Life (2007)
NBC | Release Date: September 26, 2007
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
6
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker
Season 1 Review: Life is intelligent fun. Read full review
80
VarietyLaura Fries
Season 1 Review: Crews quirky mannerisms don't overwhelm the plot, and the show does strikes a nice balance between whimsy and its much darker backstory. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: It's an entirely different vibe, further enhanced by a charismatic and quirky central character who is both unpredictable and impossible to pigeonhole. Given a chance to develop, Detective Charlie Crews could someday take a place with the likes of Kojak, Columbo and Monk. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara
Season 1 Review: Playing it long and lugubrious but with a tantalizing twinkle, Lewis (last seen in the States as the hateful husband in "The Forsyte Saga") may well wrest the mantle of sexiest troubled American played by a Brit away from Hugh Laurie. Read full review
80
The New York TimesGinia Bellafante
Season 1 Review: The narrative structure of the show is incredibly satisfying: During each hour a crime is committed and solved, as Charlie’s search for who might have framed him provides the overriding arch, satisfying our short attention spans and taste for long-form narrative at once. Read full review
80
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: The actor [Lewis], who uses a flawless American accent, makes Life worth a gander. And he is surrounded by a distinctive cast. Read full review
80
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: This peculiar comedy-drama has some cockeyed wrinkles that make it interesting. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith
Season 1 Review: Of all the new shows I've watched, it's also the one I'm most eager to see again. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 2 Review: In general, we like his character, and Reese's. They have a new boss named Kevin Tidwell (Donal Logue), who doesn't start off all good or all bad. Neither does the show. But if it can maintain this level of quality, it's got a shot. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith
Season 2 Review: It's all more like a steady burn--of talent, of smart writing, of chemical reactions--and it may take a few episodes to feel the heat. Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 2 Review: Things are lighter and brighter--and frequently funnier--in the Los Angeles of Life. Read full review
75
Detroit Free PressMike Duffy
Season 1 Review: Lewis is terrific. But his brazenly loopy lawman may not be to everyone's offbeat crime drama tastes. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: Life doesn't squander the talents of its cast. The mysteries are solid, the characters multilayered, and Crews is given a bigger mystery about which to obsess--finding out who framed him. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik
Season 2 Review: Crews is complicated, moody and downright strange most of the time, but in the hands of a talented team of writers and producers, it results in a drama that is funny, edgy and multilayered. Read full review
70
NewsdayTom Jicha
Season 1 Review: Lewis is such a commanding presence that Sarah Shahi is rendered little more than an accessory as Dani. There's nothing going on between the partners at the outset, but this is subject to change. Read full review
70
PopMattersCynthia Fuchs
Season 1 Review: Details of color and composition do the work usually handled by too much expository dialogue, granting access to Dani and Charlie’s thinking. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)John Leonard
Season 1 Review: Just as we begin to wonder whether Life is intended to be, um, wacky, it takes a darker turn. Read full review
70
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 2 Review: I found it to be more or less the same competent procedural that it was last season. Read full review
67
TimeJames Poniewozik
Season 2 Review: Because of Lewis' brilliant portrayal of the eccentric Charlie, the show is perfectly enjoyable. It's just not compelling, mainly because the ongoing story of Charlie's search for justice is so isolated from the rest of the show that it seems meant for bathroom and snack breaks. Read full review
60
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: Mildly satisfying, but pretty formulaic. Read full review
60
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: While one can never count out a decent cop show, Life's main character is so weird he either fascinates you immediately or turns you off. Read full review
60
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: There’s no doubt Life is blessed with a fine lead actor, an intriguing premise and better writing than most new shows this fall. It’s just that viewers aren’t going to find that promising TV drama buried underneath all the crime procedural. Read full review
60
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: Lewis is a strong enough actor (again, see "Band of Brothers") that there are moments where he pulls together all these tics into a character who could be interesting, but too much time gets wasted on pedestrian mysteries to give him room to work. Read full review
60
PopMattersCynthia Fuchs
Season 2 Review: Dani of the Perfectly Tousled Locks watches Charlie for the rest of us, her responses shaping ours. Read full review
60
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 2 Review: So long as Lewis is around, Life will be several steps above those cookie-cutter police procedurals. Read full review
37
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: Strip away the abrasive flourishes, and what's left is a standard-issue TV mystery with cases that are too easy to solve and internal conflicts and conspiracies that make no sense. Read full review
30
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: It gets bogged down by so many procedural elements that all the character moments get squished and forced out around the edges, resulting in an uninteresting blob of an overly familiar TV show. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: Just dreadful enough to want to shoot yourself and end up in the tender loving arms of the people at "Private Practice." Read full review
10
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: I could make more fun of Life, but it probably wouldn't be too good for my karma. Read full review
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