Once Upon a Mattress
ABC | Release Date: December 18, 2005
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
6
Negative:
4

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Baltimore SunJ. Wynn Rousuck
Season 1 Review: Surely one of the most delightful examples of televised family entertainment this holiday season. Read full review
90
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: This version is a triumph. Read full review
80
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: The remake has everything that those earlier versions had and something more: Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett together and at each other's throats. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
Season 1 Review: That cast and the sweet but not disgustingly sugary direction uplift "Mattress" from what could have been a merely not-horrible event. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: Like watching "The Carol Burnett Show: The Next Generation." Read full review
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteChristopher Rawson
Season 1 Review: A pretty family entertainment, lit by Ullman's energy and just small flashes of the Burnett we love. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: While the performances are first-rate, and the film is never less than enjoyable, it doesn't quite take off. Read full review
50
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: Nothing works very well in this elaborate but leaden production, which seems more interested in Bob Mackie's costumes than in the characters they clothe. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyMelissa Rose Bernardo
Season 1 Review: Why was the tired Tracey Ullman tapped to star in this candy-colored adaptation of the fairy-tale stage show? [16 Dec 2005, p.77]
50
New York PostAdam Buckman
Season 1 Review: Not that it's not a nice show, but it is precisely the kind of production for which the word "corny" was probably coined. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterMarilyn Moss
Season 1 Review: Even the combined deadpan cynicism -- at its very best -- of Carol Burnett and Tracey Ullman can't overcome the extreme sweetness of this "Once Upon a Mattress." Read full review
30
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: The production doesn't engage the ears, the eyes, or the laugh muscles. It engages only the snooze button. Read full review
30
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: It's worth the effort, at least for a little while, to watch Burnett, at 72, fume and foam in her fantastic Bob Mackie costumes. But Ullman has almost no panache in the princess role, and Smothers, silenced by a curse for 99 percent of the program, doesn't rise above a cute cartoon. Read full review
30
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: This overly broad storybook project feels painfully dated. Read full review
20
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 1 Review: While it's always good to see Burnett, something has gone seriously awry with this new version. Read full review
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