Moonlight
CBS | The CW | Release Date: September 28, 2007
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
38
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
11
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Entertainment WeeklyStaff (Not Credited)
Season 1 Review: Sure, Mick's life is ridiculoous, but you don't go lookin' for realism between "Ghost Whisperer" and "Numb3rs." [05 Oct 2007, p.67]
63
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: Moonlight. It's basically "Angel" without the search-for-a-soul underpinnings that gave Angel depth, and with a more ponderous script and less adept cast. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: The focus is on the dangerous and forbidden relationship between Mick and Beth and his efforts to keep his past a secret. Whether there's enough material there to knit together a series remains to be seen. Read full review
50
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: It doesn't go quite far enough into uncharted territory but gets off to a basically promising start nonetheless. Read full review
50
Detroit Free PressMike Duffy
Season 1 Review: Moonlight falls somewhere in the middle of the new paranormal pack. It's neither great nor awful. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
Season 1 Review: What's not fun? At least half of the rest of the show. Read full review
50
PopMattersMichael Abernethy
Season 1 Review: With a winning lead player and supporting cast, plus an interesting premise, Moonlight has potential. Read full review
40
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Moonlight is just a weak, generic private-eye drama with a vampire story overlay. Read full review
40
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 1 Review: It's just sort of an underwritten mess. Read full review
40
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: The show plays like bad imitation noir where the private eye can occasionally sink his teeth into the villain. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara
Season 1 Review: Something got lost between concept and execution, and instead of suspense we get silliness Read full review
40
NewsdayDiane Werts
Season 1 Review: Alex O'Loughlin is bogged down by trite dialogue, half-hearted support, perfunctory exposition, and better-to-look-good-than-make-sense production priorities. Read full review
40
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: While it is formulaic and slow-paced, Moonlight is stylish entertainment with a charming star aimed at a specific audience--the folks who stay home Friday night and watch CBS. Read full review
38
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: Moonlight, unfortunately, doesn't trust its audience and so falls to exposition via a fake talk-show interview at the beginning, and then throughout with dialogue dully delivered by Internet investigative reporter Beth Turner (Sophia Myles). Read full review
30
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: [Mick and Beth's] across-the-decades bond, however, doesn't compensate for how pedestrian the initial story is -- playing like a conventional detective show, with Mick showcasing his otherworldly powers (strong, and very, very fast) only during a passable action sequence in the final act. Read full review
30
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: The direction is flat-out awful (there are many choppy shots from bizarre, if not inexplicable, angles). Much of the dialogue is groan-inducing, the acting by some of the guest actors is jaw-droppingly wooden, and I guessed who the villain was way before the halfway mark. Read full review
30
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: It's hardly bloodcurdling adventure, but it doesn't bite. Read full review
30
The New York TimesGinia Bellafante
Season 1 Review: In almost every way, Moonlight demands that we question the grounds for its existence. Read full review
30
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: Much of Moonlight is amateurish, but nothing is more amateurish than the artificial chemistry between O'Loughlin and Myles. Read full review
30
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: I don't know exactly why Moonlight, which acquired "Veronica Mars'" adorable bad boy, Jason Dohring, as a second-round draft pick, seems so very lifeless. Read full review
30
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: The hacky writing is interchangeable with any of CBS' police procedurals, and the boy-band good looks of Alex O'Loughlin as the detective, Mick St. John, inspire neither fear nor dark sexual longings Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: This one is almost impressively wonderless. Read full review
0
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: It's just heinous. Absurd, laughable, painful to watch--you name it, Moonlight has it all. Read full review
0
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: This vampire detective show (sorry, can't resist this) is one that first bites, then sucks. Hard. Read full review
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