Trophy Wife
ABC | Release Date: September 24, 2013
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
8
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
NewsdayDiane WertsSep 23, 2013
Season 1 Review: Akerman has to be everything. Good thing she's a nimble actress.... Whitford is always winning, and even the poor exes find wiggle room inside their cliches. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubEmily VanDerWerffSep 23, 2013
Season 1 Review: In its pilot form, at least, Trophy Wife is surprisingly self-assured and confident, the sort of show that seems ready to hit its stride in just a week or two. Read full review
80
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: Trophy Wife is charming and buoyant, and it has fun with tasks that feel like homework on many other new shows: It creates specific characters, establishes a consistent tone and sets up a host of relationships that are full of potential. Read full review
80
SlateWilla PaskinSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: Trophy Wife is nominally about a marriage, but if its very polished and sure-handed pilot is any indication, it is just as focused on Kate’s dynamic with Pete’s ex-wives. Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GraySep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: A pilot that was better than it sounded on paper (though I'm not sure there isn't more funny chemistry between Marcia Gay Harden--who plays Wife No. 1--and Akerman than there is between Whitford and Akerman). Read full review
80
TimeJames PoniewozikSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: The charming pilot swerves quickly from the expected Bravo-reality-show-catfight scenario and becomes something more complicated and rewarding: a good-hearted comedy about an extended family (including Pete’s two ex-wives) figuring out how to make itself work on the fly. Read full review
80
Miami HeraldGlenn GarvinSep 23, 2013
Season 1 Review: Akerman has wit and style, and so does the show. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyMelissa MaerzSep 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: The unfortunate title is a disservice to this show's main character.... Luckily, the second episode makes Kate sympathetic, as she tries (and fails) to put her stepson (Albert Tsai) to bed. Akerman has nice, playful chemistry with Tsai, who shows good comic timing even though he's only 9. Read full review
75
USA TodayRobert BiancoSep 23, 2013
Season 1 Review: While Trophy Wife is an often-amusing comedy, it doesn't entirely work as a family comedy, because it has yet to convince us that these people could ever be part of the same family. Read full review
75
Washington PostHank StueverSep 13, 2013
Season 1 Review: Trophy Wife is the only new sitcom [this fall] that clears the double hurdles of cast chemistry and story pacing in the pilot episode. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: Buried beneath the frenzied, too-eager-to-please surface is a comedy that, at its best, evokes the colorful bustle of Malcolm in the Middle and the worn-down wisdom of Men of a Certain Age. There's life in it. Read full review
70
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: Akerman is perfect for the role.... Whitford is low-key and wry, and Harden makes a great heavy. She uses her silky voice and her stiff posture to torment Kate, making even stock material fly. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: Grounded in parental reality, it's funny and promises to be funnier. The characters, though presented in very broad strokes, have lots of room for shading. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: The pilot is enjoyable, but it's hard to know where it's heading. Read full review
70
Denver PostJoanne OstrowSep 11, 2013
Season 1 Review: Executive producers Haskins and Emily Halpern are sharp and the lines are funny and maybe, just maybe, there’s a show here. Read full review
67
HitfixAlan SepinwallSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: I don't love the pilot, but the raw material's there for a very good comedy. Read full review
67
Uncle BarkyEd BarkSep 23, 2013
Season 1 Review: It’s not nearly in [Modern Family's] league, though--at least not now and likely not ever. Still, Akerman is reason enough to buy in for at least a few episodes. Read full review
63
People WeeklyTom GliattoSep 19, 2013
Season 1 Review: Trophy Wife is no prize--the pilot is swamped with exposition recited in the girlishly thin voice of star Malin Akerman--yet there's enough of a comedic brain and cast at work here that some additional polishing might do the trick. [30 Sep 2013, p.49]
60
Under The RadarLily MoayeriSep 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: The Trophy Wife characters are well developed and the actors very natural in their roles. The kids are brilliant--particularly Tsai. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: The pilot is solid but 22 minutes with this kind of cast and concept barely leaves any room to decipher whether or not you want to spend one night a week with these people. Read full review
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenSep 23, 2013
Season 1 Review: With its title and premise, Trophy Wife is not an immediately likable show but some of the jokes land well and the kid characters are fun. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleySep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: The problem isn’t the characters, though they can feel a little stilted. The problem is that we don’t believe the whole situation. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian LowrySep 17, 2013
Season 1 Review: Despite promising elements, there simply isn’t a lot in this premise that demands a second date, much less a longterm commitment. Read full review
42
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: Akerman and Whitford have zero chemistry, and it doesn’t help that she looks young enough to be his daughter. Read full review
40
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandSep 24, 2013
Season 1 Review: Even if you swallow all of Trophy Wife's absurd contrivances, you won't be laughing very much. Read full review
40
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandSep 22, 2013
Season 1 Review: The show obviously has a great cast, but they’re badly used.... These are not people you want to spend 22 minutes with every Tuesday night. Read full review
30
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerSep 23, 2013
Season 1 Review: Trophy Wife is forced-frivolity mush. Read full review
20
HollywoodChicago.comBrian TallericoSep 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: There’s some notable talent here. But they’re wasted to such a drastic degree on such stale character writing that I doubt it can be turned around. Read full review
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