Turn Up Charlie
Netflix | Release Date: March 15, 2019
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
10
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
ColliderAllison KeeneMar 15, 2019
Season 1 Review: Turn Up Charlie, like Charlie himself, is admittedly a bit of a mess. As is the case with his 1997 hit “LUV,” there is some good stuff in the series. But if it returns, it might need a remix. Read full review
58
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardMar 13, 2019
Season 1 Review: Idris Elba is a star. The least his TV show can do is reflect that. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydMar 14, 2019
Season 1 Review: What we have in Turn Up Charlie is an amiable, ambling, eagerly conventional, fairly superficial comedy, not hard to watch, although much longer than it needs to be. Read full review
50
CNNBrian LowryMar 13, 2019
Season 1 Review: While the show is breezy and mildly pleasant, in a less profligate streaming-TV environment the logical move would have been to turn down "Charlie." Read full review
45
Paste MagazineLaToya FergusonMar 15, 2019
Season 1 Review: As is, the series does many things, few of them well, despite containing all or most of the necessary ingredients. I suppose there’s a DJ analogy in there somewhere, but Turn Up Charlie can’t seem to find it, and neither can I. Read full review
42
TVLineDave NemetzMar 5, 2019
Season 1 Review: A thoroughly mild, easily digestible sitcom that unfortunately dips into Disney Channel levels of saccharine too often to merit a recommendation. It’s a hard show to hate, but without Elba to anchor it, it’d be so lightweight, it’d disintegrate in the air like a dandelion. Read full review
42
IndieWireBen TraversMar 5, 2019
Season 1 Review: There’s a dozen better versions of Turn Up Charlie, and, for all it offers its star, the one that exists simply isn’t worth hearing. Read full review
40
The New York TimesMike HaleMar 15, 2019
Season 1 Review: Elba is admirably committed to the drab, sentimental material (written by Georgia Lester, Victoria Asare-Archer, Laura Neal and Femi Oyeniran), and his portrayal is unfailingly gracious and warm. ... One problem, though: He’s just not funny. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneAlan SepinwallMar 13, 2019
Season 1 Review: Turn Up Charlie isn’t good, but it at least makes plausible the idea of a funnier or more laid-back Elba than we’re used to seeing. Read full review
40
VarietyCaroline FramkeMar 6, 2019
Season 1 Review: When the series focuses on [Charlie and Gabby's] dynamic and Sara’s growing unease with her transient lifestyle, it’s perfectly fine and fun. ... But over its eight episodes, Turn Up Charlie keeps indulging its clumsier instincts. Its broad themes of learning to value others and balance ambition with family spill out in sporadic bursts. Its dialogue gets clumsier and clumsier. ... Its plots get lost in big set pieces and interpersonal DJ drama that’s nowhere near as interesting as the show wants it to be. Read full review
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