- Network: FOX
- Series Premiere Date: Sep 5, 2006
Critic Reviews
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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The series' unique angle lends itself to interesting psychological drama as it explores the hows and whys of hostage negotiation - even as it dishes out a heavy helping of FOX's de rigueur hoppin' hormones.
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Standoff doesn't recreate the genre, but it certainly refreshes it. [15 Sep 2006, p.64]
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The main thing in its favor is the chemical tension between its stars. That may not be enough, but it's something.
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It's hard to say what seems sillier: the show's misplaced attempts at comedy or the intuitive leaps that allow the agents to solve the case.
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From start to finish, "Standoff" is slickly contrived, formulaic crime drama nonsense.
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Can we negotiate for a better premise if we release some hostages?
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There's potentially a good show here; the pilot's just a miss.
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The standoffs... are less than exhilarating thrill rides.
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Chemistry is supposed to be the binding element of “Standoff,” and the two leads, while appealing in their own right, seem neither well matched nor sufficiently mismatched.
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"Standoff" does seem to emerge miraculously out of the fumes of '70s TV - a near-perfect reformulation of every bone-weary cliche, every hackneyed piece of cop chatter (Dan Tanna lives!) that last-century TV glorified in.
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These actors more than deserve a series of their own. They deserve a good one, and "Standoff" isn't it.
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If Matt and Emily blow up, the show doesn't get a second episode. Because they'll be dead. Keep your fingers crossed.
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I’m having a reverse case of Stockholm Syndrome with “Standoff”: The more time I spend with it, the less I like it.
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The tonal dissonance in "Standoff" is deafening, like pairing up, say, Jewel and Meat Loaf for a duet.
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"Standoff" isn't a terrible show, it's just an unnecessary one.
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The series premiere suffers from a catalog of problems longer than most demand lists.
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"Standoff" fails to connect on almost every level.
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An awkward pairing of adult relationship drama and procedural cop show, "Standoff" bombs on both counts.
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Never mind the unbelievable premise -- the way the audience is introduced to it is so strained it's painful to watch.
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It's hard to imagine a civilized audience of any significant size wanting to sit through these trumped-up conflicts and lazy-daisy crises week after week.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 43 out of 49
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Mixed: 2 out of 49
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Negative: 4 out of 49
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JC.Aug 10, 2007This was one of the only shows that I actually looked forward to... it was easy to get into the show with the actors involved.
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SheilaJul 23, 2007
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MaryM.Jul 9, 2007I enjoy the romance of Matt and Emily and I find the hostage negotiations interesting.