Twenty Good Years
NBC | Release Date: October 11, 2006
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
29
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
0
Mixed:
9
Negative:
17

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: The pilot for "Twenty Good Years" has some genuinely funny moments even as it makes no apparent effort to reinvent the form. Read full review
60
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: The laughs generated are not subtle, but at least they're there. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalDorothy Rabinowitz
Season 1 Review: The writing could be sharper, the vision less soft-headed.... That aside, there's no mistaking the sense of life and vitality that comes bouncing out of this series, or its cause -- namely, its two stars. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: Even if the material is a trifle slight, pairing of John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor brightens matters, serving up smiles if not outright guffaws. Read full review
50
People WeeklyTom Gliatto
Season 1 Review: So far, it's of interest only for watching Lithgow--who likes to shout his lines with quivering urgency, as if he'd just seen a UFO--as he goes over the top to get a laugh. [16 Oct 2006, p.39]
50
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: Without these two, 20 Good Years would be 22 bad minutes of television, but they bring so much skill to their roles, and seem to be having so much fun, you can see the comedy running, if not for 20 years, maybe four or five. Read full review
40
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: A perfectly serviceable but utterly forgettable sitcom. Read full review
40
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: "Twenty Good Years" is not flat-out awful. It's nowhere close to great, either. Read full review
40
Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker
Season 1 Review: This show is for people who find Lithgow's shameless shtick uproarious. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
Season 1 Review: I will be rooting for this series to improve, but not watching it. Read full review
37
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: Everything about the show seems designed to misuse its stars and erase our memories of the better work they've done. Read full review
30
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Viewers who like their comedy broad, loud and silly might take a liking to this "Odd Couple"-like sitcom. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: The jokes in "Twenty" are both predictable and telegraphed. Read full review
20
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 1 Review: What's particularly appalling is the way Lithgow is allowed to go way, way over the top in his performance. Read full review
20
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: "Twenty Good Years" is based on the premise these two comedy warhorses can make just about anything work, but this tired vehicle proves too much -- or rather, too little -- for even them. Read full review
20
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: If "Twenty" proves anything, it's that even gifted performers can't conceal the flaws of a truly uninspired script, though they can distract from them here and there. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: There's nothing inherently wrong with the premise... But what's been done with it, on the evidence of the pilot, is weak, and slightly embarrassing to watch. Read full review
20
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: If it weren't for [Lithgow's] shameless bellowing, "20 Good Years" would be excruciating, instead of the (very) occasionally amusing hackfest it's turned out to be. Read full review
20
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: It is so ancient - in approach, tone, style and energy - that you can almost see the dust bunnies tumble across the set. Read full review
20
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: It is a male version of “The Golden Girls,” but with weaker writing, and older viewers are not saps. Read full review
12
Detroit Free PressMike Duffy
Season 1 Review: Despite Lithgow and Tambor's capabilities, the series sags badly amid the moldy excesses of generic, over-the-top slapstick. Read full review
12
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: "Twenty Good Years" is so bad, its pilot doesn't contain 20 good seconds. Read full review
10
TimeJames Poniewozik
Season 1 Review: This is the same kind of odd-couple pairing that TV has been trying to sell for decades, and, like most every odd-couple concept after the actual Odd Couple, the premise has not even Twenty Good Minutes of humor in it. Read full review
10
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: This show just isn't funny. At all. Ever. Under any circumstances. Read full review
0
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: If you last through 20 minutes of "Twenty Good Years," NBC's new sit-no-com, you are either a saint, a madman or in a tragic and irreversible coma. Read full review
0
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: The show is just awful. Read full review
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