One Big Happy
NBC | Release Date: March 17, 2015
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
5
Negative:
13
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
The WrapMekeisha Madden TobyMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: [A] thoughtfully lighthearted and frothy comedy. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithMar 12, 2015
Season 1 Review: Some occasional tastelessness aside--ranging from tired pregnancy-test urination jokes to a few gags that are unprintable--One Big Happy evolves into something a cut above the usual fare. It is brightly written, and tender at heart. Most of all, it is endowed with a great ensemble cast. Read full review
67
Uncle BarkyEd BarkMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: There also are some intriguing twists as these beats go on. One Big Happy may be entirely sitcom-y but it’s not thoroughly predictable. Read full review
58
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardMar 16, 2015
Season 1 Review: One Big Happy is light and forgettable. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubErik AdamsMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: Unfortunately for One Big Happy, the only early dates it can accurately hit are those of a bygone era, one whose fortunes NBC is unlikely to rediscover anytime soon. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichMar 13, 2015
Season 1 Review: Good as the actors are, though, the show’s run-of-the-mill plotting doesn’t do it--or its long-term prospects--any favors. Read full review
42
NewsdayVerne GayMar 16, 2015
Season 1 Review: One Big Happy is just... conventional. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: Feldman and her writers are so obsessed with making One Big Happy socially righteous--Lizzy announces her gayness with the frequency of an undercover straight person--that they forgot to give it any heart. Read full review
37
St. Louis Post-DispatchGail PenningtonMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: One Big Happy isn't fresh or funny enough to transcend its message. Read full review
33
HitfixDaniel FienbergMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: One Big Happy gets worse and less funny as it goes. Read full review
30
The Daily BeastKevin FallonMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: If there’s a milestone achieved by One Big Happy, it’s that we’ve reached the point where shows spotlighting gay characters, relationships, and issues can finally be as lazy, occasionally offensive, and unfunny as shows about straight people have been for decades now. Read full review
30
Washington PostHank StueverMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: There’s very little here to dissect or think about or, least of all, laugh at. Read full review
30
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: It's not an unpromising premise and Cuthbert's character, a control freak who's had trouble with romance, isn't stereotypical. But Luke's written as less than bright and Prudence as downright cartoonish. Read full review
30
VarietyBrian LowryMar 16, 2015
Season 1 Review: One Big Happy is one of those calculated illusions--a series that tries to appear forward-thinking and edgy by tackling the evolving definition of family and parenting, only to filter those elements through a musty sitcom template that predates “Ellen” coming out of the closet. Read full review
30
Las Vegas WeeklyJosh BellMar 13, 2015
Season 1 Review: One Big Happy is a generic, low-rent sitcom with only one thing setting it apart--and that one thing, thankfully, is no longer all that remarkable. Read full review
25
USA TodayRobert BiancoMar 16, 2015
Season 1 Review: An amateurish bungle of a comedy. Read full review
20
Yahoo TVKen TuckerMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: One Big Happy is a loud, frantic sitcom so eager to please, you may want to avert your eyes. Read full review
20
Denver PostJoanne OstrowMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: If the script by Liz Feldman (“Two Broke Girls”) were less tedious, if the acting by Cuthbert were bearable, if the whole enterprise were based on more than one joke... it might’ve worked. Read full review
20
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenMar 17, 2015
Season 1 Review: Obvious, dumb and mostly unfunny, One Big Happy is an embarrassment for all involved. Read full review
20
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerMar 16, 2015
Season 1 Review: An intelligence-insulting sitcom. Read full review
0
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandMar 11, 2015
Season 1 Review: There’s nothing funny about One Big Happy, the performances are wooden and irritating, the setup is completely phony, and that’s about all the energy I have to expend on what is just one big pile of something, but it definitely isn’t Happy. Read full review
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