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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
16
Mixed:
19
Negative:
16
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Critic Reviews
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
"Ellie" is a smart, daring show, full of memorable characters capable of humorous banter in one moment and physical comedy the next. [25 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Sharp, funny and demanding of its lead actor, 'Watching Ellie' is NBC's best sitcom attempt in years. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
There's an engaging free spirit at the heart of "Watching Ellie." [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Whether viewers will feel too challenged by Ellie to smile along remains to be seen. Hopefully they won't; TV needs crazy-vain-brave risk-takers badly. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
It's not as novel or successful a concept as "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the HBO series from "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David. But based on the first two episodes, "Watching Ellie" is exponentially better, and more daring, than the derivative vehicles churned out by [Michael] Richards and [Jason] Alexander. [25 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Louis-Dreyfus fits easily and naturally into the leading role of a vehicle built for one. She makes it a pleasure to watch Ellie - and to listen to her, too, when she sings in each episode. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is at the top of her game. Her expressions, physicality and timing are right on the mark. Her vocals are a treat and flow naturally from the story. [14 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Watching Ellie is better than bad, but it could be - no, should be - a lot more fun than it is. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
"Watching Ellie" rises and falls on the ability of Louis-Dreyfus to pull laughs out of familiar story lines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. [25 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
Sucking up to standard sitcom conventions doesn't necessarily hurt, or help, the show. It's still funnier than most of this season's newcomers but not worth running home to - or even telling a friend about. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Watching "Ellie" becomes an ordeal in watching the clock. You see your life ticking away, wasting time watching "Ellie." [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
It could have been worse. It could have been "The Michael Richards Show" or Jason Alexander's "Bob Patterson." [25 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Part of the excitement of "Watching Ellie" comes from wondering whether the people who made it can get around the creative obstacles they created. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Basically a smart and sophisticated situation comedy -- and yet it is still not as good or endearing as its star. [26 Feb 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Decent effort, but you can't help wondering whether we'll be Watching Ellie for long. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
The key flaw in Ellie from which all other problems flow is that the show is built around a gimmick instead of a character. ... Unfortunately, if they dropped the stunt, they'd have nothing much left. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
At least "Watching Ellie" takes some risks and tries something different -- even if the risks don't translate to laughs and the concept doesn't really work. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
If the material were better, she wouldn't have to mug and grimace and cavort so strenuously; push wouldn't have to keep coming to shove. ... It's an in-your-face affair, and after a while, your face gets tired. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
Despite the dependably daft charms of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, all the tinkering that's been done to "Watching Ellie" may leave you feeling like something funny has been lost. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
The change of format doesn't bring with it any sense of assurance. To amp up the canned laughter while simultaneously lowering the intelligence level of the humor isn't a recipe for success. [14 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
It's not particularly funny, but it does have style and energy. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
While the two episodes that the network sent to critics stumble baldly into the humor-impaired category, each manages to sparkle for a moment or two. And Emmy winner Louis-Dreyfus provides most of the sparkle. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
I watched the pilot three times, thinking I'd get used to the timer. But each time, I found myself looking at the timer more than I did at Ellie. And, I'll tell you something: for the first half of the pilot, I liked the timer a lot more than her. And I'll tell you something else: the timer is only one of several things I hate about the pilot. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
Unfortunately, what hasn't changed is that this comedy about the life of a neurotic nightclub singer simply isn't very funny. [14 Apr 2004]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
Louis-Dreyfus, the performer, is not the problem here, and neither is the format. The problem is the material. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
Everything that made the original series distinctive, if not actually entertaining, has been ditched. ... The changes haven't made the dreary show... any funnier, just more conventional. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Watching "Ellie"? Not if I can help it. ... Hacking through the contrivances, you find some strong supporting players ... But Louis-Dreyfus herself seems off. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
"Ellie" has gone from being an avant-garde failure to a very average failure. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
"Watching Ellie" isn't a total disaster. Louis-Dreyfus sings really well. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
Another not-very-funny sitcom in which the star weekly places herself in humiliating situations while the audience sits around and waits for her to extricate herself. [14 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Shooting a comedy in real time may be an interesting exercise for the producer, but it doesn't make the story more interesting, or add to the laugh ratio. In fact, that little timer is downright distracting. [26 Feb 2002]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
Louis-Dreyfus has either decided, or been convinced, that the way to save Ellie is to barrel her way through every scene, mugging and pushing so forcefully that she makes Michael Richards look subtle. She's not just in constant motion; she seems to be in a state of constant rage. Even her singing, which was never the show's strong point, has become grating and strained. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
"Watching Ellie" is a mess of cliches and lots of straining for chuckles. Louis-Dreyfus makes it look like a huge effort, which is all the more obvious because her Elaine on "Seinfeld" was seamlessly amusing. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
None of the characters in "Watching Ellie" are particularly likable, especially Ellie herself. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
It's not so stylish or energetic anymore, and it's still not particularly funny. ... The problem isn't just rim-shot jokes, though. It's the whole conception of this comedy's situation, which is riddled with illogic and overstocked with annoying characters. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
Dracula returned without his soul. That's true of Watching Ellie, as well, if you accept that humor is the soul of a sitcom and that the show had any humor the first time around. It did. At least a little. This time, Watching Ellie wastes some serious comic talent, of which Louis-Dreyfus is just the most notable. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
While Louis-Dreyfus' Elaine Benes was vapid and self-centered, which worked within "Seinfeld's" fractured framework, her Ellie Riggs' self-centered vapidity is off-putting. [15 Apr 2003]
Jun 20, 2014
Season 2 Review:
What began as a demonstration of good actors adventurously struggling with a badly written script has been revamped into a demonstration of good actors desperately struggling with a badly written script, with a chortling studio audience thrown in for good measure. [14 Apr 2003]
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