I Love Dick

:

Season 1
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
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Critic Reviews

  1. Yahoo TV
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    May 12, 2017
    60
    The performances of Hahn and Dunne are strikingly good, all the more so given the emptiness of so much of their dialogue. Their rowdy domestic fights achieve effectiveness almost entirely through this duo’s energetic and witty delivery, not the actual content of what they’re saying to each other. As the series proceeds, it becomes more predictable.
  2. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    May 11, 2017
    60
    Subversive yet silly, as pretentious as it is provocative. ... This is no ordinary show. Like all self-conscious art, it's bound to be polarizing. [15-28 May 2017, p.17]
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  3. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Emily Nussbaum
    Jun 20, 2017
    50
    A feminist cringe-comedy and, like its horny antiheroine, it’s a train wreck, freely mashing together theory and practice. It’s sometimes beautiful but also, not infrequently, repulsive, a narcissistic spectacle framed as a liberating vision quest.
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    May 11, 2017
    50
    The screen version does express many of Kraus' philosophical points through lines of dialogue and bits of action, but these seem inserted into the action instead of arising from it. And, apart from Roberta Colindrez as Devon, a local who works for Dick and has creative aspirations of her own, few dimensional characters emerge. Hahn and Dunn are fine actors, but their Chris and Sylvère are annoying from the beginning, and pretty much to the end.
  6. Las Vegas Weekly
    Reviewed by: Josh Bell
    May 11, 2017
    50
    It’s an admirable artistic exercise (an episode consisting entirely of monologues by several female characters is particularly striking) that’s almost never enjoyable to watch.
  7. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    May 10, 2017
    40
    A tonally baffling story that seems to both ridicule academic pretentiousness and succumb to it. ... The acting is fine all around, with Hahn trying her damnedest to be fierce but flappable, but that doesn’t keep the characters from becoming tiresome.
  8. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    Jan 24, 2017
    40
    The nexus between Dick, Chris and Sylvere is, through three episodes, boring and not entirely believable or a story that seems worth the ride, perhaps more of Devon and Toby would be a good idea. Or a show about them, sans both Dick and dick.

Awards & Rankings

75
#75 Best TV Season of 2017
97
#97 Most Shared TV Season of 2017

User Reviews

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User Score
6.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 39 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 39
  3. Negative: 10 out of 39
  1. JennetP
    May 21, 2017
    5
    After looking forward to this series for months, I bailed out after 4 episods. I was expecting smart and funny and provocative--all theAfter looking forward to this series for months, I bailed out after 4 episods. I was expecting smart and funny and provocative--all the alluring adjectives the critics used--but I would have settled for smart-assed and somewhat original. Instead, "I Love Dick" is mostly dull. Occasional flashes of visual wit (most featuring Kevin Bacon and livestock) break the tedium and, for me at least, gesture toward the better series that could have been. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t say whether the TV version was too faithful or not faithful enough to its source, but I’d guess the former.

    The series tries to satirize the pretentious artists and theoreticians of academia, but most of its jokes seem ham-fisted. Example: at a cocktail party, a Holocaust researcher is told he must meet a board president because she “is a huge fan of the Holocaust.” Ha ha ha, aren't those pretentious twits clueless? What’s interesting about real academics is their exasperating mix of intelligence and stupidity, but the characters in "I Love Dick" are mostly just stupid. Worse, they’re flat, even for sitcom characters. They’re like old-fashioned comic protagonists--myopic, histrionic, and self-absorbed--but without the usual endearing qualities. Imagine Lucy Ricardo sans naiveté, enthusiasm, and affection for others. Not interesting.

    The “provocative” part is supposed to be all of the sex, which breaks with TV precedent by being ugly, clumsy, and unpleasant to watch. While I too am weary of coitus that proceeds from passionate first kiss to explosive simultaneous orgasm in 30 perfectly choreographed seconds, I’m also not eager to view more “realistic” sex (beyond a certain point) unless it advances a plot line or deepens a character. At least with conventional TV coitus, you know exactly how much time you have to grab a snack before the story picks up again.

    I haven’t said anything nice abou "I Live Dick," so why do I give this series a 5? Because Amazon is trying, at least. Some of its original offerings explore domains other than the usual hospital, courtroom, and/or police station, and, when they get it right (as with “Mozart in the Jungle”), the result feels really fresh. For some reason, academia has been a difficult culture for TV to crack, which is presumably why so many professor characters turn their hands to (surprise!) solving crimes. If Amazon wants to try again, they could start with David Lodge’s “Changing Places” or another truly funny satire of academic life. There are quite a few that would make good series.    … Full Review »
  2. MphsTom
    Jul 15, 2017
    9
    The actors are way stronger then the plot so it's pretty good. Interesting, binge-watched it all in one day.. People motivated by the need toThe actors are way stronger then the plot so it's pretty good. Interesting, binge-watched it all in one day.. People motivated by the need to to create instead of money. Kind of funny also.… Full Review »
  3. nalex
    Jun 16, 2017
    9
    Unexpected genius. At first, I feared this was new age claptrap or artsy nonsense but as you learn why you dislike certain characters youUnexpected genius. At first, I feared this was new age claptrap or artsy nonsense but as you learn why you dislike certain characters you understand the emotional context of others. it is strangely transformational, pokes fun at self-importance and deconstructs perceptions while being a wry examination of obsession and how art is created. What some find vital is so often not universal. What others accept as gospel bears closer examination The achingly painful protagonist finds facing reality exceeds any pretense. And that changes reality. Without giving much away. Intelligent, amusing, annoying and yet satisfying.… Full Review »
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