House of Lies
SHOWTIME | Release Date: January 8, 2012
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
8
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandJan 4, 2012
Season 1 Review: The series is so pervasively cynical--and, by the way, brilliantly funny--it has the potential of making any viewer feel his or her life isn't so bad after all. Read full review
88
USA TodayRobert BiancoJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: There is much to admire here, from the snap in the dialogue to the show's willingness to tackle issues of race in the workplace--but there might be even more if creator Matthew Carnahan (Dirt) could learn when to stop pushing. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: House of Lies is giving him (and the rest of the actors) something fresh and different to devour, which makes it a show you need to consult with. Read full review
80
Boston GlobeSarah RodmanJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: It helps that Cheadle is surrounded by characters, and actors, who seem like they will go interesting places. Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: Lies is cynical enough to make "Up in the Air" look like "Once Upon a Time," but it's a stylish, sometimes witty cynicism. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: As a pitiless, biting satire of the debauched state of American big business, it's no lie to call this one of the smartest, funniest shows of the new year. Read full review
75
People WeeklyTom GliattoJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: It takes a few half-hour episodes before the tone gels. [16 Jan 2012, p.39]
75
New York PostLinda StasiJan 5, 2012
Season 1 Review: House of Lies somehow manages to be funny despite it all. That's mostly do to great casting. Cheadle, particularly, is brilliant. Read full review
75
Uncle BarkyEd BarkJan 3, 2012
Season 1 Review: House of Lies' excesses tend to be counter-balanced by its overall look and feel. The production values are first-rate and the storytelling is crisp. Read full review
70
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerJan 11, 2013
Season 2 Review: House of Lies began as a brash comedy but ended its first season as a drama-comedy hybrid, a direction that needs to continue to keep the show from drowning in its own caricatures. The future might lie in Ms. Bell's character, Jeannie. Read full review
70
SalonRoger CatlinJan 31, 2012
Season 1 Review: House is more solidly built [than "Dirt"], thanks mostly to the bracing quality of Cheadle, who scarcely has time in the mayhem to reconsider what he does. Read full review
70
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: This Good Marty/Bad Marty dynamic may prove more fruitful for the show in the long run than the well-worn punching bag that is corporate America. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: Well-crafted and a little--sometimes more than a little--unpleasant. Read full review
70
TimeJames PoniewozikJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: House of Lies is sharp, but not big on subtext. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenJan 4, 2012
Season 1 Review: House of Lies is not a revolutionary show, but it is a fun study of men behaving badly. Read full review
67
HitfixAlan SepinwallJan 5, 2012
Season 1 Review: There's enough involving the main characters that I'm willing to stick around for a bit to let the rest of House of Lies find itself. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: Like many of Showtime's most cherished series, House of Lies can be annoying and entertaining at the same time. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian LowryJan 3, 2012
Season 1 Review: The program is moderately entertaining and very much in keeping with the tone of "Californication." Read full review
58
NewsdayVerne GayJan 5, 2012
Season 1 Review: Too brittle and full of bile to cleanly hit the target. Read full review
50
NewsdayVerne GayJan 7, 2015
Season 4 Review: Lies very much remains a taste acquired--inconsistent with a tone that's jagged and only intermittently funny. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineAaron RiccioJan 16, 2013
Season 2 Review: Any sustained development seems to be more of an outlier than a trend. Read full review
50
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardJan 9, 2012
Season 1 Review: I didn't laugh much. I did, however, check my watch, still secure on my wrist, to determine when the show would be ending. Read full review
50
PopMattersMichael LandweberJan 9, 2012
Season 1 Review: With the subtlety of a sledgehammer, the show right away telegraphs that there is more to Kaan than meets the eye, that he's not just a con. We're just not inclined to believe him. Read full review
40
Zap2it (Inside the Box)Andrea ReiherJan 9, 2012
Season 1 Review: House of Lies lacks the heart of "Shameless" and Kaan lacks the likability of Duchovny's Hank Moody, which means we care very little about the characters after two episodes. Read full review
30
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: [The actors] are cramped by obvious, unsubtle writing and a show that doesn't seem to have much of an idea of where to take these sardonic characters. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalDorothy RabinowitzJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: House of Lies about the thievery of management consultants, manages to turn a theme with reasonable comedic potential into a vehicle for 16-year-old males, though dressed up as satire for sophisticates. Read full review
30
Washington PostHank StueverJan 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: In trying to be about over-the-top characters, it forgets to be about people. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineLuke De SmetJan 11, 2012
Season 1 Review: Because from its embellished execution to its uninspired writing and very conception, the smarmy House of Lies is like so many speculative financial bubbles that characters like Marty have had their hands in: There's just nothing there. Read full review
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