Madam Secretary

Solid but a bit staid.

Madam Secretary is not perfect, but it could be. There are seeds of something excellent in this pilot, one that’s able to tell a character-driven story in a world that’s constantly changing.

Costars like Daly, Ivanek and Neuwirth promise great things, but Madam Secretary belongs, obviously, to Leoni, who conjures a gratifying mix of brains and heart, humor and flintiness without, and this is important, any sign of mental illness.

As fascinating as Madam Secretary can be regarding its global focuses, it’s so far less detailed when it comes to McCord, her family, and her colleagues.

Madam Secretary starts off solidly, with an engaging performance by Téa Leoni as the secretary of state.

A smart and enthralling D.C. drama that resurrects its predecessor's outlook, but still takes on a life of its own.

It can all be a bit much: Elizabeth needs to be wrong now and then. Still, against considerable odds, Leoni sells it, conveying the brains and toughness Elizabeth needs to be successful in her job and the warmth, vulnerability and sometimes prickly humor she needs to be successful at home.

Diplomacy by its nature doesn’t lend itself well to visual storytelling. Perhaps that’s why the show adds a conspiracy element.... Give props to Madam Secretary for the casting.

No one wants this show to channel "24," but C-SPAN won't do either. For the most part, however, Madam Secretary charts a steady--and intelligent--middle course.

Leoni has great potential here, but the character development and "I'm already hooked" magic (a la The Good Wife) aren't quite there yet. [19/26 Sep 2014, p.126]

Madam Secretary has some good moments, but it would be better if its heroine were just a little bit worse.

There's a great cast here--including Zeljko Ivanek as the president's Chief Of Staff and budding nemesis to Elizabeth; and Bebe Neuwirth as head of the staff Elizabeth has inherited. Yet the secondary players have yet to pop.

The scripts are witty if a little pompous.

The cast is stocked with solid actors--Leoni, Tim Daly as McCord's husband, Zeljko Ivanek as the President's chief of staff, Bebe Neuwirth as McCord's chief of staff--and the writing is fairly sharp, if a bit pretentious.

Likable work.... though it's very soon clear that this high-minded enterprise could use a good jolt of acid, and at least a modicum of granite authority in the character of the new secretary of state.

Even with the mystery in the White House, there's a lot to like about Madam Secretary beyond Leoni's trademark husky voice and dry delivery.

A forgettable but not unpleasant distraction.

The premiere episode of Madam Secretary, for the time being, suggests that the show is very much the little sister [to The Good Wife].... But Madam Secretary, in which Téa Leoni plays the newly appointed secretary of state, deserves to hang around long enough to formulate and declare itself.

It's ardently conventional, even corny--and yet, against all odds, it's sort of winning too.

Leoni’s uber-competent character--she’s brilliant, plugged-in, fluent in every language!--could easily be annoying in the hands of another actress. But Leoni gives Elizabeth McCord a savvy, down-to-earth quality that makes her easy to root for.

In the not great but likable and intelligent Madam Secretary, Téa Leoni’s talent gets a deserving showcase.

By trying to make her politically neutral, they threaten to defang the drama.

Created by Barbara Hall, Madam Secretary has enough interesting pieces, as well as a great big world of trouble to mine, to have significant potential. The premiere, however, doesn’t bode particularly well for being able to maximize those assets, and as they say in diplomatic circles, the devil is in the details.

Leoni is fine in the title role and Daly is thoroughly dutiful as her heaven-sent husband. But the accomplished Neuwirth is little seen in the first hour while Ivanek is getting stuck in a rut of playing basically the same character over and over. What’s missing from Madame Secretary is an overriding reason to keep watching. Nothing really crackles so far.

All the show has now is that potential, the raw talent, and a setting it doesn't know what to do with.

Leoni brings an unaffected and alluring authority to this classy but contrived political procedural.

Madam Secretary has the pedigree and potential to be a great show. It just has to be more original.

Her ability to outwit a power-mongering bulldog like Jackson notwithstanding, she is, so far, a paragon of political virtue. That may make her a welcome presence at first, but a TV version of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” aired 50 years ago and lasted just a year. As for Madam Secretary, a few warts may be needed to hold our attention in the long run.

So far, it's contrived, predictable and seemingly allergic to ambiguity and subtext.