Family Tree
HBO | Release Date: May 12, 2013
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanMay 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: A quirky and hilarious gem. Read full review
91
Uncle BarkyEd BarkMay 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: Potentially the best new comedy series of this season. Read full review
88
People WeeklyTom GliattoMay 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: It is still a distinctly Guest production: often poky, always charmingly whimsical and, from time to time, so astoundingly funny you seem to have shot into a distant stratosphere of pure comedy. [13 May 2013, p.45]
83
HitfixAlan SepinwallMay 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: Tom Chadwick is a man with a fixation that’s both reasonable and relatable, and he becomes our tour guide to the familiar, funny Christopher Guest worldview. Read full review
80
Kansas City StarSara SmithMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: The freshest take on the single-camera mockumentary since “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: Family Tree is less belly-laugh funny than wry and occasionally poignant. Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: Along the way, Tom becomes briefly attached to potential ancestors who don't pan out or aren't quite what they first seem--a not unfamiliar experience is frequently rendered funny by just a small dollop of strangeness. Sometimes it's more than a dollop, but Family Tree doesn't dwell so long on any single absurdity to make anyone uncomfortable. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: In the wonderful Family Tree, hangdog Chris O'Dowd, finding his life stalled after losing a girlfriend and a job in short order, goes in search of his roots and relatives. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: [Genealogy] may not seem like a particularly robust thread for an eight-part series, but O’Dowd, Guest and a wonderful cast of deadpan actors and improv experts spin it into a tapestry of cheery laughter. Read full review
80
TimeJames PoniewozikMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: Over the first four episodes, Family Tree doesn’t have the gut-busting, excruciatingly funny moments of Guest’s movies--no Stonehenge here--but it adds a warmth to the usual pathos of his characters, and O’Dowd’s hangdog charm is a good match for the story. Read full review
80
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertMay 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: As with a number of moments in the completely enjoyable Family Tree, I’m not sure how the actors kept themselves from laughing. Read full review
75
The Detroit NewsTom LongMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: Family Tree is addictively silly stuff. Read full review
75
USA TodayRobert BiancoMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: Tree is not the master at his best--it's one of those light entertainments that pass by without leaving much of a mark. But it's good-hearted and amusing. Read full review
75
New York PostLinda StasiMay 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: It helps to be a fan of Christopher Guest--the genius mockumentarian responsible for movies like “Best in Show” and “Waiting for Guffman”--if you’re going to love his new HBO series, Family Tree. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck BowenMay 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: Like the characters who occupy Guest's best work, particularly A Mighty Wind, Tom and his friends have real stature, and the jokes often gracefully comment on their yearning to puncture the bubbles of their own self-concern to connect to others. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyJeff JensenMay 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: Fortunately, Family Tree doesn't need its mockumentary monkey business to be affecting; it's stuffed with poignant, diverting treasure. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandMay 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: Just as "A Mighty Wind" and "Waiting for Guffman" aren't like traditional movies, "Family Tree" isn't like traditional sitcoms, in that there isn't a traditional setup-punch-line structure to it. It does evoke comedies such as "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Arrested Development," though, where the humor is more incremental, character-based and cumulative. Read full review
70
The Daily BeastJace LacobMay 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: The television mockumentary format may be reaching oversaturation. But for Family Tree, the result is nonetheless appealing, what I like to call "tea-cozy television"--nothing too precious or too taxing, but comforting to watch all the same. Read full review
70
Sioux City JournalBruce MillerMay 29, 2013
Season 1 Review: This is a very quirky, specific world that could repel the very people who might love it. It's a slow go but if you're not in a hurry, it might be worth dropping by. Read full review
70
Denver PostJoanne OstrowMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: This series won’t change the world, or even the world of TV comedy, but it is an intriguing diversion. Read full review
70
The New York TimesMike HaleMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: Family Tree can feel a little loose and inconsequential.... But that also means that we get to spend more time with Mr. Guest’s crack cast of improvisers and there are moments in each half-hour that pay off. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: Like many HBO half-hours, this is a slow, slow burn to get to a payoff. The smiles here are of recognition that even the most ordinary families can have wonderfully strange roots. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: While the show is full of comic highs and witty insight, it isn't funny all the time because some of the jokes are disappointingly crude. Read full review
70
Washington PostHank StueverMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: Guest has assembled a worthy and adept ensemble of oddballs. But it remains to be seen if the story itself will catch on. Read full review
60
PopMattersMichael LandweberMay 13, 2013
Season 1 Review: If the plot is thin, the show does offer other pleasures, including the actors’ improv skills, revealed in subtle and hilarious flashes of genius. Read full review
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: Sunday's premiere is pretty light on laughs. A couple of moments inspire guffaws but they are few and far between. The show's second episode offers more humor. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian LowryMay 13, 2013
Season 1 Review: Guest’s approach is as much about creating atmosphere and fostering discomfort as it is about belly laughs, but there’s a difference between being droll and positively arid. Read full review
50
SalonWilla PaskinMay 10, 2013
Season 1 Review: The results contain both fart jokes and erudition, but not so much heart. Family Tree is colder and flatter than Guest’s best work, missing its inspired kookery and high energy strangeness. Read full review
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