• Network: FOX
  • Series Premiere Date: Mar 20, 2000
Season #: 3, 2, 1
Metascore
64

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 22
  2. Negative: 1 out of 22

Critic Reviews

  1. Denver Post
    Reviewed by: Joanne Ostrow
    Dec 2, 2019
    90
    Clearly, this is not a cookie-cutter network offering; it's bold, at times difficult, and aiming for greatness. [20 March 2000]
  2. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    Dec 2, 2019
    88
    A razor-sharp sitcom that celebrates the human capacity to survive dysfunction. Apparently, that which doesn't destroy us makes us funnier. [20 March 2000]
  3. San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa Times
    Reviewed by: Charlie McCollum
    Dec 2, 2019
    88
    A dark but wildly funny comedy. [19 March 2000]
  4. Los Angeles Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Kronke
    Dec 2, 2019
    80
    Some of the jokes here will jolt you from the typical sitcom complacency - no slack-jawed viewing allowed here - and if each episode doesn't quite find a moment of redemption after mining these hearts of darkness, they leave you amused enough that you can continue soldiering on in your own imperfect life. [20 March 2000]
  5. San Diego Union-Tribune
    Reviewed by: Robert P. Laurence
    Dec 2, 2019
    80
    Titus deftly carries off the delicate trick of creating comedy out of a background of tragedy and chaos, and for that it deserves a look. [20 March 2000, p.E-7]
  6. The Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Jim Hays
    Dec 2, 2019
    80
    "Titus" -- the series -- is manic and makes its home on the black side of comedy. It's clearly not for everyone. But it also turns convention on its ear and takes big risks that sometimes produce laugh-out-loud payoffs. [20 March 2000]
  7. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Reviewed by: Gail Pennington
    Dec 2, 2019
    80
    This is a subversively smart show, and better still a shockingly funny one. Adults who enjoy the edginess of "Malcolm in the Middle" could find a new favorite here. [19 March 2000, p.F1]
  8. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: John Levesque
    Dec 2, 2019
    75
    The danger lies down the road, if Titus the creator runs out of real-life fodder for Titus the character. At that point, "Titus" could become a sitcommy caricature of itself. But, in the early going, Titus is on the money when he says, "Anything is funny if the setup is right. [20 March 2000]
  9. Detroit Free Press
    Reviewed by: Mike Duffy
    Dec 2, 2019
    75
    Of course, it helps immensely that Christopher Titus's flamboyantly roguish father, Ken, is portrayed with genuine rascal charisma by Stacy Keach. An actor known mostly for his dramatic roles, Keach's exuberant comic performance is a cockeyed revelation. He could easily become the show's break-out personality. [19 March 2000, p.1L]
  10. Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    Jun 13, 2013
    75
    The talking-to-the-audience material is shot in black and white to signify its staged artiness, but it also makes the show's standard sitcom scenes seem even livelier than they are — a canny strategy.
  11. Arizona Republic
    Reviewed by: Bill Goodykoontz
    Dec 2, 2019
    70
    Clever, funny and troubling. [20 March 2000, p.1E]
  12. Reviewed by: James Poniewozik
    Jun 28, 2013
    70
    Making audiences feel weird merely for laughing is a sign of something quite wrong, or quite right; here it's mostly the latter.
  13. Dallas Morning News
    Reviewed by: Ed Bark
    Dec 2, 2019
    67
    The show is both derivative and distinctive, proving that standup comics can still adapt their acts to the sitcom form if it's the right comic and the right act. [20 March 2000]
  14. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Phil Rosenthal
    Dec 2, 2019
    63
    It's well-written enough, even stylish at times. It's just not very funny. [20 March 2000, p.45]