Kenan
NBC | Release Date: February 16, 2021
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
TV GuideDiane GordonFeb 16, 2021
Season 1 Review: While Kenan may not be groundbreaking comedy on its face, it provides much needed emotional comfort and laughs and that's invaluable right now. Read full review
80
VarietyCaroline FramkeFeb 16, 2021
Season 1 Review: It looks like a smart embrace of Thompson’s strengths as a performer, plus a bittersweet streak of tenderness that could make the show stand out should it decide to lean in. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 16, 2021
Season 1 Review: While it’s hardly groundbreaking, Must-See TV, it’s a warm and funny slice of comfort viewing featuring a winning performance by Thompson, strong work from the supporting cast and some admirably though-provoking, issues-based situations baked into the comedy. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydMay 11, 2021
Season 1 Review: Amiable. ... Much of the action revolves around the family, who seem authentically related, but there are also excursions into manic hijinks where grown men get everything wrong and wind up breaking stuff. Anyway, it’s an easy hang. Read full review
70
DeciderJoel KellerFeb 16, 2021
Season 1 Review: Kenan Thompson makes for a strong center to what looks like will be a warm family sitcom. It has some pacing issues, but by the end of the first episode, we were confident that they would be smoothed out. Read full review
55
Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewRob OwenFeb 16, 2021
Season 1 Review: There’s some humor to be mined in flashbacks illustrating how Kenan and his wife met on the set of a sitcom – she was only three years older than him but played his character’s mother on the TV show – but the present-day stuff is pretty unfunny, marking this series as a dud on arrival. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comAllison ShoemakerFeb 16, 2021
Season 1 Review: It’s as though “Kenan” spends so much of its energy trying to please that it forgets to tell a story. ... When he, Redd, and Johnson are allowed to simply act, it’s possible to glimpse the show “Kenan” could become, if only the folks behind the camera would all settle down. Read full review
50
CNNBrian LowryFeb 16, 2021
Season 1 Review: "Kenan" stays rooted in the here and now, showing a more vulnerable side of its star, but surrounding him with pretty stale sitcom trappings. Read full review
35
Reason.comGlenn GarvinFeb 16, 2021
Season 1 Review: With five characters and about four jokes, Kenan violates even the loosest Hollywood mathematical equations for success. Read full review
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