Transparent

To call it Amazon’s first great series, or the only great series of the new fall season--both of which are true--is to damn it with faint praise.

This indisputably is Amazon Prime's “Orange Is the New Black.” That--believe me--is praise enough.

Transparent's major achievement is putting itself on the map.

A touching, intimate, humor-laced family drama that is easily the best new show debuting this fall, and the way you'll be able to watch it holds a not-small part of its power.

What follows is a rich, funny, touching exploration not just of transgender life, but of family, identity and sexuality in general. Tambor's genius in the role is in creating a very particular female character well beyond makeup and wardrobe, seemingly on the cellular level.

Centered on a career-redefining performance by Jeffrey Tambor as a retired professor finally allowing himself to live his true life as a woman, the half-hour, 10-episode series is, quite simply, astonishing to watch.

Having instant access to the entire first season is a blessing for viewers prone to bingeing because the more you learn about Transparent’s Pfefferman clan, the more you want to know.

What a lovely heart this show has, and what supple skills Transparent uses to explore the questions of identity and connection rolling around inside that wounded, hopeful heart. This is simply a great show.

You're unlikely to watch a much better performance anywhere this year.

It's the best new TV show debuting anywhere this fall, by a long stretch.

The 10-episode series, available for streaming on Amazon Prime on Friday, is irresistibly bingeable and even more than “Alpha House,” signals Amazon’s intention to be a player in the streaming content game.

Neither fully a comedy nor a drama, Transparent is simply transcendent. [19/26 Sep 2014, p.123]

This is the series that puts Amazon Prime on the map, if not yet on the same level with competing streamer Netflix.

Transparent is the best streaming-network pilot since Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.”

There are times when “Transparent” will run into a narrative convenience that it often seems too good for--someone stopping by a party at just the right time, someone running into someone in public, etc. Or a character will express something that seems just a bit too self-aware in an argument. I like these characters so much that I really just want to sit around and listen to them talk naturally to each other, examining the dynamics between one of the most fascinating families on TV.

Tambor anchors the show with his sad eyes, but Landecker, Duplass and Hoffmann also turn in strong performances as the addled children.... Episodes might break your heart, but you'll keep coming back for more.

Right in the first episode, the relationships are well lived-in, the writing is honest and bound up with the actors, the tone effortlessly embodies drama, comedy, and life’s absurdities, the contemporary homes and locations click, and the ensemble acting is filled with little moments and jewels.

Tambor's delicacy and sincerity as Maura are subtle and moving, though he never aims for sentimentality. The comedy and difficulty of what this all means for the Pfefferman family are beautifully balanced.

Transparent's transcendent empathy and wry, raw realism make most of this fall season's new batch of network sitcoms seem even emptier than usual.

Transparent is either the best new series most people are unlikely to see or the best excuse Amazon can give you for signing up for a month's free trial.

It’s a daring, difficult project, a chewy story about a family from much the same privileged world as “Afternoon Delight.”

Transparent takes an idea that feels pretty well played out--from “Parenthood” to “Brothers & Sisters”--and invigorates it not through a gimmick but rather via strong writing and performances.

All told, Transparent is a surprisingly poignant, funny and mature piece of work.

An emotionally powerful dramedy.

Tambor gives a nuanced, career-defining performance here.

Transparent is very good, an insightful, downbeat comedy told without piety or burlesque.

Fans of “Six Feet Under” are likely to enjoy Transparent while those who find characters who make consistently poor choices frustrating and may be less enamored. “Transparent” isn’t funny all that often, but at its heart it does tell a relatively new, original story in a way that’s grounded and heartfelt without being at all saccharine.