Welcome to Sweden
NBC | TV4 | Release Date: July 10, 2014
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
NewsdayVerne GayJul 8, 2014
Season 1 Review: All charm and smarts, the best new NBC comedy in a long time. A winner. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyKaren ValbyJul 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: As the title suggests, the wit and heart of the show are available to all. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMolly EichelJul 20, 2015
Season 2 Review: The second season is as lovely to watch as the first, but it smartly dampens Bruce’s cultural tone deafness and expands the scope of the series to focus more on Emma and her family. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubErik AdamsJul 10, 2014
Season 1 Review: There are portions of the 10-episode first season that are darker than any other American broadcast-network comedy, but not shying away from the inherent gravity of Bruce and Emma’s situation provides a rich shading to the stranger-in-a-strange-land laughs. Read full review
83
Uncle BarkyEd BarkJul 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: Welcome to Sweden is more charming and amusing than laugh-out-loud funny. But its charms are considerable and the overall premise is bracingly unique. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraJul 10, 2014
Season 1 Review: Sweet, smart and quickly addictive, it's a classic cross-cultural romantic comedy with top notes of satire, but a brave and true heart. Read full review
80
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandJul 10, 2014
Season 1 Review: Welcome to Sweden is engaging for its exotic Scandinavian setting and warm visual style. It's a winning mix of low-key charm and robust humor. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushJul 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: Skepticism turns to pleasure as Greg reveals himself to be a wide-eyed charmer (think a less smarmy Greg Kinnear) and Sweden becomes an unexpectedly welcome and disarming diversion in a summer cluttered with noisy mediocrity. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanJul 8, 2014
Season 1 Review: Welcome to Sweden knows the story it wants to tell, and it does so in tightly crafted half-hour blocks that are fjords full of charm. Read full review
75
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardJul 10, 2014
Season 1 Review: Like Amy’s “Parks and Recreation,” the humor is never mean. Read full review
75
New York PostMichael StarrJul 10, 2014
Season 1 Review: It’s nice that Will Ferrell plays (a skewed) version of himself in the second episode--he was likely corralled by his former “Saturday Night Live” cohort Amy Poehler--but Welcome to Sweden succeeds on its own merits. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandJul 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: The show's humor is subtle, the plot lines somewhat predictable, but both the individual character development and the interaction among those characters make Sweden more than welcome. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenJul 10, 2014
Season 1 Review: Sweden is a quiet, gently amusing comedy. Read full review
70
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertJul 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: It’s a sly, low-key comedy, one that makes affectionate fun of Americans and Swedes with equal vigor. Read full review
70
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyJul 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: Welcome to Sweden is pleasant, inoffensive and quite charming. Read full review
70
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayJul 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: [A] gentle bilingual comedy. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowryJul 8, 2014
Season 1 Review: While Poehler’s wide-eyed exasperation probably renders him the weakest link, there’s enough high-class support around him that he’s more than adequate to meet the role’s modest demands.... It’s the one genuinely recommendable show to reach our shores amid an NBC wave of summer flotsam. Read full review
70
The OregonianKristi TurnquistJul 8, 2014
Season 1 Review: It's a pleasant enough blend of travelogue and gentle humor. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklJul 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: This pleasant enough rom-com would be better if it relied less on predictable sex jokes and focused more on the fish-out-of-water angle that will ring true to anyone who’s lived abroad. Read full review
60
Denver PostJoanne OstrowJul 11, 2014
Season 1 Review: Neither [Welcome to Sweden or "Working the Engels"] is awful, neither will make you cancel other plans.... The execution is slick, and sister Amy has cameos, but how many times can they make the sauna jokes? Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalDorothy RabinowitzJul 10, 2014
Season 1 Review: As Bruce meanders through these segments, determinedly inoffensive, the "Seinfeld" team's immortal notion via George Costanza--"let's do a sitcom about nothing"--comes to mind Read full review
50
Washington PostHank StueverJun 30, 2014
Season 1 Review: It’s refreshing to see NBC bring out a comedy that values subtlety over slapstick, but the situations and dialogue here are just a little too subtle to draw viewers in. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyJul 8, 2014
Season 1 Review: In the end, yes, of course, everyone loves each other. But by the time we get there, the only Swedish word that’s likely to remain lodged in our mind is “meatballs.” Read full review
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