Superior Donuts
CBS | Release Date: February 2, 2017
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
New York PostRobert RorkeFeb 1, 2017
Season 1 Review: The flavor of Superior Donuts might be old-fashioned--but a baker’s dozen of the sitcom might do the trick. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyShirley LiJan 27, 2017
Season 1 Review: It's sweet...and it's fluffy, with too many easy jokes about a certain venti-size coffee chain and too little nuance when tackling the hot-button issues. [Feb 3/10 2017, p.101] Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandJan 27, 2017
Season 1 Review: The writing is nicely peppered with contemporary references, but, more to the point, effective character-based humor. In other words, this show is funny. Read full review
70
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertFeb 1, 2017
Season 1 Review: The diversity of the cast and the topicality of the material do bring a bit of freshness and potential. Within the stale, traditional formatting, there is some spirit. That’s another plus. Read full review
70
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayJan 31, 2017
Season 1 Review: The Superior Donuts recipe is as old as doughnuts--or Cheers, to which it's far from ready to be compared, but it's also just topical enough to feel fresh. Read full review
70
The Salt Lake TribuneScott D. PierceJan 27, 2017
Season 1 Review: It's pretty funny. The pilot episode isn't hilarious, but it's amusing. And it has plenty of potential to turn into a really good show. Read full review
63
USA TodayRobert BiancoFeb 1, 2017
Season 1 Review: Superior, it isn't, but it's pleasant, well-acted, and spreads a few worthy messages about cooperation and inclusion. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergFeb 2, 2017
Season 1 Review: All three actors know what they're doing and could be pieces of what would instantly be a solid ensemble. Around that ensemble, the show has a good, simple backdrop for an old-fashioned watering hole comedy in the Cheers vein, with only a couple of sets and very little unnecessary pretense. Read full review
60
Vox.comEmily VanDerWerffFeb 2, 2017
Season 1 Review: It could get very good in the future, even though it’s not there yet. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredJon NegroniFeb 2, 2017
Season 1 Review: It doesn’t always work, but it has the potential to break through its own built-in limitations. Read full review
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenJan 27, 2017
Season 1 Review: With its talented cast and a willingness to reference current events, Superior Donuts evinces some potential, especially if the show’s writers can come up with better, less redundant sitcom plots. Read full review
58
Uncle BarkyEd BarkJan 31, 2017
Season 1 Review: Superior Donuts may well get stale in a hurry. But it’s on a network that somehow has kept the idiotic and likewise eatery-themed 2 Broke Girls on the air for an astonishing six seasons. And this one is better than that. Read full review
50
The AtlanticSophie GilbertFeb 2, 2017
Season 1 Review: There’s potential here, if the show could relax on the gentrification jokes and maybe commit to finding more depth in its characters, who in the first three episodes are little more than archetypes. Read full review
50
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerFeb 1, 2017
Season 1 Review: The staging is suffocatingly old-school: Stand up, deliver laugh line, walk to other side of shop for no reason other than to make room for the next character to stand and deliver. That’s not to say that the material isn’t moderately amusing. Read full review
50
Reason.comGlenn GarvinJan 27, 2017
Season 1 Review: Superior Donuts is far from unwatchable. The snappy repartee between the crusty old white owner and his hustling young black employee may not quite draw the blood that the thematically similar "Chico and the Man" did, but it's not without its chuckles. And Fowler brings a madly exuberant charm to his role that marks him for future stardom. Read full review
42
NewsdayVerne GayJan 31, 2017
Season 1 Review: Reminiscent of “Chico and the Man” (the mid-’70s NBC sitcom about a cranky garage owner and his Chicano employee), but it also aspires to a contemporary relevance--but manages only a weary crustiness. Read full review
40
Yahoo TVKen TuckerFeb 2, 2017
Season 1 Review: Superior Donuts feels like the kind of sitcom that would have struck audiences as a cozy place to visit every week if it had premiered in the days before cable and streaming. As it is, it feels at once odd and stale. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMeredith BlakeFeb 2, 2017
Season 1 Review: Superior Donuts has the potential to be something special and groundbreaking. Instead, it’s just another plain-glazed TV show--too sweet and empty in the middle. Read full review
40
VarietyMaureen RyanFeb 2, 2017
Season 1 Review: A bigger problem for Superior Donuts is that its humor feels as tired as Arthur appears to be. The comedy is based on a play by the talented writer and actor Tracy Letts, but at times, the watered-down Donuts feels as though it was dredged up from a comedy vault that closed decades ago. Read full review
40
CNNBrian LowryFeb 1, 2017
Season 1 Review: However good Arthur's donuts are, as sitcoms go, this product is pretty inferior. Read full review
40
Washington PostHank StueverFeb 1, 2017
Season 1 Review: Superior Donuts has come out of the fryer flatter than a tortilla chip, no better or worse than any other CBS sitcom, which isn’t saying much. Read full review
25
The Lincoln Journal StarJeff KorbelikJan 30, 2017
Season 1 Review: This is a formulaic, laugh-track comedy that wastes the talents of its actors--Katey Sagal is a sharp-tongued Chicago cop--who deliver inane, see-them-coming-from-a-mile-away one-liners. Read full review
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