The Crazy Ones
CBS | Release Date: September 26, 2013
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
15
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandSep 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: Williams is a treasure, leapfrogging through voices, characters, and puns.... He's also the only reason to watch, because the show's premise is so limiting. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydSep 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: It is buried in whimsicality and paeans to "feeling" and leaping into the void. And the stars do feel out of sync. (Williams is more comfortable riffing with James Wolk--"Mad Men's" Bob Benson--as... some other guy who works there.) We will give it some time. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleySep 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: The Crazy Ones has its charms. It also has yet to find the balance between Williams’s shtick--his solos, basically--and the good ensemble comedy that would keep viewers coming back. Read full review
60
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertSep 25, 2013
Season 1 Review: The product tie-in is tiresome, but Wolk in particular, with his winks and grins, adds warmth as Williams’s cocky protege. He also rescues a few scenes in which Williams starts to drift into the nonsense stratosphere. Read full review
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenSep 25, 2013
Season 1 Review: It shows the most potential as a buddy comedy focused on Mr. Williams and Mr. Wolk. By comparison, Ms. Gellar’s character is a wet blanket. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian LowrySep 25, 2013
Season 1 Review: Kelley is no stranger to writing comedy, even if it’s traditionally been in service of hourlong shows, and between his gifts as a wordsmith and Williams’ frenetic energy (best displayed in a closing-credits outtake sequence), The Crazy Ones has potential beyond what the pilot demonstrates. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleySep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: Watching Mr. Williams return to the kind of improvisation-style routines that made him famous in the 1970s is bittersweet, like watching Jimmy Connors play tennis again: they are still impressive, but audiences can’t help recalling how much more elastic and powerful they were at their peak. Read full review
60
Denver PostJoanne OstrowSep 11, 2013
Season 1 Review: The talented cast and upbeat pilot work in the series’ favor, but if the half-hour is to be more than a platform for Williams’ improv, the story will have to go deeper. And make us care. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushSep 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: The result is a mostly wan workplace sitcom hamstrung by the premise of yoking Williams to a wet-blanket daughter as business partner (Sarah Michelle Gellar, not exactly in her element). The co-star who really pops is James Wolk. Read full review
50
HitfixAlan SepinwallSep 25, 2013
Season 1 Review: Simon, Sydney and their colleagues work in a giant office that seems much too underpopulated, just as the first episode feels like a rough draft. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubErik AdamsSep 25, 2013
Season 1 Review: The episode has the propulsive pace of a CBS hour-long, but that can leave the fun parts of a single-camera sitcom (like the jokes) behind in its dust. Above all, The Crazy Ones is safe. Read full review
50
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: When Williams can rein in his hyper qualities, he can be an effective presence. And at least he knows his way around a joke, unlike Gellar, who, post-"Buffy," still hasn't risen above the level of the writing she's given (and the writing for her here is flat and one-dimensional). Read full review
42
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardSep 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: As a sitcom version of herself, the onetime “American Idol” outshines Gellar, which is not a good omen for the show. Williams seems ex­hausted. So is this show. Read full review
42
NewsdayVerne GaySep 25, 2013
Season 1 Review: You hope for a laugh, pray for one, then give up. To be fair, tonight's pilot runs fast (19 minutes) and feels more like a "sizzle reel" than a fully formed show. Williams, at least, is a genius, and maybe he'll get the time to turn this into something worth watching. Read full review
42
Uncle BarkyEd BarkSep 25, 2013
Season 1 Review: The Crazy Ones may not be fall’s worst new comedy series, but its premiere episode easily is the biggest underachiever. Read full review
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