Madigan Men

It's mildly amusing for openers, but if chasing women becomes the weekly theme, Madigan Men could become a bore. [6 Oct 2000, p.10]

Mainly it's sort of gentle and nice...Do viewers want gentle and nice? That's to be determined. In any case, call "Madigan Men" promising. [6 Oct 2000, p.F28]

We're happy to see a multigenerational sitcom, and the pilot has some nice writing. But the effort feels somehow strained. Though stage veteran Byrne has charisma, he's hardly a sitcom natural. So maybe that's the point. A sitcom that doesn't behave like one. Hope springs eternal. [6 Oct 2000, p.B51]

Madigan Men has a talented core of actors, and the topic of how men do (or don't) get along has plenty of storytelling potential. But in the premiere, the writing falls flat and, thanks to that laugh track, you can't help but notice how many of the "jokes" aren't funny. [6 Oct 2000, p.4C]

Madigan Men feels absolutely dated at times, but rises above stale humor due to Byrne and Dotrice's pleasant deliveries and vet helmer James Burrows' brisk direction. [5 Oct 2000, p.20]

Great actors and average, or worse, jokes add up to mediocrity in ABC's Madigan Men. [6 Oct 2000, p.E1]

A male version of The WB's "Gilmore Girls," but its sitcom approach fails to plumb the multigenerational possibilities as expertly, in spite of notable actors as Gabriel Byrne and Ray Dotrice. [5 Oct 2000, p.E2]

Nice supporting players like Grant Shaud ("Murphy Brown") and Clea Lewis ("Ellen") help enliven the otherwise formula sitcom fun. Most of the time, though, "adigan Men is just a breezy masculine trifle with a brogue. [6 Oct 2000, p.12D]

As for Byrne, maybe he shouldn't have done a sitcom so soon after doing Eugene O'Neill on Broadway. You can tell he's trying to make the lines funny, but he seems to be grimly and completely out of sync with everyone around him. [6 Oct 2000, p.11E]

Madigan Men fails creatively for one simple reason. Its rhythms are all wrong for a sitcom filmed in front of a studio audience. This show is screaming to be a single camera comedy shot on film, similar to "Sex and the City." The humor is subtle. It doesn't warrant the guffaws of the studio audience that interrupt its natural flow. [6 Oct 2000, p.44]

It's a premise that has been tried many times, but snagging big-screen heartthrob Byrne gives it some cachet. [6 Oct 2000, p.1E]

This undercooked stew gets bogged down in attempts to show the softer side of men, though Dotrice's dotty bromides are good for a chuckle. [6 Oct 2000, p.55]

Gabriel Byrne is easy to watch in his sitcom debut, but there's far too much sensitive maleness on display and too few laughs from the conflicted Madigan men. [6 Oct 2000, p.R2]

The show isn't awful, just awfully mediocre. [6 Oct 2000, p.D1]

Byrne doesn't register as a comic lead in a show that plays at the level of an Irish Spring commercial. [6 Oct 2000, p.5E]

Flimsy. [6 Oct 2000, p.E-10]