The Unusuals

:

Season 1
  • Network: ABC
  • Series Premiere Date: Apr 8, 2009
Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 22
  3. Negative: 1 out of 22
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Critic Reviews

  1. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    60
    ABC'S latest police drama, The Unusuals, manages to tap into both the dark tension and the zany absurdity of a cop's life in New York. If you're looking for a show that captures the best of both those worlds, however, call Wednesday night's premiere episode a work-in-progress.
  2. PopMatters
    Reviewed by: Cynthia Fuchs
    60
    It’s not new or challenging or even very strange. It is, however, plenty quirky.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Alessandra Stanley
    60
    The Unusuals, which begins on Wednesday, isn’t nearly as thrilling [as "Southland"]. But it isn’t bad, just more predictable.
  5. Time
    58
    It's the kind of setting that befits a cop show more focused on characters than cases, and The Unusuals delivers there. The problem is the policing; after one episode, it doesn't really grab me as a cop show yet--partly, perhaps, because the show is so whimsical its stakes don't yet feel real.
  6. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    50
    The series has assembled a promising cast, including Perrineau, Goldberg and Terry Kinney as the unit's snarling captain. In addition, there are vague hints at more sober storylines to come--if, thus far, little reason to emotionally invest in them.
  7. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    50
    The show is neither here nor there, neither amusing nor affecting. It doesn't really call out for further viewing, which is not so unusual at all.
  8. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    42
    The Unusuals is not a good show; it is a messy, uneven, silly, inconsequential show.
  9. Philadelphia Daily News
    Reviewed by: Ellen Gray
    40
    Hawley, who cited two of the best cop shows ever, "Hill Street Blues" and "NYPD Blue," as models, might want to hold off on the patent application. The one episode I've seen of The Unusuals felt unreal and unoriginal. Too bad, because Hawley's assembled some terrific players to populate his precinct of supposed misfits.
  10. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    40
    The Unusuals offers an odd combo platter of tones that don't allow the show to jell in its premiere episode.

Awards & Rankings

64
#64 Best TV Season of 2009
31
#31 Most Discussed TV Season of 2009
72
#72 Most Shared TV Season of 2009

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 81 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 63 out of 81
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 81
  3. Negative: 14 out of 81
  1. ShaunV
    Jan 11, 2010
    9
    TO all the critics out there who were under a 60 rating, you all were upset because the show didn't match up to something else you had TO all the critics out there who were under a 60 rating, you all were upset because the show didn't match up to something else you had in mind, and didn't base your reviews on the merit of what the show was. This show is intelligent, fun and has some great lines every episode... if you want something that isn't the same old formula, with a great, quirky sense of humour, give the Unusuals a try.… Full Review »
  2. AllieA
    Dec 23, 2009
    10
    My family and I loved this show!!! We're so disappointed that it was cancelled!!! We thought Amber Tamblyn was GREAT!! The show had just My family and I loved this show!!! We're so disappointed that it was cancelled!!! We thought Amber Tamblyn was GREAT!! The show had just the right amount of humor and was edgy also. Even our kids (who are in their twenties) like it.… Full Review »
  3. BillyM
    Dec 15, 2009
    10
    ABC what are you thinking? there are other shows that reallly suck, and this was a good one! you're losing me
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