Family Tools
ABC | Release Date: May 1, 2013
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
7
Negative:
6

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Entertainment WeeklyNuzhat NaoreenApr 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: Sure, you'll get some easy laughs, but no originality. Read full review
63
USA TodayRobert BiancoApr 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: There's nothing wrong with that cast. Simmons and Remini, in particular, play off each other expertly, and provide a nice, tart balance to Bornheimer's sweeter character. But despite their best efforts, the show just floats along, weightless, innocuous and eminently forgettable. Read full review
63
People WeeklyTom GliattoApr 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: The show itself is standard construction, a framework of planks that will need more work. [6 May 2013, p.48]
58
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardMay 1, 2013
Season 1 Review: [The] clunky scenes work thanks to the exceptional cast. These actors can sell anything. Almost. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydMay 1, 2013
Season 1 Review: The pilot half aims for the exaggerated, other-worldly tone of "Arrested Development" and misses.... The second episode, by contrast, has a healthy dose of the ordinary mixed in and is actually about something: the invisibility of the working class. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertApr 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: There are a few successful jokes here and there, and some able physical comedy involving Bornheimer and Gathegi, but those moments get lost in the shuffle of predictability. Read full review
50
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenApr 29, 2013
Season 1 Review: Family Tools is an occasionally funny (but mostly not) show about a son who takes over his father's handyman business. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushMay 1, 2013
Season 1 Review: Wedged between the superior company of The Middle and Modern Family is the bumbling blandness of the slapsticky Family Tools. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyApr 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: Instead of trusting this foundation and these actors, though, Family Tools seems to feel it must make every situation and interaction so outrageous it turns the characters into cartoons. Read full review
40
VarietyBrian LowryApr 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: With a concept and general feeling this tired, when it comes to forging any lasting bonds, Family will likely discover water is thicker than blood. Read full review
25
RedEyeCurt WagnerApr 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: [A] stinker of a family sitcom. Read full review
25
NewsdayVerne GayApr 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: With Tools, there is no discernible style, or point of view, or voice, or humor that ever rises to the level of originality. Read full review
25
Uncle BarkyEd BarkApr 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: It’s a grindingly bad half-hour with some even worse finishing touches. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandApr 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: A mostly appealing cast is wasted in a laugh-starved show about a relentless screw-up of a man-child who has never been able to find a career path, much less make his dad proud of him. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineMike LechevallierMay 1, 2013
Season 1 Review: Whatever made the original somewhat of a surprise success is clearly absent here, as Family Tools wastes its audience's time with stale, threadbare material that should've never seen the light of day. Read full review
10
Washington PostHank StueverApr 29, 2013
Season 1 Review: A stinkbomb sent to critics last summer that is now getting the burnoff it deserves at season’s end. 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