Three Rivers
CBS | Release Date: October 4, 2009
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
13
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara
Season 1 Review: Three Rivers seems to trust the drama of its subject matter, the appeal of its characters and the talent of its cast enough to go gently into this Sunday night. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesPaige Wiser
Season 1 Review: The cases are inventive, and the acting is low key. Entertainmentwise, the series is nothing special. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineKatherine Stevens
Season 1 Review: With run-of-the-mill storylines and likeable doctors, Three Rivers is neither adrenaline-pumping, like NBC's Trauma, nor genre-busting, like House. Instead, the show appears to be a friendly study in hard work and good manners. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: This is a template as well-worn as "Marcus Welby, M.D.," albeit with greater visual style and an accelerated pace--as well as an underlying "pay it forward" message about organ donation. Read full review
60
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: These medical shows aren't brain surgery, but most of them are dead on arrival anyway. Three Rivers shows up at least with a healthy pulse. Read full review
60
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: As assembly-line products go, Three Rivers isn't half bad. Read full review
50
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: Three Rivers tries to work around the failings of its script through quick cuts and colored gels, but they're a vain attempt to build excitement where none exists. Read full review
50
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: It's not great, it's not awful. It's an adequate, conventional CBS-y medical drama about transplant surgeons set at Pittsburgh's fictional Three Rivers Regional Medical Center. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: It's not a gratuitous failure and makes enough sense to see to the end. Read full review
50
The New York TimesMike Hale
Season 1 Review: At this point, everything about it feels generic. Read full review
50
PopMattersLesley Smith
Season 1 Review: Unlike crime dramas, when the body is usually cleanly dead, by its very nature Three Rivers lingers on the processes of death and near-death at both ends of the story. Just how many poignant farewells can an audience take? Read full review
42
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: Three Rivers is a masterful send-up of old medical TV show conventions, dating back to the '50s, with a parade of cliches so obviously and hilariously inane that you will laugh until your side aches. Read full review
40
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: Three Rivers plays like a show that was put together in one made up of transplant advocates. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: For viewers, it's almost impossible to stay awake. Read full review
40
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: The material is so inherently dramatic that there are occasional moments where Three Rivers is affecting despite itself. But it's also a danger sign that one of the premiere episode's story lines has absolutely nothing to do with a patient in need of an organ. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: The supporting cast is diverse, but uniformly bland. Three Rivers isn’t as laughably awful as NBC’s "Mercy," but it’s possibly more forgettable. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterRandee Dawn
Season 1 Review: perhaps a segment of CBS' audience will enjoy the sedative-like effects of Three Rivers, which injects sincerity and competence back into the profession with such unabashed ease that it's possible to overlook that this is utter drivel. Read full review
30
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: Sure, the show will raise awareness of organ donation; but it is certainly not going to raise the profile of good TV drama. Casting and nuanced writing might have helped, but neither are in evidence here. Read full review
25
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: Daniel Henney is the new handsomest man on TV and it's a pleasure to watch him walk the halls in scrubs. But even he can't make me believe what Three Rivers is selling. For that, I'd need a brain transplant. Read full review
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