review
90
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: “Everybody Hates Chris” is one of those rare nostalgia shows that doesn’t patronize childhood. Read full review
88
Houston ChronicleMike McDaniel
Season 1 Review: There's a lot to love about Everybody Hates Chris. Read full review
80
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: Let's get this straight. Everybody Hates Chris is not the Second Coming. But it is one of the season's best new series. Read full review
80
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Should appeal to fans of Rock and to viewers who long for a family comedy reminiscent of "The Cosby Show" (albeit with a sharper edge). Read full review
80
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: "Everybody Hates Chris" is the first show in a long time centered on a teenager whose main problem is not adolescent angst, but real life. And Mr. Rock makes it funny, not maudlin or mean. Read full review
80
The New YorkerNancy Franklin
Season 1 Review: Rock is able to find humor in every aspect of his childhood. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Season 1 Review: So far, Everybody Hates Chris has felt like a textbook example of how you fold a comedian’s sensibility into a familiar TV genre. Read full review
80
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: If Rock and co-creator Ali LeRoi can continue to bring depth to the characters without succumbing to cliche or sentiment, they will be on a promising path. Read full review
80
Flak MagazineTamara Watkins
Season 1 Review: "Everybody Hates Chris" is family-friendly, but it doesn't detract considerably from Rock's usual profanity-drenched style of (brutally) honest comedy. Rather, the scope of the show's humor is broadened, and allows the coming-of-age tale to speak to the general experiences of growing up. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesPaul Brownfield
Season 1 Review: The show thus far feels more observational than story-driven; it relies on our desire to listen to Rock talk. And we do want to listen, because Rock is hilarious. Read full review
50
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: What's missing here are the big laughs, despite Rock's clever narration. Read full review
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