Rules of Engagement
CBS | Release Date: February 5, 2007
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
28
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
0
Mixed:
8
Negative:
19
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: It may be seen as a kinder, gentler, funnier cousin to Fox's bitter " 'Til Death." Read full review
60
Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker
Season 1 Review: Uneven. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: Two of the first three episodes [reveal] an assured, risque, semi-cynical air that should dovetail nicely with "Two and a Half Men." Read full review
50
Christian Science Monitor
Season 1 Review: Pity Patrick Warburton whose dour delivery is the brightest spot in this half hour. He clearly feels trapped, but not by his marriage. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: You might not remember to record it every week, but if you stumble upon it, you might stay. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn
Season 1 Review: Rules is similar to Fox's grimly unamusing comedy 'Til Death, but it has one major advantage: deadpan, rubbery Patrick Warburton. Read full review
40
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: At no point will you feel like scratching your own eyes out rather than sitting through an episode. So there’s that. Read full review
40
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: It’s not a groundbreaking new series by any means, but it has some redeeming virtues. Read full review
37
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: Rules is one of those sitcoms that makes people who hate sitcoms hate sitcoms. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: Rules would be more engaging if it weren't so familiar, but there is at least one consistently hilarious performance: Patrick Warburton. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)John Leonard
Season 1 Review: When it isn’t slamming bedroom doors in a high-rise apartment house in ostensible Manhattan (just like Mad About You except without the charm) or meeting for heavy innuendos at the corner diner (just like Seinfeld except without the writers), Rules reiterates Til Death’s take on marriage. Read full review
30
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: Having two nearly identical, equally mediocre sitcoms on the air at the same time isn't exactly a crime, but it seems an awful waste of someone's time and energy. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
Season 1 Review: "Rules" and "'Til Death" bear exactly the same ups and downs. The ups: essentially a good cast, plus sporadic funny lines. The downs: many un-funny lines, plus rehashed storylines from a thousand episodes of married-life sitcoms dating all the way back to "The Honeymooners." Read full review
25
Detroit Free PressMike Duffy
Season 1 Review: A ho-hum traditional sitcom filled with formula banter and cliched cuteness. Read full review
25
People WeeklyTom Gliatto
Season 1 Review: Everything has the familiar mechanical deadness of a sitcom assembled from old ideas. [12 Feb 2007, p.39]
20
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Season 1 Review: The series quickly begins to resemble one of those fake sitcoms you’d see in a snide movie that likes to take easy potshots at low culture. Read full review
20
Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik
Season 1 Review: Let's hope Rules is just a misguided piece of fluff that disappears after a dozen episodes - and not a bellwether series trying to tell us something about how our lives have changed for the worse. Read full review
20
NewsdayDiane Werts
Season 1 Review: This one isn't David Spade's fault. Really it isn't. Read full review
20
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 1 Review: There isn't a single new comedy idea in any of the upcoming episodes, and in some scenes, you practically can yell out the punch line before the characters get to it. Read full review
20
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: Besides making every aspect of dating and mating look depressing, it's hard to come up with a reason to spend time with any of these characters. Read full review
12
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: "Rules of Engagement" is no more believable than it is amusing, and it's never amusing. Read full review
10
SalonHeather Havrilesky
Season 1 Review: The story lines are every bit as insufferable as the punch lines. Read full review
10
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: Painful-to-watch. Read full review
10
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Besides being uninspired, "Rules" isn't all that funny. Read full review
10
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: No one in the cast is likely to be your new favorite actor. Read full review
0
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: While TV comedy is getting good again, the network has decided it's time to resurrect the groan-inducing cliches of stinky sitcoms to remind us of just how truly rancid the genre can get. Read full review
0
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: Everyone involved in creating this show should be forced to immediately seek other forms of employment. This business is not - repeat, not - for you. Read full review
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