The Big Bang Theory
CBS | Release Date: September 24, 2007
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
11
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: This is a comedy that does what it's supposed to do, which is to make you smile and giggle at the appropriate points. Be that as it may, the pilot never ascends beyond the level of being cute and nice. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: That said, there are some qualms surrounding how long the producers can mine the Leonard-Penny aspect of the show, a shallow vein if there ever was one. More promising is the interaction among the key duo and their Mensa-worthy friends. Read full review
60
Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker
Season 1 Review: The sporadically amusing Big Bang Theory needs some fancier moves. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: It's just the same joke endlessly repeated--the everyday translated into geek-speak, and the obscure and difficult treated as if it were common knowledge.... These are perilous times for sitcoms, and Lorre & Co. may want to think up another. Read full review
60
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: I didn't get much of a sense where this show was going from the pilot, though there was nothing to hate about Big Bang Theory, and the writing’s every bit as sharp as "Two and a Half Men" and "Dharma & Greg," comedies overseen by Big Bang producer Chuck Lorre. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: "Chuck" has interests similar to those of the heroes of Big Bang, including a lack of interest in chasing women, but his comedy is more inventive--the better bet in a new era in which the nerd no longer loses, but the best nerd show wins. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: Standard setup? Sure. Standard execution? For the most part. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Season 1 Review: While it's got that professional Burrows sheen of unerrant joke delivery--especially from the talented Galecki, who can do this in his sleep--you have to assume the pile of scripts on his desk in this hurting age for the three-camera studio-audience format isn’t what it once was. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyHenry Goldblatt
Season 1 Review: To call this a one-joke sitcom would be a stretch. Read full review
40
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: The show might even have been engaging, if the one-liners came less frequently and the characters had a little more dimension. As it is, Sheldon and Leonard are merely laughable, if sweet, and they are even less fleshed out than the characters on "Two and a Half Men." Read full review
40
PopMattersTodd R. Ramlow
Season 1 Review: Other shows do complicate and elaborate the geek mystique ("CSI" and "Bones" come to mind), but all we’re likely to get from The Big Bang Theory are missed communications, fumbled opportunities, and general yuckety-yucks. Read full review
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