Partners (2012)
CBS | Release Date: September 24, 2012
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
38
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
14
Negative:
11

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Uncle BarkyEd BarkSep 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: Urie's mostly a hoot, with his inflections infectious and his comedy timing a thing of beauty. Krumholtz offers sturdy enough support, but his co-star does most of the heavy lifting. Read full review
60
Zap2it (Inside the Box)Jean BentlySep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: The pilot shows promise, especially seeing the chemistry between (at least three of) the leads, but Episode 2 treads no new sitcom ground. Read full review
60
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: The show needs some tonal and content adjustments....But Urie and Krumholtz alone make this a half hour worth watching. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyJessica ShawSep 21, 2012
Season 1 Review: Michael Urie elevates the show out of mediocrity with his comedic power. [28 Sep 2012, p.63]
58
Washington PostHank StueverSep 18, 2012
Season 1 Review: The tepid laughs here are already in need of a jolt, as Partners cries out for its Karen. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklSep 25, 2012
Season 1 Review: I expect more from the creators of "Will & Grace" than this lackluster comedy. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: With its stock supporting characters (Ali and Wyatt are attractive blanks) and its lame central contrivance, this is not a great pilot, but it's far from an awful one. Read full review
50
USA TodayRobert BiancoSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: Despite the show's constant insistence that Joe and Louis are lifelong best friends, you struggle to spot what exactly Joe and Louis see in each other. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchGail PenningtonSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's not terrible, just standard-issue sitcom, with relationships that don't feel true and laughs that seem forced. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's not a bad show, it's just a bit too familiar. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian LowrySep 20, 2012
Season 1 Review: The show isn't necessarily bad; if only it thought with something other than its schmeckel. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandSep 18, 2012
Season 1 Review: There are some funny lines in the pilot, but it takes until the second episode for some promising chemistry to emerge between Urie and Krumholtz. Read full review
40
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: This comedy is full of stock jokes, stock characters and even a stock premise. Read full review
40
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: The stubbornly conventional scripts, the overfamiliar characters, and the old-fashioned, machine-gun comic timing undermine any possibility of freshness. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleySep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: There's nothing wrong with playing a gay stereotype on a sitcom, except that if you're the main character, you can't be just a gay stereotype. Even an amusing one. Read full review
30
The New York TimesMike HaleSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: This celebration of friendship feels so sour and joyless. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: This buddy sitcom feels contrived, derivative (instead of Megan Mullally, we get a stereotyped sassy and buxom Latina secretary) and sadly lacking in essential chemistry. Read full review
30
PopMattersMichael AbernethySep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: It isn't just the concept that's unoriginal, but also the scripting. The show has an abundance of jokes, but few elicit more than a grin. Read full review
30
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GraySep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: I'd have expected that show, groundbreaking in 1998, would have paved the way by 2012 for a far smarter series than Partners. Read full review
25
HitfixAlan SepinwallSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: The show around Louis is filled with a lot of creaky set-up/punchline humor, much of it based around forced double entendres. Read full review
25
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: The problem with Partners, as you'll discover if you watch the first two episodes, is that they already made that show years ago and it was called "Will & Grace." Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalDorothy RabinowitzSep 28, 2012
Season 1 Review: The creators can be held responsible for enlarging the quantity of execrably written works on this theme [gay-themed sitcoms]. Read full review
20
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanSep 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: CBS programs generally display a level of basic competence that this "comedy" falls woefully short of. Read full review
10
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanSep 25, 2012
Season 1 Review: Partners plays like an idea written on a napkin, if that, and looks like it's from another era (a long past era, if that wasn't clear). Read full review
10
Miami HeraldGlenn GarvinSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: Partners is witless, predictable and much closer to creepy than funny. Read full review
0
NewsdayDiane WertsSep 21, 2012
Season 1 Review: The plastic "punch lines" grow more contrived. The tired stereotypes feel more offensive. Read full review
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