Switched At Birth: Season 1

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 46 Ratings

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8.1

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8.1	Your Score
8.1	User Score Universal acclaim based on 46 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

ABC Family | Freeform | Season Premiere Date: June 6, 2011

Starring: Vanessa Marano, Lea Thompson, Constance Marie

Summary: Daphne Vasquez and Bay Kinnish discover they were switched at birth, and soon circumstances bring the two families under one roof.

Creator: Lizzy Weiss

Genre(s): Drama

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Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E30. Streets Noise Invaded the House
Air Date: October 22, 2012
tbd
S1:E29. The Trial
Air Date: October 15, 2012
tbd
S1:E28. We are the Kraken of Our Own Sinking Ships.
Air Date: October 8, 2012

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

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Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Jennifer Armstrong

Jun 2, 2011

High concept, and yet it works, thanks to solid acting. Read full review

Tom Gliatto

Jun 2, 2011

Katie Leclerc is instantly, sunnily appealing as Daphne....Vanessa Marano is fine as the other misplaced kid, except she's a sulker and sort of a drag. [13 Jun 2011, p.48]

San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa Times

Chuck Barney

Jun 30, 2011

Despite all the implausibilities and irritations, Switched manages to make a positive impression, thanks to some sturdy writing and solid performances that adequately sell the premise. Read full review

Brian Lowry

Jun 3, 2011

ABC Family has another bright and bouncy addition to the family--one that with proper care and feeding looks born to run for a good long time. Read full review

Mary McNamara

Jun 6, 2011

If the situation of Switched at Birth often seems surreal and at times contrived (seriously, no one is going to even call a lawyer? Or a therapist? Or the hospital?), the performances keep the story grounded as yet another alternative American family blooms under the California sun. Read full review

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8.1

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User Reviews

SHAKEITUPSUCKS

Nov 25, 2011

This show is actually good!!! It gets me mad though how bay is with emmet, i think daphne and emmet would be better together!!! Anyways cant wait til it comes back!!!

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

joeljimenez

Aug 1, 2013

An amazing show! Definitely recommend to anyone. I am so glad I found out about it. It is seriously my favorite show on television. The actors on this show are phenomenal and the way that this show incorporates actual American Sign Language it incredible. It has inspired me and surely manyAn amazing show! Definitely recommend to anyone. I am so glad I found out about it. It is seriously my favorite show on television. The actors on this show are phenomenal and the way that this show incorporates actual American Sign Language it incredible. It has inspired me and surely many other teens to learn and get connected to the Deaf community. Amazing actors, amazing acting, amazing writing.. what more could you want?… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

WonderFrostf

Sep 22, 2014

Well written, interesting characters, infectious actors, educational, life-like, and even edgy! The first episode hooked me and I've been reeling in ever since. Sometimes I find specific scenarios, or reactions completely nonsensical, but I'm quick to remember that they are still possible.Well written, interesting characters, infectious actors, educational, life-like, and even edgy! The first episode hooked me and I've been reeling in ever since. Sometimes I find specific scenarios, or reactions completely nonsensical, but I'm quick to remember that they are still possible. I'm really looking forward to the latest season. Thanks ABC for making a quality show.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JennetP

Jun 8, 2011

At the moment, "Switched at Birth" looks like a cross between a daytime soap opera and an Afterschool Special--er, make that FIVE Afterschool Specials. Yes, the "oops, wrong baby" plot predates daytime television, as a joke about Mark Twain acidly reminds us, but "Switched" uses the soapAt the moment, "Switched at Birth" looks like a cross between a daytime soap opera and an Afterschool Special--er, make that FIVE Afterschool Specials. Yes, the "oops, wrong baby" plot predates daytime television, as a joke about Mark Twain acidly reminds us, but "Switched" uses the soap opera version: a bombshell from the blue, unmotivated and unsuspected. But that's a minor problem compared to the relentless sermonizing. The pilot preaches the gospel of: (1) adoptive parents versus birth parents; (2) deafness as culture, rather than disability; (3) the danger of class-based stereotypes in self-expression, self-destruction, and self-adornment, among other things. Just to be clear: I'm not an art-for-art's-sake aesthete; I've played on Team Horace since a seventh-grade production of "El Mago de Oz" brought down the "English Only" signs in my middle school cafeteria. Moreover, I believe that parenting, deaf culture, and class bias are important issues--important enough to be treated with subtlety. That said, I think this series has GREAT potential. The cast is strong and varied, including accomplished film and theatre actors (D.W. Moffett), proven TV stars (Lea Thompson), and dazzling newcomers (Katie Leclerc). Particularly fine are the show's three deaf actors (Leclerc, Sean Berdy, and Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin), who have such talent and charisma that I can almost understand ABC's compulsion to jump on their coat tails and ride around signing "We were here first!" More pluses: some of the writing is wonderful--smart and disciplined, willing to pass up an easy laugh to help build character. Pulling in the other direction, however, is a drive to schematize, to set the moneyed, athletic, diplomatic strawberry-blond charmers apart from the destitute, artistic, cynical brunette rebels. It's ok in the pilot, which introduces a dozen or more characters, but the impulse must fade, along with our recollection of the show's improbable premise, if the show is to realize its immense promise. "Switched at Birth" could easily become great--one of those rare shows with near-universal appeal--but it could just as easily become unwatchable, a turgid morality play in which Sir Fix-a-Lot and the Knights Exemplar battle Baron von Bias for the soul of Everyteen… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

OneVoice

Nov 25, 2012

To be honest, I didn't have very high expectations for this show when I first decided to give it a shot. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I have enjoyed it thus far. It's not an amazing, in-depth look at the deaf community, nor is it particularly believable as a family drama.To be honest, I didn't have very high expectations for this show when I first decided to give it a shot. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I have enjoyed it thus far. It's not an amazing, in-depth look at the deaf community, nor is it particularly believable as a family drama. Everything is simplified. The acting has a pretty severe mixture of terrible and incredible (the girl who acts as Daphne is superb, while the people who act as John and Kathryn feel like they are constantly over-acting). The plot is simple, and aside from the fact that a large portion of it is focused on the deaf community, the storyline is actually not really very unique at all. But despite all this, I still seem to really be enjoying myself while watching it, and find it to be a great show to watch if I just want to relax and ease myself out of a busy day. I'm not usually a fan of ABC Family shows, but this one I'll probably keep up with as long as new episodes keep coming my way.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

MovieDork

Jul 5, 2011

I'll admit it...this show is a guilty pleasure for me. If any of my friends saw it on my DVR, I would deny, deny, deny that I put it there. But the show is actually good...the storyline is a little implausible, until you realize that it has happened in real life. I still can't see how aI'll admit it...this show is a guilty pleasure for me. If any of my friends saw it on my DVR, I would deny, deny, deny that I put it there. But the show is actually good...the storyline is a little implausible, until you realize that it has happened in real life. I still can't see how a Latina mother would think her daughter would come out red haired and fair. I'm sure it's to show just how different these families are. It's also a good example of the nature vs. nurture concept, which I think the show will explore in later episodes. And don't get me started on Vanessa Marano...that girl is gorgeous. And Lea Thompson! I'm glad she's back on TV!… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

EddyMac

Aug 1, 2011

Switched at Birth is one of the worst shows to come out of ABC Family, bettered even by Pretty Little Liars. The acting is sub-par, the writing is even worse, and the deaf girl storyline, along with the whole i lost my baby idea isn't very captivating. the idea that the parents are suddenlySwitched at Birth is one of the worst shows to come out of ABC Family, bettered even by Pretty Little Liars. The acting is sub-par, the writing is even worse, and the deaf girl storyline, along with the whole i lost my baby idea isn't very captivating. the idea that the parents are suddenly ok with their daughter not being their daughter is too unlikely for my taste.
Watch at your own risk… Expand

0 of 6 users found this helpful06

SEE ALL 10 REVIEWS

Seasons & Episodes

75

Series Overview
Season 5

tbd
- Season 5 Overview
  Air Date: January 31, 2017
Season 4

tbd
- Season 4 Overview
  Air Date: January 6, 2015
Season 3

tbd
- Season 3 Overview
  Air Date: January 13, 2014
Season 2

tbd
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: January 7, 2013
Season 1

75
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: June 6, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E30. Streets Noise Invaded the House
  Air Date: October 22, 2012
- tbd
  S1:E29. The Trial
  Air Date: October 15, 2012
- tbd
  S1:E28. We are the Kraken of Our Own Sinking Ships.
  Air Date: October 8, 2012
- tbd
  S1:E27. The Declaration of Independence
  Air Date: October 1, 2012
- tbd
  S1:E26. Tree of Forgiveness
  Air Date: September 24, 2012
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  S1:E25. The Shock of Being Seen
  Air Date: September 17, 2012
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  S1:E24. The Intruder
  Air Date: September 10, 2012
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  S1:E23. This Is the Color of My Dreams
  Air Date: September 3, 2012
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  S1:E22. Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time
  Air Date: March 20, 2012
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  S1:E21. The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
  Air Date: March 13, 2012
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  S1:E20. Game On
  Air Date: March 6, 2012
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  S1:E19. Write a Lonely Solider
  Air Date: February 28, 2012
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  S1:E18. The Art of Painting
  Air Date: February 21, 2012
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  S1:E17. Protect Me from What I Want
  Air Date: February 14, 2012
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  S1:E16. Las Dos Fridas
  Air Date: February 7, 2012
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  S1:E15. Explusion from the Garden of Eden
  Air Date: January 31, 2012
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  S1:E14. Les Soeurs D'estrees
  Air Date: January 24, 2012
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  S1:E13. Self Portrait with a Bandaged Ear
  Air Date: January 17, 2012
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  S1:E12. The Tempest
  Air Date: January 10, 2012
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  S1:E11. Starry Night
  Air Date: January 3, 2012
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  S1:E10. The Homecoming
  Air Date: August 8, 2011
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  S1:E9. Paradise Lost
  Air Date: August 1, 2011
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  S1:E8. Pandora's Box
  Air Date: July 25, 2011
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  S1:E7. The Stag Hunt
  Air Date: July 18, 2011
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  S1:E6. The Persistence of Memory
  Air Date: July 11, 2011
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  S1:E5. Dogs Playing Poker
  Air Date: July 4, 2011
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  S1:E4. Dance Amongst Daggers
  Air Date: June 27, 2011
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  S1:E3. Portrait of My Father
  Air Date: June 20, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E3. Part 2
  Air Date: July 2, 2018
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  S1:E2. American Gothic
  Air Date: June 13, 2011
- tbd
  S1:E2. Part 1
  Air Date: July 1, 2018
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  S1:E1. This is Not a Pipe
  Air Date: June 6, 2011