Rutherford Falls: Season 1

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Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

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Mixed or average reviews based on 8 Ratings

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5.4

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5.4	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 8 Ratings

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Rutherford Falls

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Season Details & Credits

Peacock | Season Premiere Date: April 22, 2021

Summary: In a small New England town, Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) and his best friend Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding) fight the moving of a historical statue in this comedy from Michael Schur, Ed Helms and Sierra Teller Ornelas.

Genre(s): Comedy

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Season 1 Episodes

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Critic Reviews

Saloni Gajjar

Apr 19, 2021

Comedy vet Helms brings his confident energy to the role, and meets his match in co-star and relative newcomer Schmieding, who balances his rigor with a down-to-earth and equally captivating performance. ... There are a few chaotic moments (including an appearance by Paul F. Tompkins) that seem rushed, but the show finds its footing pretty quickly. Plus, it’s just a ton of fun. The series has a vibrant, heartwarming spirit. Read full review

Melanie McFarland

Apr 22, 2021

[Producer Sierra Ornelas'] fingerprints are clearly visible — highlighted, certainly, by the work of the five other Native American writers on the show — in the complexity written into all of these characters. ... "Rutherford Falls" may not be the funniest comedy on TV, but it uses its sweetness to draw us into necessary conversations about how we might better and more honestly Iive together. Read full review

Robert Lloyd

May 5, 2021

Deft. ... As satire, “Rutherford Falls” is gentle rather than lacerating — even demons may be good people in Schur’s comic cosmology, may even be Ted Danson — and the story more personal than political. ... By not turning people into talking points, Ornelas, Schur and Helms leave their characters free to become who they are in complicated ways, rather than what they are in obvious ones — to stand for themselves. Read full review

Rob Owen

Apr 22, 2021

“Rutherford Falls” has the building blocks to become a smart comedy hit. It just needs more time to build its characters’ relationships. Read full review

James Poniewozik

May 5, 2021

Where the sitcom shines — and, like early “Parks,” shows a promising upward trajectory — is in fleshing out the Minishonka community. ... The show’s biggest problem is structural, but it’s fixable. “Rutherford Falls” treats Nathan as a colead, but really Reagan is its center. She’s at the fulcrum of all the tensions, and Schmieding is an out-of-the-box charismatic star. Read full review

IndieWire Kristen Lopez

Apr 22, 2021

It’s unclear just where “Rutherford Falls” is going to go, whether it will play things safe with a “both sides now” mentality or not. For now, enjoy it as a showcase for why Schmieding and Greyeyes should be bigger stars. Read full review

John Anderson

Apr 22, 2021

There’s a caustically funny show buried somewhere beneath “Rutherford Falls.” ... But by playing both sides of a very hot topic, “Rutherford Falls” fails to hum, roar or even sputter to any satisfying degree. You can feel the brakes being applied, and the consequent lurch. The one truly sympathetic character in the show is Nathan’s best friend and pariah-of-the-reservation Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding). Read full review

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User Reviews

CaptainMarvel

Jun 29, 2021

Really enjoyed it. Funny characters well played without the meanness order awkwardness of some "comedies".

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geewah

Sep 22, 2022

A rather mundane and dull affair that has a few funny moments, but for the whole most of the gags seemed rather forced and predictable.

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xihih23016

May 17, 2021

The representation is excellent but literally everything else is some combination of underwritten, emotionally unintelligent, and faux-progressive. Almost every dialogue exchange and nearly every plot development seems to have been written by someone who is not just writing their firstThe representation is excellent but literally everything else is some combination of underwritten, emotionally unintelligent, and faux-progressive. Almost every dialogue exchange and nearly every plot development seems to have been written by someone who is not just writing their first episode of television but their very first full sentence. If this was a show about nothing, this would be a nothing problem. But Rutherford Falls is a show that wants to be about America's troubled history, Native American erasure, and a number of other big subjects. It's then disappointing and galling that the show amounts to little more than "A White Man's Journey Towards Being Less Terrible Thanks to Less Narratively-Important People of Color."… Expand

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Seasons & Episodes

69

Series Overview
Season 2

80
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: June 16, 2022
Season 1

67
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: April 22, 2021
- No episode information is currently available for this season