Mr. Robinson
NBC | Release Date: August 5, 2015
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
14
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
The Lincoln Journal StarJeff KorbelikAug 3, 2015
Season 1 Review: Where Robinson excels are in the scenes with him leading his funk band.... The series, however, sticks too much to the sitcom formula, telling 22-minute stories that are all too predictable. Read full review
60
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniAug 4, 2015
Season 1 Review: Likable, if sometimes flat. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzAug 5, 2015
Season 1 Review: Mr. Robinson is not great, not bad; it’s just okay. Read full review
50
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenAug 3, 2015
Season 1 Review: A rote sitcom and an embarrassment for all concerned. Read full review
50
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardAug 3, 2015
Season 1 Review: [A] dreary show that has all the edge of a doughnut hole and comes slathered with an astonishing amount of sexual innuendo for a network sitcom. Read full review
50
Reason.comGlenn GarvinJul 31, 2015
Season 1 Review: It's rarely funny (at least intentionally), never affecting, and has the narrative cohesion of a Dick and Jane reader minus the cute drawings of Puff the Cat. It is, however, weirdly interesting. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithJul 31, 2015
Season 1 Review: Writers (and co-executive producers, among others) Mark Cullen and Robb Cullen have an uneven and not 100% original touch here. But sitcom magic is difficult to make, and at least Mr. Robinson has a few tricks in its bag. Read full review
42
NewsdayVerne GayAug 3, 2015
Season 1 Review: [Robinson] is funny, and there are fleeting reminders of that.... Then it all goes sour, and flat. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyJeff JensenJul 30, 2015
Season 1 Review: The few worthwhile themes are subverted by absurd, borderline-racist characterizations and ribald pop-culture-referencing dialogue that tries way too hard. Read full review
42
Uncle BarkyEd BarkJul 27, 2015
Season 1 Review: Mr. Robinson has an appealing star in Craig Robinson, but the show itself is gratingly forced and formulaic. Read full review
40
The WrapMekeisha Madden TobyAug 5, 2015
Season 1 Review: For every charming and genuinely funny moment--and there is a fair amount--there is a lazy sitcom trope that stunts Mr. Robinson and depletes it of its promise. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydAug 5, 2015
Season 1 Review: Mr. Robinson is not horrible; or when it is, it is only in passing. (The cast is good, there are some laughs.) It just feels weak and fatally retrograde. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichAug 4, 2015
Season 1 Review: Nothing in the episodes sent out for review suggests that Mr. Robinson will be much more than your typical summer burn-off series--quickly aired, quickly forgotten. Read full review
40
VarietyBrian LowryAug 4, 2015
Season 1 Review: Robinson obviously has some fun riffing at the keyboards (Brandon T. Jackson plays his brother and bandmate), but everything about the show has an exhausted, late-’80s vibe. Read full review
40
Sioux City JournalBruce MillerAug 3, 2015
Season 1 Review: Robinson is still appealing, but he’s surrounded by a gaggle of sitcom stereotypes. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubDennis PerkinsAug 4, 2015
Season 1 Review: There’s hardly a line from Mr. Robinson’s six-episode run that doesn’t provoke cringing rather than laughs, with Robinson himself left to inject a little of his comic personality where he can. Read full review
30
Washington PostHank StueverAug 4, 2015
Season 1 Review: This is one of those shows with some promise in some of the characters--and even potential chuckles at the better, weirder jokes--but so clearly emits the sad stench of yet another comedy that that’s been cooked too long in a network oven. Read full review
30
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerAug 4, 2015
Season 1 Review: Incompetence, of course, can be funny, but only if served with some originality. Nothing about Mr. Robinson is fresh or imaginative. Even Mr. Robinson, who has said the show is based on his life, looks bored. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandAug 4, 2015
Season 1 Review: The plotlines of the various episodes have been repurposed from shows so old, they were broadcast in black and white. Read full review
20
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushJul 23, 2015
Season 1 Review: Everything about this show is more of a mis-fire. [27 Jul - 9 Aug 2015, p.12]
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