The McCarthys

:

Season 1
  • Network: CBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Oct 30, 2014
Metascore
53

Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 22
  3. Negative: 3 out of 22
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Critic Reviews

  1. Philadelphia Daily News
    Reviewed by: Ellen Gray
    Oct 30, 2014
    60
    That the show itself feels like a bit of a throwback doesn't have to be a bad thing: It's a throwback to a time when millions more people watched shows like this.
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    Oct 29, 2014
    60
    Sitcoms have succeeded on less, and while The McCarthys won’t dazzle anyone with spectacular dunks, it’s counting on the fundamentals being enough.
  3. Hitfix
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    Oct 28, 2014
    58
    The pilot (the only episode I've seen, despite the very late premiere) is ultimately painless.
  5. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Reviewed by: Gail Pennington
    Oct 30, 2014
    50
    A loud, old-school comedy with Laurie Metcalf ("Roseanne") as mom Marjorie and Tyler Ritter (look-alike younger son of the late John Ritter) as gay son Ronny.
  6. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Oct 30, 2014
    50
    The family's affectionately teasing acceptance of Ronny's sexual orientation almost makes up for the fact that everyone seems to take too much to heart brother Gerard's philosophy of how to get things done: "Volume and repetition."
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Neil Genzlinger
    Oct 29, 2014
    50
    Mr. Ritter sells the character pretty well.... The other McCarthys are also all familiar archetypes, which makes this show another in what seems to be a trend of comfort-food comedies: witty without being ambitious; safe rather than scalding.
  8. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    Oct 29, 2014
    50
    When the show is focused on Mr. Ritter and Ms. Metcalf, The McCarthys rises above the usual sitcom slop that it feels like whenever the other characters get screen time.
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    Oct 29, 2014
    50
    If you don't see where this is headed, you've never seen a sitcom before. Everyone else will get there long before the show does, because everyone else has already been there.
  10. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: David Wiegand
    Oct 27, 2014
    50
    The show is moderately entertaining, but the cast in general bumps things up a notch, and Metcalfe bumps them up several more.
  11. The Huffington Post
    Reviewed by: Maureen Ryan
    Sep 30, 2014
    50
    It'll likely be a typical CBS sitcom going forward: full of broad characters and predictable moments but reasonably amusing and well made.
  12. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    Oct 30, 2014
    40
    http://www.vulture.com/2014/10/tv-review-cbss-the-mccarthys.html
  13. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Oct 29, 2014
    40
    The central mother-son dynamic and its moments of warmth can’t overcome the weariness that permeates the rest of the show and cast.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 15
  3. Negative: 3 out of 15
  1. pedrogonzalez
    Oct 31, 2014
    10
    This pilot was not only funny, but shows a lot of promise; something that most pilots combine. I was laughing non-stop, and the family has aThis pilot was not only funny, but shows a lot of promise; something that most pilots combine. I was laughing non-stop, and the family has a great chemistry that is not easy to produce! Two thumbs up!… Full Review »
  2. habrown
    Nov 7, 2014
    10
    I've only watched the first episode but I have to say right on! This one knocks it clear out of the park. It's well written and funny andI've only watched the first episode but I have to say right on! This one knocks it clear out of the park. It's well written and funny and witty and both Ritter and Metcalf are terrific. And so Boston! Love it! This show will stick.… Full Review »
  3. NotchFilter
    Aug 17, 2017
    7
    This show is turning out to be quite good. The first couple of episodes were on less than solid ground, quality-wise.

    But the show has    This show is turning out to be quite good. The first couple of episodes were on less than solid ground, quality-wise.

    But the show has been rallying to excellence with the past two or three episodes. I'm happy to have hung in there....

    I was turned off by the summertime pre-season promotions about a ~Boston sports-oriented family~.

    The show is not about that at all.

    It *is* about the intra-relations of a family, and the love among those family members. Yah, sports is a secondary theme.

    The writing is up to the task, and the cast seems to have that spark that makes for a successful comedy ensemble. They truly seem to have fun working together.

    I like this show.    … Full Review »
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