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Critic Reviews
- Critic score
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- By date
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While the first episode of Life in Pieces ... doesn’t immediately inspire the same confidence as [Modern Family] does, what it does have in common with it is a big, ludicrously talented cast who elevate the pilot material in ways that a lesser ensemble couldn’t have managed.
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It’s difficult to get much of a clear sense of the characters. Still, it’s an excellent cast who bring their own strengths to the roles.
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It's solidly constructed and gives each actor a modicum of delightful moments — Wiest most of all. At the same time, there is something airless and artificial about the pilot.
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The show feels brittle and impersonal.
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While these standalone plots could descend into sketches, they don't--the writing is sharp and relatable, and the cast, particularly Colin Hanks and Zoe Lister Jones as new parents, bring their standard-fare roles to life.
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It's a finish [several seemingly disjointed stories are brought together by the end of the episode] more sitcommy than the show seems to call for, but one not weak enough to upset the balance of funny and heartfelt that made me want to see a bit more, even if it was just for the pleasure of this company.
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This ain't brain science, folks. Just a well-written, nicely performed, and very, very, very familiar sitcom.
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It’s not as well done and not nearly as funny or relatable [as Modern Family].
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Happily, what really carries Life in Pieces is not avant-garde form but the traditional lifeblood of sitcoms, good writing and funny performances.
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The multiple sub-stories would feel gimmicky if it weren’t for the solidly crisp and sprightly writing and winning performances by the entire cast.
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The cast is stacked, the timing is jaunty, the jokes are good, especially for a pilot.... And yet the show is still four shows jammed into one, with each segment almost entirely self-contained. The series feels neurotically aware of all the other things you could be doing instead of watching it.
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The humor is genuine; the laughs plentiful.
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Life In Pieces’ greatest asset could become its greatest liability, as the series wolfs down potential stories four at a time. But if they’re as funny, well acted, and snappy as the stories in the premiere episode, it’ll be worth it to watch whatever stories Life In Pieces gets to tell.
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That the show finds new humor and life in these done-to-death scenarios is its biggest strength.
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Life in Pieces has that solid foundation in place, with a superior cast that carries from the established veterans who make up its older generation right down to the newcomers representing the youth. Now Life in Pieces just needs to hone the show around its ensemble until it becomes worthy of its stars.
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The family is Short, the stories are short, and a short word describes the overall feel: wan.
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Separately, the Short family members are worthy of a glimpse and can garner a chuckle. Together, they’re abrasive and unlikable.
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Life in Pieces offers some very good reasons to walk on the wild side and let the laughs come without any in-show inducements. Whether that’s still asking too much is one of the new season’s more intriguing open questions.
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The comic tone wavers, sometimes uncomfortably, between the ordinary and the absurd.
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Although the show features a topnotch cast, and marks a departure from Chuck Lorre’s multi-camera dominance on the network, Life, charitably, feels like one of those shows best watched while you’re making other plans.
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With its sharp writing and a uniformly fine cast, this show about lives in pieces is impressively, entertainingly whole.
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The cast is a sturdy gang of seasoned pros (it’s particularly pleasing to see Wiest in a comedy). And though they’ve probably got nothing new under the sun to tell us about family dynamics, sentimental moments and delicate rites of passage, they seem like nice people to have around for a few laughs.
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There may be bits and pieces of Life in Pieces that you enjoy, but the generic, utterly expected whole it amounts to may not encourage you to stick around for more.
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Descriptions cannot convey the crispness of the writing, and the surprising chemistry that’s already in place among a group of actors with widely differing styles of comedy. Credit writer Justin Adler and director Jason Winer for coming up with an atmosphere and look for Life In Pieces that unifies, rather than fractures, the show.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 49 out of 71
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Mixed: 10 out of 71
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Negative: 12 out of 71
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Sep 29, 2015
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Oct 2, 2015
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Oct 10, 2015